I think this is the beginnings of an economy based on perpetual growth and fossil fuel energy running headlong into geological energy constraints. Basically I see an undulatory downward path for the rest of my life. From here out, I think any rallies in our economic condition are going to be met with spiking commodity prices that knock us right back down.
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:19 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
shortonoil wrote:
I then poured a couple of pounds of sugar into the tank.
To find your thieve all you had to do was drive up and down the roads looking for someone with a piece of 2X4 and a sledge hammer trying to beat the pistons out of the block of their engine.
Too bad that sugar in the tank is an urban myth. Cars don't break down if you pour sugar in the tank. Sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline. Try it yourself.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/grace/sugar.asp _________________ "We cut the earth until it bleeds, rain ashes from the sky
Just to make a light that no one can see"
-- VNV Nation - Carbon
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
Pholostan wrote:
shortonoil wrote:
I then poured a couple of pounds of sugar into the tank.
To find your thieve all you had to do was drive up and down the roads looking for someone with a piece of 2X4 and a sledge hammer trying to beat the pistons out of the block of their engine.
Too bad that sugar in the tank is an urban myth. Cars don't break down if you pour sugar in the tank. Sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline. Try it yourself.
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:51 am Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
ColossalContrarian wrote:
Even if the sugar doesn't seize the engine, it can't be good for it! I would advise against putting sugar in the gas tank. Even to test this myth out.
Yeah, it might clog the fuel filter or such. It won't hurt the engine one bit though. Worst case on a modern car would be a fuel pump or injectors clogged with sugar, but that sounds unlikely. Fuel pumps and injectors have filters to prevent such a thing. Would be easy to clean out I think.
Snopes mention a cost of $200 for cleaning out the fuel tank and such. A far cry from a destroyed engine.
ColossalContrarian wrote:
It would be like putting sand in your gas tank. You wouldn't do that would you?
No, I wouldn't. But sugar is much softer than sand. I've witnessed a guy pouring sugar straight into the intake on a running engine. It stalled and nocked a little. No engine damage. The sugar burned in the combustion chamber. I guess sugar has a lower octane rating than gasoline due to the nocking.
Sand on the other hand might very well scrach cylinder walls, pistons, valves etc. Pouring sand into the intake would probably damage the engine. _________________ "We cut the earth until it bleeds, rain ashes from the sky
Just to make a light that no one can see"
-- VNV Nation - Carbon
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:18 am Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
Pholostan wrote:
Sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline.
No, but it is partly soluble in alcohol, and there are numerous other VOCs used in gasoline blends, some of which it is also soluble in, so really it depends on the particular gasoline in question.
E-85 anyone?
"Sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline" is a half-truth at best...
(Incidentally, Snopes.com is not an authoritative source on anything. Quoting them is akin to quoting Wikipedia... ) _________________ "It means buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, because Kansas? Is goin' bye-bye... "
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:31 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
Pholostan said:
Quote:
Too bad that sugar in the tank is an urban myth. Cars don't break down if you pour sugar in the tank. Sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline. Try it yourself.
Come by and we’ll try it on YOUR car. Apparently you have never seen the results of a sugared engine. What a mess. The sugar leaves carbon when it burns. This freezes up the rings and will bake the pistons right into the block. Sugar dissolves only moderately in gasoline, but enough will get through either in solution or suspension to do the deed. Use confectionery sugar for best results. For even better results dissolve the sugar in ethanol or acetone then add to the gas.
What kind of idiot would pour sugar straight into his intake manifold?!
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:17 pm Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
Well we got hit by siphon thieves this weekend. Truck and car both nearly dry Monday. Figured about 12 gallons from the truck, and 5 from the Mustang. That's $75 gone. Easier then robbing someone.
Shelves have been cleaned out of locking gas caps here locally. Also heard on the news of an Oregon Ford dealership who had 1/2 dozen SUV's gas tanks DRILLED in one night. Crazy thing is everyone knows they only keep a few gallons in the cars that sit on the lot.
It may not be quite like the film Mad Max out there, with violent gangs roaming Britain in search of the few remaining drops of fuel, but for farmers like Eddie Cowpe it feels a little bit like it.
He returned to his farm shop in Lancashire recently to find that thieves had emptied his 10,000-litre diesel tank. What they did not take they let drain away on to his stone yard and into the water course, leaving Cowpe facing a bill of almost £70,000 for the fuel lost and the clean-up.
"I said two years ago that this country was going to see serious civil unrest and riots because of food and fuel shortages," said Cowpe. "It's going to come true. It's a frightening scenario. These people are morons and vandals. They just don't care. I don't know where it's going to end."
Quote:
Oil prices have been on an upward trend since the millennium, when they were around $10-20 a barrel. The huge increases have led to gangs of thieves in lorries or vans fitted with drums and pumps roaming the countryside, often tailing tankers so they can be sure of finding freshly topped-up containers.
Petrol stations are even setting up "stingers" that puncture the tyres of motorists who drive off without paying and farmers are getting together to create secure compounds for their fuel.
Corporal Janse says the mastermind of the 350 gallon, 12 hundred dollar gasoline theft apparently organized his friends to be part of it. Janse says surveillance video shows about 15 cars pulling up one after another to fill up. The video does NOT show any license plate numbers, only the sides of the cars and silhouettes of the pumpers.
Joined: Mar 18, 2008 Posts: 393 Location: Upstate New York
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:28 am Post subject: Re: Gasoline and Diesel Thefts Thread
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Darwin strikes again. Stealing gas with an ELECTRIC vacuum:
A man trying to siphon gasoline touched off a fire this morning that destroyed a van and damaged a townhouse, the Valley Regional Fire Authority reported.
The man was using an electric vacuum cleaner to siphon gas from a 5-gallon drum into his work van in the parking lot of an apartment in the 31300 block of 107th Place Southeast in Auburn. The activity sparked a fire, which quickly spread under the van.
The flames burned a garage and townhouse, the fire authority reported. The occupants tried to contain the blaze until firefighters arrived. The van was destroyed. The townhouse sustained minor damage. No injuries were reported. Linky
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