last night I had a chat with a good friend who lives in a rural area in the South.
Setting out for work he thought his petrol guage was faulty as he had only just put in £50 worth the night before.
Somebody had drilled a hole in the tank to drain it off for their own use!!!
This is definitely an original theft to my knowledge. Its a pity the friction of the drill did not cause spontaneous combustion!
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Old trick, but rising prices may make it more common.
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I don't suppose thieves check the gauge to see whether there is a worthwhile quantity to steal, but it seems to be an argument in favour of not brimming the tank. I usually only add 10 litres at a time ...
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I usually only add 10 litres at a time ...
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Me too, take it from quarter to half full. If this is becoming more common I shouldn't fill the tank since the guage stays where it is when the ignition is turned off.
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I'd like to see their faces if they hoovered the contents of my tank, and got a jerry-can full of veg oil!
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I had a bubble-car syphoned once, I don't know what they put it in, it was two-stroke;>)
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Did they syphon it, BT, or just tip it on its side?
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its normaly the fuel lines i see chopped rather than drilled tanks
this is more usually done on commercial diesels as there is little risk of explosion
obviously muppets
lets hope they got some in their eyes eh
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I assume they syphoned it Madux. It had a cylindrical tank with the filler in the middle. If they'd tipped it on it's side they'd only get half the tank.
I tipped it on a corner once and lost the filler cap, still had half a tank left when we put it back up.
Edited by bathtub tom {p} on 15/09/2009 at 17:34
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>> I usually only add 10 litres at a time ... >>
If I did that I would have to fill up twice a day!
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Its a pity the friction of the drill did not cause spontaneous combustion!
To be able to ignite petrol vapour you need a mixture of petrol vapour and air within a certain ratio range. Too little petrol vapour or too little air in the mixture and it can't be ignited. Liquid petrol on its own won't normally ignite.
Edited by L'escargot on 15/09/2009 at 19:53
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A lot of the fuel tanks on cars these days are made from plastic. Little risk of a spark when drilling one of those tanks, generally the only spark would be the one inside the drill (that is if it's not a brushless motor)
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generally the only spark would be the one inside the drill (that is if it's not a brushless motor)
Or a hand drill. No need for a leccy one if you're only drilling plastic.
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Most likely a cordless.The optimum air to fuel ratio for combustion is 14.6 to 1,known as the Stoichiometric ratio or lambda.
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I would've thought a screwdriver hammered in with the heel of the hand would do the job.
Not that I've ever tried it.
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