GL: Tape on fuel vent

[Dan & Peggy B.]

Hmmmm....
Lets see....  32psi?  If thats the case, i have an experiment.  Try removing
the valve core and cap from your tires and just wrap the stem in masking tape
and see how far you get.

...sorrry.  I just couldn't resist.

dan bowers
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Kevin Redden
  To: Great-Loop List
  Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 3:00 PM
  Subject: Re: GL: Tape on fuel vent


  > -----Original Message-----
  > Right on. Think about how little pressure it would take to push out a
  > layer
  > of masking tape.!!!!! If no more than that will rupture your fuel tank
then
  > one has a lot more problem than  a little damp air in the tank!!!

  After reading the above, I took out the calculator to see just what sort of
  forces are REALLY involved here.

  Since a few wraps of masking tape wound around the vent could easily
withstand a
  few pounds of air pressure at the vent, I used a low end number of two
pounds,
  on an assumed 1/4" vent hole. At 2 lbs per 1/4", that's 32 lbs per square
inch
  (there a sixteen 1/4" squares in a square inch), or 4,608 lbs per square
foot!
  Now, we're talking some serious forces.

  Remembers, it is not the air pressure number alone that we are worried
about,
  but the area of tank wall it has to push against. Given that a 2x3x5' fuel
tank
  will have a surface area of 30 square feet, that 2 lbs at the 1/4" vent
would
  equate to a whopping 138,240 lbs of pressure against the tank walls trying
to
  find a weak spot to get out of the tank, and your fuel tanks was certainly
not
  designed to withstand that pressure!

  There is a reason that tanks always have vents to equalize pressure with
the
  atmosphere!

  Kevin
  _______________________________________________
  http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop

  To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address,
  unsubscribe, etc.) go to:
http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/great-loop