Thread: Heat and exploding tyres!

Interesting video. Do you think the guy giving the commentary is from a similar place in the US to Tubalcain? His accent and voice is very similar.

Simon

I had that happen on a wheel barrow tyre, probably 20 years ago, when I landscaped the current house.

Filled it up to about 40 p.s.i In the cool of the morning, then left it in the sun all afternoon on a 40+ day. I thought some one had let off a shotgun behind me.

Phil.

Hey Ben,
I just finished cutting some 2 wire hydraulic hose with a 125 mm 1 mm thick Smith and Arrow cutting disc on an angle grinder.
Since the bead construction on a tyre is similar I think this would work for you also.
I think you would need a 1 mm disc not a normal thick one

Absolutely astonishing!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would never have believed that the tyre would explode!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing this scary fact about inflated tyres

Mate I had no idea it could happen!
It's was news to me as well. I always assumed the pressure would rise a little of you were heating the rim....but no concept or a reaction within the rubber.

I was fixing a flat tyre on a little BMX for a local kid when I was in Sydney. I patched it well but was not paying attention to the bulge of the inner tube that made it's way out, under the bead. When that blew...I went white as a ghost..I cannot imagine what a tractor tyre or a truck rim would be do.

I did feel like a goose when I saw the look on the kids face

I drove up to the store and picked him up another tube and fixed it properly!

I have seen photographs of a tin roof. This was no ordinary roof though. It was a tin roof with the very clear imprint of a man embossed in it.
He didn't know that welding on an inflated skidder tyre would be the last thing he did.
A couple more fact about tyres for all:
Tyres can act as a capacitor. If a tyre conducts HV, (over 1000V), electricity, it can maintain a lethal charge for up to 24 hours.

In the event of contact with LV electricity, there is a danger of explosion for up to 24 hours.

In the event of either of these conditions, most mine sites mandate a 500M exclusion zone.

Most mine sites forbid the fighting of tyre fires on equipment.

Two piece (split) rims must be inflated in a cage to protect the operator in the event of separation of the components and should only be mounted/demounted by persons who are competent. Even a 4WD split rim will kill you if it separates.

Any tyre mounted on a multi piece rim, inflated to less than 20% of recommended inflation shall be deemed to be in an uninflated condition and thus shall be inflated in a cage as per manufacturers instructions.

Any tyre that bulges or shows deformity should be treated with the greatest of respect. In the case of heavy equipment, set up an exclusion zone and seek proper advice.

Forklift tyres on 2 piece rims, must be deflated before removal from the hub of the forklift.

The energy stored by a tyre is not unlike that of explosives. Most would not handle explosives if not trained, yet would happily handle an inflated tyre possessing similar energy.

I cannot stress enough, the need to treat inflated tyres of all types with the utmost respect - they will kill you.

Originally Posted by Ben Dono

Well.... Can't say I have ever known anything about it.. News to me but it's worth a post.

Actually, it's worth watching till the end as he describes some other good bits of info.

http://youtu.be/jBUVzgCHHuA

Thanks for posting this.

I am aware that high voltage and tyres don't mix. I have attended an incident where a sugar cane harvester made contact with 66,000 volt wires. One of the tractor tyres was blown off the rim and thrown about 15 metres across the paddock. Given the tyre was over 2 metres in diameter and probably well over 100kg, I was impressed. The driver, who was unharmed, told me he had walked by the tyre only 30 seconds or so before it blew.

One of our work proceedures is that in the event of our vehicles making contact with high voltage wires, the vehicle is to left for 24 hours with no-one allowed near it for this reason.

Cheers

The Beryl Bloke

I have learnt a bit on this post as well! So don't run over downed power lines and keep on truckin?..... I think I will be crawling out of the back window of the ute and jumping off the tray if that happens!
Who would have thought the mundane would have been so interesting (and dangerous)!


I had an old plumber mate warn me about hot water tanks becoming pressure vessels and exploding due to obstructed safety release valves..

(Two piece (split) rims must be inflated in a cage to protect the operator in the event of separation of the components and should only be mounted/demounted by persons who are competent. Even a 4WD split rim will kill you if it separates.) Quote

If you are in a situation where you have to repair a flat or pump one up in the sticks, the safest way, is to put it under the chassis rails of your 4WD.
Kryn

Originally Posted by Ben Dono

Well.... Can't say I have ever known anything about it.. News to me but it's worth a post.

Actually, it's worth watching till the end as he describes some other good bits of info.

http://youtu.be/jBUVzgCHHuA

Don't think I'm going to be so careless with heat on a rim with the tyre fitted anymore.

It's not what I thought it was when I first started watching it. He is describing a chemical reaction within the rubber of the tyre that causes the rapid heat and expansion.....BOOM is an understatement!

I just learnt something with that vid!

FYI, I did not blow up a tyre, I was googling ways to cut through the steel belts to make some molasses feeders for the cows... I'm going to have a crack with a sabresaw.

I have cut tyres with an angle grinder. Not when on the rims tho. Tyres have a lot of wire in the beads. A sabre saw would probably get tangled up in it.

Dean

I would like to know the threshold temp for this process.

If I was wanting to cut up tyres I think my choice would be one of the new "contra cutter" type angle grinders ,these have 2 carbide tipped blades running side by side in opposite directions , so would handle the steel as well as the rubber , unlike an ordinary cutting wheel they will not drag or try to pull the cutter from your hands , I think they are around the $100 dollar mark these days and are very usefull around the place Cheers ~ John

The sabresaw worked a treat. I used the aggressive demolition blade not the metal cutting one. No smoke and smashed through the steel wire. The painfull bit was smoothing out the steel wire with a 40grit flap wheel.

I might give the thin cut off disks a go, but the bloody stench the tyres give off...It makes me a bit green just thinking about it! I would take stinky farm dogs over burning tyre rubber any day!

I think will cut one of the walls (sharp knife) out next time and make one feeder out of a tyre instead of two.
The wire grinds down easy enough but they walk all over them and are sure to bend some of the wires up creating small cow sized tongue cutters! I'm sure the would not be impressed with me!

Unless it's carbon steel belts which I doubt. They would rust out pretty fast negating the risk.

I will pick up some more tyres tomorrow when I duck into town. The ladies have smashed up about 12 random sized plastic containers in the past month so I need to find a better solution.
Next on the list is finding a busted water pipe somewhere on the property and fixing another electric fence energizer....the list just keeps on growing!

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

Tyres can act as a capacitor. If a tyre conducts HV, (over 1000V), electricity, it can maintain a lethal charge for up to 24 hours.In the event of contact with LV electricity, there is a danger of explosion for up to 24 hours.

Bulltwaddle.The carbon black loaded into the rubber composition (to help with UV stability) makes the rubber sufficiently conductive that charge cannot be stored. Otherwise, everyones car would build up a massive static charge over the duration of a long drive. Sorry, just doesn't happen.