match light charcoal

[ltalsa]

We have always used match light charcoal--but now I'm worried about keeping it in a storage area of the RV, having it get too hot and start a fire.

Anyone with ideas about this?  I tried googling and didn't find anything.  I must be over-sensitive?

thanks,

 

[Carl L]

Did it for 15 years.  No fires to speak of.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

No need for paranoia.  Have never heard of a spontaneous fire from match light charcoal, and there are warehouses and retail stores chuck full of the stuff.

 

[Mark R.]

Three things needed to make fire, fuel, oxygen and a stick (match stick that is lit), meaning you need a source of ignition, unless you have pyrophoric charcoal!
That charcoal is nice to use but I wonder what chemicals it adds to your meal  .

 

[carson]

spontaneous fire

    I learned, read a long time ago that one should not wad up an oils-soaked rag and store it away...into the garbage or wherever. Spontaneous combustion is supposed to be a reality.  Wonder if that is a myth?

  Since this is a question I'll let you research it.

carson FL

 

[Mark R.]

I have heard the same thing from people whose opinion I respect, but I am thinking they are talking chemical reactions with other chemicals on other rags or fabrics that are made with chemicals that are dissolved by or react with the solvents or oils on the rags them selves. I have fire proof cans for my oily rags (auto close red boxes) but I have never noticed any heat at all no matter what I stuff (and I mean stuff) in the cans no matter how long they sit there, but I will keep using them! Maybe someone smarter then me  (easy to find) will chime in with a real good answer!

 

[glfredrick]

A while back, I was a sales rep for Safety Kleen, a company devoted to parts washers and other automotive and restaurant-related products, and I used to demonstrate our product alongside other flammable cleaning products.  Some liquid products go up in flames quite easily (white or Coleman gas) and others are actually quite difficult to light and it takes a sustained flame for some amount of time to actually gain a flame and even then, the burn rate is not explosive or expansive, but controlled, sort of like a candle.

Spontaneous combustion of oily rags, on the other hand, can and do light.  That is not a myth.  I've seen it happen.  A contractor left a wad of oily rags in a dorm room that was not climate controlled.  We estimate temps were above 100 in the room.  Fire damaged the woodwork and dorm furniture.  The reason they do is the distribution of volatile fumes that come from the soaked rags.  A spark, or even enough heat will cause those flammable fumes to light.  A bag of charcoal is enclosed so that the fumes associated with the product are contained.

I can see the scenario of bag of matchlight going up in flames, but that would seem to require some additional source of sustained heat like an exhaust pipe under the floor, a water heater, a pilot light, electrical panel, clearance marker light in a storage cabinet, etc.  Store in as cool and dry a spot as can be had and don't really worry.  I'd be more afraid of a can of hair spray.  That is a poor-man's instant flame thrower!

 

[carson]

glfredick..

Spontaneous combustion of oily rags, on the other hand, can and do light.  That is not a myth. 

  What can I say. This seems to be a testimonial to my point.  I have never seen it happen. But then I have never been in that situation..

Anyone else?

carson FL

 

[boatbuilder]

In fire school we were taught that if the oil has been a plant recently, IE. linseed oil, then it will spontaneously combust.  Petroleum products rarely will.  The waste containers are usually so people do not have to think about what kind of oil it is. 
I have witnessed the result of linseed oil soaked rags going up and the house was destroyed.  The owner was using linseed oil to finish some paneling on his new house and left the rags in a heap on the floor and went home.  At about 3 AM the neighbors called it in because the noise woke them up.

 

[carson]

Linseed oil is made from Flax oil.. I hope that all the linseed oil manufactures stock doesn't tank because of this benign post.  ;D

Anyway great info.    thank you.

carson

 

[glfredrick]

I'll be a post hi-jacker and bring up another flammable issue as long as we are talking on the subject.  Oftentimes the thremocouple probe used in ovens and refrigerators will immediately and sponteneously combust if the line is broken and the chemical exposed to atmosphere.  If anyone is doing repairs which involve moving or otherwise dealing with those thermocouples (looks like a copper bulb with a copper line that heads to the controlling mechanism, the line can be clad in spring wire) take care to not break open the copper line.  The fire drips from the line and will not extinguish easily until it is finished with the combustion process.

I learned this the hard way while doing appliance repair.  After learning that, like any curious kid (I'm only 53!), I broke open a few old examples just to play.  Fun stuff (like mercury...  8)) if you are in a safe place.  Horrific if you are inside an RV or a home.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The combustion accelerant on Match-lite charcoal is basically clear kerosene. Hard to ignite stuff. You can throw a lit match into a gallon of kerosene and the match will will go out.

The bricquets do not pack closely together - there are air spaces around them, even though the bag is more-or-less enclosed. I don't see much opportunity to do anything spontaneous, and charcoal takes a real flame to light. Even match-lite.

 

[Mark R.]

Spontaneous combustion of oily rags, on the other hand, can and do light.  That is not a myth.  I've seen it happen.  A contractor left a wad of oily rags in a dorm room that was not climate controlled.  We estimate temps were above 100 in the room.  Fire damaged the woodwork and dorm furniture.  The reason they do is the distribution of volatile fumes that come from the soaked rags. A spark, or even enough heat will cause those flammable fumes to light.  A bag of charcoal is enclosed so that the fumes associated with the product are contained.

SPARK is ignition, so not spontaneous combustion.

linseed soaked rags burn, but why, has to have some sort of reaction going on, I use oil and rags and they never light up by themselves
[/quote]

 

[fred42]

I stopped using that long ago for fire hazard, fumes and food safety issues.  Don't use the fluid either.  Just get regular KingsFord or whatever and get a starter device like this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_197879-505-7416_0_?productId=1057001&Ntt=charcoal+starte&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=charcoal%20starte$y=0$x=0&spellCorrectedTerm=charcoal%20starter

Some use paper to start these, but I use one of the many types of fire starter sticks or cubes.  These are small and can easily be sealed up well.

 

[birds]

I stopped using that long ago for fire hazard, fumes and food safety issues.  Don't use the fluid either.  Just get regular KingsFord or whatever and get a starter device like this:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_197879-505-7416_0_?productId=1057001&Ntt=charcoal+starte&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=charcoal%20starte$y=0$x=0&spellCorrectedTerm=charcoal%20starter

Some use paper to start these, but I use one of the many types of fire starter sticks or cubes.  These are small and can easily be sealed up well.

This is what I use too.  It's very handy.  I usually use trash newspaper to start it.

 

[Alfa38User]

You can also extinguish a burning match in gasoline BUT you have to get past the fumes on top first. I have seen it done but I am not willing to try it myself on a regular basis, heh, heh...

We once had a small house fire that was attributed to something in a garbage bag self-igniting that had been left sitting on the garage floor for quite some time. Since most everything was destroyed in the bag, it was impossible to say what started it. AFIK, the only things in the bag were old hi-fi unit electrical transformers (not the oil-filled type) and old wire that should not have self ignited BUT someone (read: teenage boys and car nuts) may have added something flammable to it without my knowledge.

 

[whimbly1]

Spontaneous combustion is real, but is generally associated with plant material or their derivatives (been through an animal). For example, in my part of the country, an inpatient farmer will roll hay when it is still too wet, and the tightly compacted wet hay will go through "a heat" and start burning. As a matter of fact. the hay fire can not be put out, even by the most persistent fire departments. The only option is to move the bails to a safe place and let them burn out.

A good manure based potting soil that is wet and tightly compacted left in direct sunlight on a 100 + degree day has the capacity for spontaneous combustion. My stepdaughter learned this several days ago.

With that said, Matchlight charcoal is probably safe to carry. It lacks the moisture and the compaction necessary to generate the heat necessary to spontaneously combust. I have left a bag in the back of my truck on a very hot day with no problems.

I can not speak about oily rags in a barrel. Although, many rags do contain cotton and other plant fibers. Hmmmm, this may need to be tested with cotton rags in one barrel and polyester or acrylic rags in another.  ;D

 

[hoddinron]

I can attest that fires  can self ignite. We had an old cypress fence go up in flames between our houses here in FL.  It was a very dry day and there was a breeze blowing.  The fire started under our wood pile (for firewood).  There was quite a bit of dry grass and stuff under that wood pile and near the fence.  The firemen that investigated said "spontaneous combustion."  We cleaned it up and put up a new fence.

Ron

 

[boatbuilder]

I was advised by a trusted source on fire protection that the metal cans for oily rags are as much for preventing an outside source from igniting the rags as preventing damage from spontaneous combustion.

 

[MikeyAustin]

Me being a BBQ hound, the only reason I don't use it is because I don't like the heat it creates.  That's a HOT fire, and I have less control of the heat when cooking the t-bones or other items.  Also, you're supposed to wait until the coals are grey before cooking, and it seems as though the match lights have MUCH less cooking time after greying, than regular coals have.