Turning on flashlight in gas filled room

Let's take a bad scenerio. Middle of the night, you wake up to the smell of gas in your home :candle:. You know not to turn on any lights, but you have one trusty flashlight next to you. It's dark and you can't see to get out.

Which light would you trust that would be non-sparking? I like my T1, but it may be a problem in that situation. My little solitaire is much dimmer, but it probably would spark.

Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA Luxeon.


It's safety-rated, so you KNOW it's safe !

:candle:
_

i'd only go with one that is rated for just that type of environment. maybe a UK light rated for explosive environment.

my UK 4AA eLED i believe is rated for that. BTW, this is a great light. 1 watt lux with 12 hrs of FULL light, then another 20 hrs of diminishing light. nice bright yellow body.

it was the first 5 star rating for a polymer body LED given on flashlight reviews.

If a light is waterproof to meters underwater, I'm guessing it'll be gas proof too and there won't be any leaked inside to be ignited.

nanoWatt said:

Let's take a bad scenerio. Middle of the night, you wake up to the smell of gas in your home :candle:. You know not to turn on any lights, but you have one trusty flashlight next to you. It's dark and you can't see to get out.

Which light would you trust that would be non-sparking? I like my T1, but it may be a problem in that situation. My little solitaire is much dimmer, but it probably would spark.

Click to expand...

If the T1 is airtight, how would the gas get inside to get ignited?

Also, to ignite gas, you need a rather specific mixture of gas with oxygen... which is unlikely to occur inside your sealed flashlight.

Finally, if there's any light that I would light in a gas-filled room, it would be an LED, as they tend to run rather cool. A T1 on low is probably a VERY minor spark hazard. Actually, I'd worry more about it falling and generating the spark off the floor with its steel bezel.

Hmm, interesting scenario. Here's an intersting idea:

I'd take my L1, dunk it into the glass of water that is sitting here, twist on, and then remove and use. The biggest chance of a spark is when the springs are just far enough apart for the current to jump over. There should not be any flammable gas at all underwater (I hope), and I've tested it to be dunk proof. Then when the LED is on, I can assume that the contacts are making good enough of a connection to not spark.

Maybe a little overkill, but it's never hurts to be safe.

As Burgess stated, get a streamlight pro-polymer, they're rated for gaseous environments. I actually sleep with a 3C pro-poly next to my bed, it's large size makes it easier to find than my other lights when groggy and stumbling around in the middle of the night, and, like you, i'm deathly afraid of waking to a volatile,gas-filled house !! :twothumbs

Qoose said:

Hmm, interesting scenario. Here's an intersting idea:

I'd take my L1, dunk it into the glass of water that is sitting here, twist on, and then remove and use. The biggest chance of a spark is when the springs are just far enough apart for the current to jump over. There should not be any flammable gas at all underwater (I hope), and I've tested it to be dunk proof. Then when the LED is on, I can assume that the contacts are making good enough of a connection to not spark.

Maybe a little overkill, but it's never hurts to be safe.

Click to expand...

Smart thinking! Where is my bucket of water then!

Any light that's UL rated Class 1 Div. 1 will be safe to use in that situation. Lots of lights that meet that specification are made by Pelican, UK, and Streamlight. Probably others, too.

Good thing I keep my Streamlight Propolymer next to my bed!

I work in a refinery and we use pelican lights rated for use in that type of environment. If I woke up and could smell gas I would not risk turning any light on that was not rated for hazardous environments. On the other hand, it is pretty tough to have the right air fuel mixture in an enclosed area to ignite from even an open spark or flame such as a pilot light on a water heater or furnace. I still would not risk it with anything that was not rated for that type of environment.

I may be wrong and if I am maybe somebody who knows would pipe up but I don't think it too likely a flashlight would explode your house in the event of a NATURAL gas leak. These light's are all pretty well sealed up and the voltage and currents involved are too low to involve much sparking. If water can't get in I don't see how gas under no pressure will get in either.
The turning it on underwater is a good plan if you can do it. Other types of gases may be a different story, I don't know for sure.

No gas in my home. No chance of the question happening.

That said, any twist head light with o-ring should be fine.

But I'd probably have SL 4AA and 3C 5mm and LUX lights only on the nightstand to choose from.

Natural gas is lighter than air, so it will be collecting from the ceiling down.

As was mentioned, any light that is even partially sealed will not easily allow gas in, especially without some thermal cycling or something to pump it in.

You'll want to get out before the gas piles downward from the ceiling to the pilot light...

Don't spend too long trying to remember where that explosion proof light is...

-- Alan

Qoose said:

Hmm, interesting scenario. Here's an intersting idea:

I'd take my L1, dunk it into the glass of water that is sitting here, twist on, and then remove and use. The biggest chance of a spark is when the springs are just far enough apart for the current to jump over. There should not be any flammable gas at all underwater (I hope), and I've tested it to be dunk proof. Then when the LED is on, I can assume that the contacts are making good enough of a connection to not spark.

Maybe a little overkill, but it's never hurts to be safe.

Click to expand...

hahah, with gas in your house THAT strong to be that worried, I am also assuming you'd have passed out half-way through this procedure.....lol

If its your own home you 'probably' could navigate it fairly quickly.....

But a sealed light is a sealed light, and I wouldnt want to waste any time dunking lights just to be sure

Streamlight ProPoly 2AA Led or 4AA Luxon - both are rated for extremely bad environments.

mb

a zippo, it would find the leak faster.

even though some of my lights arent waterproof, a internal spark would not likly achieve an external ignition. so if i was still able to walk into the area (vrses opening the window blind) i would just grab anything and turn it on without thinking.
if i had to think then i would grab something waterproof, because there wouldnt be any significant gas inside it, where the spark of connection would occur.

note: there is often a bigger longer spark on DISconnection, see PG&E trying to unload one of thier high voltage lines and the resulting arcs. or old "points" on cars, that the disconnect arc is what ruined the connection points, or anytime you disconnect a Jump charge to a car. its the disconnecting that offers up the biggest spark source.
so just when you think its safe (like in the movies) you shut it off, and everything blows up.

Ahhh, the disconnection! Good point, a little inductive/capacitive kick eh?

Guys,

Some years back I did a project about just this subject as regards using conventional flashlights by ambulance crews whilst working in hazardous or gaseous environments in my part of the UK.

Surprisingly over here the regulations are quite lax about terrestrial use of flashlights by both the fire and ambulance services. Only when you get to maritime use does the subject get heavy with regulations about specific types of lights and their construction.

In a 21 year career the only place I've found to be using intrinsically safe flashlights is a gas terminal (for obvious reasons)!

My research (over here) indicates that many lights are sold as being safe to XYZ standards but few actually are. To be regarded as an intrinsically safe flashlight any metal bodied lights are a total no no as they have the potential to be shorted out. All switches should be totally sealed and most intrinsically safe torches use reed switches. Certain types of plastics are not used in intrinsically safe lights due to potential to cause static.

The bulb units are required to be sealed so in the event that a light is dropped and the bulb breaks the element isn't exposed to the environment.

Finally disposable batteries in intrinsically safe lights are normally zinc carbide rather than alkaline.

When I produced a paper about the inherent risks of using Maglites (our favored issue lights) I found that my recommendations were quietly binned. I suspect that the additional costs of doing a Health and Safety review about using radios, cell phones and flashlights in gaseous environments would have been far too expensive for a public body to absorb without the incentive of an accident being attributed to such devices.

For my part I believe that some Pelican and a couple of Streamlight models are more than up to the job. If you are worried you should do some research on these brands as they are readily available and not too expensive.

Doug

I'm a grumpy old guy, so if anyone still wants to play around with a flashlight in a gas filled house, this is either a case of "What if Napoleon had B-52's at Waterloo?" or a real good chance to see if Darwin's Law is still on the books. As long as I'm not in the room either one works for me.

This type of situation is incredibly rare. However, it would be in your house. Most folks can navigate their own house in the dark. Plain and simple, you do this: get out, go next door, and then call 911. Do not pick up the phone while still in the house. Do not turn anything on or off. Let's remember that it is your house and your family would still be inside it. How much of a chance do you really want to take? It would be your house and family after all.

While the smell of gas has to be stronger than most people think to be really dangerous, let's not forget that the process of waking up to that smell and then getting your s*** together and then getting everyone else outside is taking time while the gas concentration is still building. Every couple of years or so there is a news report locally about a brand new empty lot in some neighborhood. Boom and no more house, and right down to the foundation most of the time Usually it is the result of a suicide attempt, but every once in awhile it's a story about the folks next door taking care of broken windows and hosing down the siding while the wreckage still smolders and an interview with the new widow saying, "But he said he knew what he was doing..." as the tears roll down her burned and sooty face.

Anyone who still wants to use a flashlight not rated well above the minimums for use in a gas filled environment can do so as long as it isn't in my neighborhood or else I at least get a chance to tape up the windows so they don't shatter. Either that or what if Wellington could have had B-2's?