Man blows himself up in garage!

[Ivan]

Sadly, very few people have managed to compete with ebay. It's a bit like trying to compete with microsoft.

There's ebid - http://uk.ebid.net/auction_start_page.php

and probably a few others, but they don't sell anywhere near as much as ebay. And yet, I can remember not very long ago, ebay had not taken off in the UK.

[wookey]

As Ken says, it was only a matter of time. People have been empasising for years that methanol needs to be treated with care, and so does sodium hydroxide. But of course people in sheds have never been famed for their compliance with H&S rules so someone managiung to blow themselves up was inevitable. Is he actually the first in say 6 yrs of homebrew BD production here, or just the first to hit the national news? That's actually quite good odds.

And yeah, I've been wondering home come Ebay's fees haven't gone down at all despite them having grown enormously - shouldn't there be some economies of scale by now? And their paypal favouritism is exceedingly tiresome. It's very odd the way that such a theoretically perfect market can actually be quite expensive: there is loads of stuff you can buy new for less elsewhere, which makes no sense. Still, it does have its uses (I just bought a new electric moped for 850 there rather than 1400 from the shop, add 60 quid for a trip to Portsmouth to pick it up, still quite a saving).

[MR GUS]

ebay keep harping on about 'improving buyer experience' and sod the seller, don't worry about copyright infringement, ignore complaints about infringement, seller can pay higher and higher fees etc.

What really gets me worked up is when I get an email saying 'seller fees reduced, hurray for ebay, we're so great' and actually they've reduced listing fees from say £2 to £1.75 and at the same time put their sales commission up from 5.25% to 7.5%. I've complained to Trading Standards and to Office of Fair Trading (both too scared to take on ebay) about a number of unfair/unethical/anti-competition ebay practices (eg forbiding to allow the use of google checkout (a proper credit card gateway) 'because it's unsafe' , and at the same time promote their extortionately expensive and very insecure paypal payment system). Selling something over £50 (or is it £100) now costs around £2 to list the item regardless of whether it sells, 7.25% commission if it sells and you are compelled to offer paypal at a further 4.3%. Oh, and you're not allowed to discount the price if the consumer isn't using paypal 'because it looks like you are penalising paypal users and this doesn't enhance the buying experience').

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

 No you're quite right, think we ought to have some of this moved to a seperate topic though! (please as I dont wish to wander & confuse the topic with my own acid comments on the evil empire (ebay)

[longstroke]

If the Mobile phone induction spark thing whilst filling up with fuel is a hazard have there ever been any fires or explosion on forecourts
attributed to them?

[Ivan]

I've never heard of mobile phone problems in forecourts, although, with a 2W radio transmitter in your pocket, it's a very real possibility.

I remember there was a spate of incidents involving Vauxhall Corsas, when they initially fitted plastic fuel tanks. Tyres on a car act like van-der-graff generators, and cars can charge up to quite a voltage. I can't remember exactly where the problem lay - something to do with non-conducting/insulated plastic, causing a spark to the filler nozzle when inserted, and several cars caught fire on the forecourt.

[oliver90owner]

The problem, as I recall, was initiated back in the 80s(?) when, or before, CB radios became common.

Some used 'burners' (upped the output power) of AM sets (before the FM type of radio was adopted as the norm) and that, they found, scrambled the new electronics in some fuel pumps.  Some managed to fill up without recording much fuel.   Pumps' electronics were quickly modified to avoid the potential revenue loss. The legacy of those early antics has probably got a bit bent and twisted over the years. 

It is like the NHS excuse that mobile phones affect heart monitors etc.  Not a lot of fact there either.  Just their way of making a huge profit from patients by them having to use the expensive NHS phone lines!

Regards, RAB

[MR GUS]

 That & the fact that hospital is the last place you want to be stuck listening to someone else chunter on...
 it may have affected equipment in the past, & so it's easier to blanket ban the infernal mobile phone.

 If you're really laid up most nice nurses will ring & pass a vital message on for you, (mine does)
 The other thing about phones in hospitals is THEFT!

[frotter]

I had two (thankfully small..) methanol 'incidents' while mixing the evil brew at Frot Towers a couple of years ago. Proper 'straight to brown alert' moments i can tell ye!
Both times sparked off by drill mixer.... door open for ventilation and everything. I quit doing it after that and went over to the much safer option of mixing petrol into WVO.... 
Methanol is super volatile and clearly reaches explodable mixtures in air without any smelly clues....
Good for getting reluctant lawnmowers to go, though!   

XX

[Hugo]

I have a friend who's son uses a 40 foot container to brew his own diesel, with no ventilation at all.
I had one look at the set up that he got from flee bay( £1200)  80 Ltrs at a time job, and when he was showing me he used a light connected to an extension cable( risk of sparks there) as it was so dark in there.
I did tell him it was dangerous and that he should have ventilation, to no avail, his set up is right down the bottom of the container.
I think I'll get on at him some more after reading this thread.

Update. Warned him again but to no avail, as he is still doing it his way.

[Ivan]

The health risks of breathing methanol fumes are considerable. He will eventually go irreversibly blind. Carbon-filter breathing masks are totally useless for methanol vapour, and as it doesn't have much smell, you don't realise how badly exposed you are. For his sake, let him know asap!