Is it safe to fill up when car is ON?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Jun 13 2007, 06:35 PM) [snapback]461175[/snapback]</div>

I asked the identical question recently and got a lot of poetry about static, which has nothing to do with the car being on, rather than about us humans and the car fabric.

It turned out some people regularly do it.

I don't know why it would be illegal since the engine is NOT on.

I haven't had the guts to do it yet.

Here is the thread: http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=33201&hl=

 

Have you ever watched a race???

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Jun 13 2007, 05:35 PM) [snapback]461175[/snapback]</div>

I think that, especially if the A/C is on, it is not safe to do this. As ystasino points out, it is probably safe to do it if there is no chance of the engine turning on. However, if you're doing it to have the A/C on, there is probably a pretty decent chance the engine will turn on.

That said, it is also probably the case that a vast majority of the time, filling up the car with the engine on will not cause significant problems. However, it only needs to be a "problem" once to have bad consequences.

In short, my advice would be to not do it; it's just not worth the risk (particularly if you're going to be running the A/C).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Betelgeuse @ Jun 13 2007, 07:15 PM) [snapback]461197[/snapback]</div>

So what if the engine is on or turns on? What are you saying will happen? Will the car explode?

 

same as in any ordinary car you generally should not fill up while car is in the ready mode.

maybe this will help
http://www.esdjournal.com/static/staticsmart.htm

 

Every gas station I go to has a sign that says, "Turn off engine"... so, I turn off my car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Jun 13 2007, 07:28 PM) [snapback]461208[/snapback]</div>

Do you use your cell phone while you are getting gas? Or, do you hang up because the sign told you?

In June 1999, Exxon began mailing out information and decals to its 8,500 service stations in the U.S. explicitly warning against the use of cell phones near gasoline pumps. However, it has since been proven that it is impossible to set off a gasoline fire with a cell phone. It is purely an urban legend.

 

cell phones, makes me think of hospitals. Do you turn your cell phone off when in a hospital with all the signs posted or just ignore them?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 13 2007, 04:36 PM) [snapback]461216[/snapback]</div>

Since my cell phone is not permanently affixed to my face, I feel no need to use one whilst pumping gas. However, I do consider people that cannot do ANYTHING without their cell phone pressed to their heads rude.

Be that as it may, I believe that, urban legends concerning cell phones and fuel fumes aside, I have turned off cars while fueling them, since the days that I drove cars with the filler tube behind the rear license plate.

The solution to all this, actually, is to turn off the Prius, take your foot off the brake, and then press the ON button twice. The A/C will run (and run down the battery) without the ICE kicking in.

 

The reason I asked about the cell phone was because I think the chances of you having a problem fueling your car while it is running are about the same as they are with a cell phone. I think turning your car off while running is a behavior that we have all gotten into that there is really no basis for. FWIW, I do turn my car off while fueling the vast majority of the time.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Jun 13 2007, 07:48 PM) [snapback]461225[/snapback]</div>

ESD or Electrostatic discharge is a very real thing. I teach this topic in a navy electronics (ET) school.
Most people may not realize for example, that damage to electronic circuitry at voltage levels far below what we can feel during a discharge of static. Please ground your self at gas stations when filling up or putting gas into a gas can. :mellow:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ Jun 13 2007, 06:48 PM) [snapback]461225[/snapback]</div>

This has got to be the most sensible thing I have read all day..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fairclge @ Jun 13 2007, 08:02 PM) [snapback]461234[/snapback]</div>

I agree. The potential for a static discharge causing a gasoline fire while fueling is much greater than is one caused by the car running.

Source: http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/ash...oUseCaution.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fairclge @ Jun 13 2007, 07:02 PM) [snapback]461234[/snapback]</div>

Which is fine, but all the talk about cell phone's at gas stations is to do with the myth that you can ignite the gas as you are pumping, not static killing the electronics of the car. Whatever. The OP was not talking about Cell Phone use, but rather keeping the AC on. As Rae Vynn has already answered the question with the most sensible answer is further discussion about unrelated items really needed?

 

Here's this thread again.

I don't understand what is so difficult about this topic.

The use of anything that has electricity running through it while
pumping gas is plain irresponsible; the same goes for smoking or
leaving your car running.

Go ahead and light yourself on fire if you want. Just let me know
so I can get away from you first.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ Jun 13 2007, 08:38 PM) [snapback]461256[/snapback]</div>

Uhh, Patrick, unless you disconnect the battery, your car has electricity running through it while you are pumping gas...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ Jun 13 2007, 07:38 PM) [snapback]461256[/snapback]</div>

So, down in Dallas you manually pump your gas with a hand pump? Or do you use a motorized gas pump like the rest of the USA?

 

This is my question. What about the cars next to you they pull in with ice on, turn off, fuel up, and then turn it back on and leave. What is the problem with leaving the car on? If having your ice run wile putting fuel in the car causes it to explode why does it not happen every time another car pulls up next to you or behind you placing there ice closer to your tank then your own ice. Is it just a myth or is there evidence of this happening. The cell phone thing is not true the static spark from person to car is true but the ice thing.

 

IAO, as you pointed out, there is no logical reason to not leave the engine running while you are refueling. It is one of those things that people have been told not to do, and they never bother to question it. Like I said before, if you have ever seen a race, you know that they don't turn their engines off during refueling. You have a better chance of igniting a gasoline fire with a static discharge from your finger. than you do with your car.