safety switches are there for a reason

[Wingnut]

Well ... not tractor related but a definite safety issue.
I have an indoor pool and, naturally enough for Michigan, a heater to keep the water warm enough to swim in. I had problems with the doggone heater over a year ago and wound up installing a new gas valve (propane) and a new pilot and ignitor assembly. In all the switching around, something happened to one of the 8 safety switches on the unit. These are all in the power line from the pilot thermopile to the gas valve .... and if any one is "bad" or is off due to a problem (usually over-heat) then the gas valve will not turn the gas on.
Anyway, after getting everything working ... except for figuring out which one (or more) of the safety switches was bad ... I just got in the habit of having it on only when I was at home and jumpering across the switch line to get the heater started.
Unfortunately, Wednesday afternoon, I forgot asbout the jumper in the rush to get to the feed store and pick up feed for the horses. I probably left about the time that the timer kicked the water pump off ... with the heater NOT kicking out because some idiot has disabled all the safety switches. We got the feed, did some shopping ... and suddenly, some 40 miles away from home, I remembered the switch.
To cut a long, agonizing drive home short ... the pool house was completely full of smoke, my poor dogs (they sleep in the pool house) were grey and panicked (Samson, the older and larger dog had obviously been over at the heater trying to "do something" since we weren't patying any attention - he was extra smokey) ... and the heater is a burned out mess. I would guess that in another half hour, the heater ... which was white hot, would have started the building ... and since the pool house is all wood ... well ... suffice it to say that I feel pretty da**ed stupid and awful grateful to have only learned a lesson.
Safety switches are there for a reason and "not having time" is NOT a good reason for bypassing them instead of troubleshooting them. So now, not having had enough time to figure out which switch was a problem and replacing it ... I get to spend a great deal of time cleaning and trying to get the smoke odor out.
Anyone got a good rememdy for smoke residue? I'm using pine-sol ... but if there's a better method ...

pete

 

[MikePA]

Pete, glad to hear everyone is safe. Yikes, I can just imagine the ride home. You must have been glad when you didn't see fire trucks as you approached your home! /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif I can't help with getting rid of the smoke smell, never had to do this. I'd try calling one of the clean up companies to see what they use. Although, I imagine one, or more, of the fine citizens of TBN-sille will come to your rescue. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

Wow, Pete, glad the place didn't go up in smoke.

Nothing to do with safety switches, but another thing to watch for is "spontaneous combustion". Quite a few years ago, in the heat of the summer, I changed oil & filter & greased my car and pickup in the garage (two car attached garage) and was using an old white discarded t-shirt for a grease rag. Also in the garage, we had a rack on which you hung a 30 gallon plastic garbage bag and then there was a plastic lid that closed on top. When I finished, I tossed the oily t-shirt in that garbage bag, went and took a shower, and we went out to eat. When we came back, I opened the garage door, smelled smoke, and ran through the house looking for the source; found the odor was worst in the garage, looked in that garbage bag, and found my wife had tossed another smaller bag of garbage in the big bag on top of that oily t-shirt. When I lifted that smaller bag out, that white t-shirt was charred a dark brown and smoking; too hot to pick up with my fingers. I think if we'd been another hour later coming home, it would have gone up in flames. Needless to say, I've been very careful about disposing of oily rags since then.

 

[njrqs]

How can that happen bird?

Any heat involved??

 

[Bird]

Spontaneous combustion of oily rags isn't exactly a frequent occurence, but it isn't all that rare either. In my case, it was hot summer weather so the temperature in the garage that day would have been in the high 90s. You want to either leave such rags spread out to get plenty of airflow, or else in an airtight container so they cannot get enough oxygen to sustain combustion. I think <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.amica.com/aboutUs/magazine/summer_2001/fire_hazard.htm>this web site</A> explains it better than I can, since I don't know enough about chemical reactions to give a scientific answer. The only thing I know for sure is that it can and does happen and I'll never leave any oily rags in a pile or partially closed container again.

 

[MossRoad]

A rag soaked in linseed oil and left in a hot car will do the same thing /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif Poof!

 

[bgott]

So can taking a leak in a hayloft.