Fords, Flesh and Fire don't mix

Just sent this thread onto the 150 members of my car club. Damn this is scary stuff, for sure.

 

What a shame to see that '40 in that condition, but it could have been a lot worse and it can be fixed. I hope your friend has a speedy recovery.

I've got a cordless LED light from Sears and it's really good. Charge last a long time too.

 

Thanks for the warning, I sure hope your friend is OK. I burned my hand pretty bad a few years back in a grease fire, and know what it's like. The skin on that hand is stiff and sensitive to sun and chemicals, and will never be the same, but serves as a constant reminder to be careful and have a healthy respect (fear) of fire.
Good luck to your buddy, as bad as it was, it could have been a LOT worse.

 

Fark, I have been using one of those old school light bulb trouble lights for AGES. Never really near fuel as such, but I never really thought of potential fire/damage/death issues by using one.

Maybe a fluoro one is on the cards.....

Rat

 

Very sorry to hear about your mate,and no better time to mention I had the pretty much same breakdown and means of repair;difference with me was it was a freezing night and I was using a Calor gas heater(open flame).It seemed to draw the petrol fumes to it.I burned out a rodded model A.Salt in the wound was I actually had an extinguisher,but I had so much junk in the garage I couldn.t get to it quickly enough.I know,muppet.You never get over it and I didn,t even suffer bad burns.......scary stuff!

 

Whoo, that scares the daylights out of me. Glad to that his injuries although painfull are limited and that the car is repairable and the garage wasn't lost.

I picked up a 30 bulb led cordless light a year or so and it is the one I now use for about everything. Magnet base so it will hold it's self in place and it doesn't burn your neck if you lay it along side your face under a car.
This isn't the one I have but it looks about twice as bright.
http://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Cordless-Super-Bright-Light/dp/B000H8CBKC

 

glad he's ok, just shows you how fast a fire can happen using those damn old style droplights. I had one a few years ago and I could heat the garage with it... they really are pieces of shit!!

 

Serious burns can kill you in many different ways for a LONG time after they happen. They are also almost unbelievably painful, and every step of treatment involves great pain as well. My wife used to work with burn victims in hospitals, and the pain of simple bandage changes even is so great it is traumatic to the hospital workers who do the work.
A minor tech discovery to clip to your new flourescent trouble light: Get a Mini-Maglite and treat it to the "Night Ize" diode bulb conversion and the simpler pushbutton switch replacement for the endcap. This will work better than your old incandescent bulb for when you have to peer into a dark hole. The conversion has multiple benefits: Easy on/off or momentary use with one hand, no need to focus beam, no black hole from filament, looong bulb and battery life.

 

I had something very simular happen to me back in 89..and the fire was caused by one of those incandecent trouble lights. Bulb broke and was off, when i came into the shop and ficked the switch i was standing in the middle of that back draft movie..3 weeks in detroit recieving burn center. Not good.
lost it all. but not my life.
No more of those dam "Trouble" lights in any of my shops. flash lights, and a florecent trouble light is all i own now.
Really ..think about this folks. If you have one of those dam things . take it and throw it away. and buy something safe..or safer

 

wholly shit

 

A prayer goes out to anyone that's been involved with a situaton like this.

My dad showed me this link and we both looked at each other after I read it and thought We're getting rid of that droplight and quickly! We've worked on cars so many times without even thinking that anything like this would happen. Well now we do.

Thank you to all who shared your stories.
It made me think of a time my dad told me about that involved gasoline but not the droplight. He was cleaning his garage floor with it....I know SO WRONG! But it happened & a spark ignited and he got burned. Made it out ok with minor burns but it taught him a thing or two. He now has a big sign hanging up that says "Never Clean With Gasoline".

 

It's fortunate the '40 convertible wasn't burned badly but a damned shame that your friend was hurt. I hope he gets well soon...............Mike

 

Update?

I got tired of getting burns from the incandescent bulbs and threw it away, even with the severe duty bulbs they broke easy. Being traditional doesn't mean you have to die traditional.

 

well i am going out to the shop and throw away my drop lights (3 of them) and like someone else said im going to go to sears and get some of the LED kind.

 

that could'a been ugggggggleeeeeeeeee.

man that sucks, but glad the worst didn't happen.

 

The only incandescent trouble light I use is one my grandfather had... he may have had a hand in developing it, he was an engineer with Crouse-Hinds developing explosion-proof lighting and fixtures until he retired, and used to have quite a few samples in the basement. This thing has a plastic cage and a heavy clear plastic cover over the bulb - you'd have to run it over with a car to bust it.


But if I work on gas lines, I tend to use a flashlight if anything.

I wish your friend the best, though, that's not going to be a fun recovery.

 

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...ame=All&psid=FROOGLE01&sid=IDx20070921x00003a

here is a link to the cordless craftsman light. Shows $30 on the website. I like that alot better than having to fight cords while under the car.

 

Uh...what?