While filling up with gas yesterday, I heard what sounded like a 12 gage shotgun being fired just 20 or 30 feet away. Scared the bejeezuz out of me and several other customers. At almost the same instant I heard someone groaning loudly, obviously in pain. I didn't see anything at first but within a few seconds several people on the other side of kiosk went running over to help someone. When I went around to have a look, there was a flat tire on the front of an SUV, a 15" long wide open gash along the upper sidewall of the tire, the air hose laying on the ground, and several people helping this poor guy who was on the ground holding his face.
The whole thing got me quite curious and I was trying to understand how this could happen. I noticed a can of Gunk Tire Sealant on the front seat of the SUV so I started to reason that this tire already had a problem, the driver had perhaps run it with the pressure too low, which had weakened the sidewall and then it blew out while he was bringing it back up to pressure. It's possible I suppose. Other people were drawing their own conclusion : the gas station air compressor had no pressure adjustment or guage, so it must have over pressured the tire until it blew. Also possible but then I'd expect to hear more of these stories. I was also surprised to see that absolutely no one there had a clue about something a simple as maintaining tire pressure. Some were commenting that they had never put air in a tire in their life; other's thought that the compressor would "know" how much air to put in the tire and would just shut off when everything was right.
One gentlemen mentioned that they should put warnings on these compressors. This particular compressor-in-a-box had nothing on the front except the gas station's logo, and then 3 or 4 small lines of small print on the lower left with the word "Warning" written above. When I went up close to see what was under the warning heading, here's what it said :
Do not use this compressor on tires that have had aerosol tire sealant applied. Tire explosion may result.
Unbelievable ! I've never seen or heard of that before. So here we have a tire that exploded while it was being filled with air, a can of tire sealant on the front seat, and a compressor with a warning about the potential hazard of this exact combination. I asked the guy if he had put sealant in the tire and he nodded 'yes'. Ultimately someone took this poor guy to the hospital. He could see out of both eyes, but he was in a lot of pain. And there was rubber shrapnel blown all over the pavement, his clothes, even the top of the hood and the roof of the SUV. The tire valve was right at the bottom (6 o'clock position) so he was crouched down with his head right at the same level as the top of the tire, which is where it blew out. He took the full explosion right in the face.
The whole thing got me quite curious and I was trying to understand how this could happen. I noticed a can of Gunk Tire Sealant on the front seat of the SUV so I started to reason that this tire already had a problem, the driver had perhaps run it with the pressure too low, which had weakened the sidewall and then it blew out while he was bringing it back up to pressure. It's possible I suppose. Other people were drawing their own conclusion : the gas station air compressor had no pressure adjustment or guage, so it must have over pressured the tire until it blew. Also possible but then I'd expect to hear more of these stories. I was also surprised to see that absolutely no one there had a clue about something a simple as maintaining tire pressure. Some were commenting that they had never put air in a tire in their life; other's thought that the compressor would "know" how much air to put in the tire and would just shut off when everything was right.
One gentlemen mentioned that they should put warnings on these compressors. This particular compressor-in-a-box had nothing on the front except the gas station's logo, and then 3 or 4 small lines of small print on the lower left with the word "Warning" written above. When I went up close to see what was under the warning heading, here's what it said :
Do not use this compressor on tires that have had aerosol tire sealant applied. Tire explosion may result.
Unbelievable ! I've never seen or heard of that before. So here we have a tire that exploded while it was being filled with air, a can of tire sealant on the front seat, and a compressor with a warning about the potential hazard of this exact combination. I asked the guy if he had put sealant in the tire and he nodded 'yes'. Ultimately someone took this poor guy to the hospital. He could see out of both eyes, but he was in a lot of pain. And there was rubber shrapnel blown all over the pavement, his clothes, even the top of the hood and the roof of the SUV. The tire valve was right at the bottom (6 o'clock position) so he was crouched down with his head right at the same level as the top of the tire, which is where it blew out. He took the full explosion right in the face.
