New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

They neglected to tell you that in his other hand he had a lit cigarette!!

Ns04

messiah

Its a load of tosh - they even have mobile phone masts hidden inside the "price towers" thesedays.

Leslie

The problem arises when the mobile which is left on gets rung, the rf is far more intense while the phone is being rung and that is when the spark could occur.

That is the reason why we are advised not to hold a mobile next to the head while the phone is ringing.

Les

OllyK

This is an experiment the Mythbusters tried and ringing the phone didn't make any difference.

While the risk of an explosion from a phone may not be zero, it's pretty close to it, and as yet, not a single petrol station fire has been attributed to it. There are plenty of other activities that are permitted that are of much higher risk.

Leslie

Well I can only quote what the experts say, never been in a position to check it out. It was clearly stated that the rf output when the phone is ringing is appreciable higher.

As I said before though, its not that difficult to switch the mobile off while you are at the pumps anyway.

Les

Chelspeed

Banned in garages - left over from the old AM CB radio days when people had illegal "burners" (huge output transmitters that probably put out tens of thousands times as much RF as a modern mobile). These used to interfere with the electronics in the pumps as stated above and some people got free fuel. All mobile transmitters lumped together and ever since they've been banned.

Banned in oil refineries and gas plants - yes normal phones are banned but you can use intrinsically safe (IS) hand held radios and sometimes even IS phones. An IS "walkie talkie" hand held radio is many times more powerful RF wise than a phone. An IS mobile phone is identical RF wise to a normal phone (apart from being bright yellow and costing £600). What makes these devices IS is that the battery is secured rather than just clip on, so if you drop it the battery can't disconnect and cause a spark. So again the RF is not the risk.

Banned in hospitals - absolutely tiny tiny risk of intereference with some electronic kit. Probably tested 20 years ago when electronic kit was badly shielded and phones had hundreds of times the output they do today. Saw an article the other week saying the delay caused by doctors having to stop what they're doing and find a phone when paged causes many more deaths than the possible risk of them carrying mobiles and inerfering with kit. The real reason for the ban is of course that if patients had mobiles they couldn't be scammed into paying extortionate call prices for the wheel round phones provided by the hospital.

Banned in planes - as above, tiny, tiny, possible, theoretical risk. But as said probably better if you don't have to listen to 100 cretinous shell suited holiday makers phoning home, "no I said a plane, not a train....."

If you were allowed to use them in planes then would you get a signal for much of most flights? If you're at 30,000 feet then thats about 6 miles up, whats the size of a normal cell nowadays? And that's over land, won't be any cells over the sea.

wez_sti

I was told that it actually just messes with their till systems so they use scare mongering as they know we dont give a sh1te about their tills but might about being set on fire!

TopBanana

It's not when your phone is ringing, it's when you're initiating a call yourself. The power is only increased for a short period, but it still won't cause sparks.

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

to do withe the signals from the phones messing around with the pumps me thinks . the new high tec pumps anyways . thats what the bloke in my local station said anyways ?

jasey

Remember - your home is at risk is you set fire to it.

sti-04!!

Evening imposter

Did the snow knock out you t'internet connection or was it those pet sheep chewing cables again

jasey

You **** one sheep .

no time for t'interweb when you spend 2 hours a day digging your friggin car out of the drifts.

Still - heavy rain forecast for the rest of this week - oh joy

Daniel-S

I remember sitting in my sisters car couple of years ago on the phone and some old boy told me off

sti-04!!

Bob Rawle

It is suposedly related to static discharge setting off the fumes emanating from the tank/nozzle, this happened twice in Shell stations. Whether its possible or not I don't know ... and no I'm not going to find out. Attendants do get very p1ssy over it though BUT if you believed the theory then would you be happy sat next to several hundred (thousand) litres of fuel while someone made his last phone call ? I think not

cheers

bob

spufus

iTrader: (2)

"Burners" - old skool CB stuff there!

I tried many times to get free fuel using a "Jaws 2" in my Mini - never happened.

oik

Next time ask him to explain why. Ask him to consider that the stroll over to berate you in his nylon long johns has created a huge static charge and that it is he, in fact, that is going to torch every man, woman and child in the station ... such is the absurdity of his claim!

Failing that, hope the phone will interfere with his pacemaker and drop the ignorant fool!

OllyK

Les, my point is what's the "base line" and what's "appreciably higher"? And how does that compare to other things? Or are they just talking about RF levels rather than risk of explosion?

OllyK

Yes it was due to static, from clothes, nothing to do with mobiles. Please read the snopes articles where Shell etc have been asked directly and NEVER has a fire at a petrol station been attributed to a mobile phone.

Leslie

Could not say Olly, I would say that both would go together. My point is-why take the risk?

Les

OllyK

Are you suggesting that nylon clothing be banned from petrol stations as that is a much higher risk than RF?

Not using a mobile in a petrol station is no big deal, but I'd prefer it was done based on good information and facts rather than heresay and superstition.

Leslie

As far as I was concerned, the published information was not based on hearsay or superstition. It is a fact that transmitted RF can induce enough current to cause a spark in another conductor and I thought the caveat was reasonable bearing in mind the possible consequences.

Les

OllyK

But published by whom? Shell for one don't agree with the findings. I haven't been able to find anything (other and opinion) to actually confirm there is any credible risk of RF from phones causing an explosion. I'd be interested to read the published report you refer to above that shows otherwise however.

How much RF does a phone put out? How much RF is required to generate a spark sufficient to ignite petrol vapours?

More interestingly http://www.labsafety.com/refinfo/tec.../tchln0802.htm the very action of the liquid passing through the pipe to your car generates static, which if not properly grounded can be an issue.

OllyK

Les you may be interested in the following:

My bolding

A quote from shell following an email claiming to be from them about mobiles and petrol stations:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4366337.stm - more on the Kent research

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=13339 - the braniacs experiment that failed to ignite petrol with a mobile.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp - Snopes & the Mythbusters experiment.

Leslie

Fair enough Olly, maybe they are right, but it is not positive proof that it can't happen.

As a fully licensed Radio Amateur, I do know what is like to get an RF burn from a metal microphone when the station earth has dried out and needs a good watering.

Les

Flatcapdriver

The theoretical risk exists within aircraft and until the flight deck and comms can be shielded, there is no way mobiles will be allowed. Some companies are looking at utilising a base station within the 'plane but I would have thought this to be a no-goer unless it is only allowed in certain areas due to your point in your second paragraph.

Leslie

Just noticed that as Top Banana says, I should have said that the risk is when the mobile itself is transmitting and the ringing tone is a more powerful signal too. My mistake!

Les

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

i havnt read the fred but a few weeks ago my door hit something in a garage so i took pics on my phone as evidence.i was told that a mobile can make the pump give a false reading

an electrician told me that