Boiling gas

185 F at sea level ... so a few degrees lower at 7000 ft? Metal can soaking up the Sun and it's 100 F outside? I could see it happening.

Ethanol boils at 177 degrees. Might be the culprit

joshuajim wrote:
Ethanol boils at 177 degrees. Might be the culprit

I bet that's it. Thanks

2oldman,

A novel way to get rid of the ethanol! I'm glad you did not get hurt.

At 7000 feet the boiling point for ethanol is about 125 f

A spark at just the right time could have been.. interesting.

2oldman wrote:
A spark at just the right time could have been.. interesting.

Or it could have been devastating and we would never have had this thread to read and comment in!

One reason not to park your gas can in the sun.

It must be noted that gasoline contains a fairly wide range of substances, including some dissolved propane and butane, especially winter gas. That's why gasoline has explosive fumes. As you heat gasoline, the lower boiling components will boil off, and if you stick that gas can in the sun, at altitude, you can see that it actually has a wide range of boiling points, not some magical single temperature at which it boils.

naturist so please research all the boiling points at 7000 feet and let us know.

If it were ethanol and water since they are xenotropic, I have no idea of the "real" boiling temperature.

pianotuna wrote:
naturist so please research all the boiling points at 7000 feet and let us know.

If it were ethanol and water since they are xenotropic, I have no idea of the "real" boiling temperature.

Search: "Gasoline FAQ Bruce Hamilton" 4 Parts, very technical but it has a chart with many of the major components of gasoline, their boiling points, and octane ratings. The chart is in Part 2 section 4.13. The data is for sea level but you'll get the idea.

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part2/

Chum lee