Mythbusters Recap: Exploding Lighter
Disposable Lighter Explosion. Apparently there are reports of disposable lighters exploding in certain circumstances - like when they are in your pocket, which would be a very unfortunate place for them to be when they choose to explode. So naturally, it seems like a good idea to see if there is any way to figure out if they do, indeed, explode. The most important part of this test is probably going to be to define "explode".
As in the Exploding Trousers segment Exploding Pants episode, it's one thing if the lighter, well, lights. It is, after all, what it is supposed to do - even if it does so in rather spectacular fashion. But in order to truly explode, there needs to be some rather significant force to it. So with that in mind, let the testing begin.
The first sample is to see if a welder who happens to have a lighter in their pocket while welding might have a problem. I'm thinking this isn't a good idea. After all, a welder is in close proximity to a rather large amount of heat, and the slag coming off the area being welded may be even hotter - if that should drop on the pants of the welder, it won't be comfortable. Who cares about the lighter? But nonetheless, it's probably worth testing, and sure enough, the lighter will melt if it gets hit just right, and then the butane within will ignite - but no explosion. Busted.
Next up is a clothes dryer, which can certainly generate a large amount of heat, but it's lacking a crucial element - the ignition source. So after Adam watches the lighter tumble dry for a couple of hours, it's decided to pull the plug on this test as well. Busted.
Since tumbling the lighter didn't work, maybe they ought to smack the lighter - perhaps with a golf club. In this test, the same problem exists, however, namely that there is no source of ignition. That's a problem easily solved, however, by making sure that the lighter is strapped in the "on" position as the automated golf club swings at the lighter. On the very first try, the lighter does ignite and forms a nice burst as the butane ignites - but it's so unlikely that this would happen. Plausible.
How about if the lighter sits on the dashboard of a car? Those can get pretty hot. While a car has been heated before, it's a lot of work to heat up an entire car (see the Biscuit Bullet segment of the Vacuum Toilet, Biscuit Bazooka, Leaping Lawyer episode for one notable example), so Jamie grabs a toaster oven to do the work. Again, Adam gets the job of watching things heat up while nothing happens. Hours later, there is still nothing happening. Busted.
Jamie then turns up the heat, and at about 350°F, the lighter starts to crack and finally the lighter explodes. A potentially scary moment happens when Jamie starts to walk towards the oven and some gas in the air ignites a few seconds after the explosion, when Jamie is on his way over to the oven (and around the shield) - but 350° is way too hot for a car dashboard, even in the middle of the hottest day in the desert. It just won't happen. Next.
Now it's time for a report from London, where apparently salesman - one would assume a lighter salesman - returned to his car to find that it went up in flames when 500 lighters caught fire. Adam mounts the lighters to a board in the car (the same car used in the Ejection Seat segment of the Mega Movie Myths episode, complete with help from Myth-tern Jess Nelson), then a vacuform machine is mounted above the lighters, and the heat is cranked up. Finally, Jamie has to ignite his "remote ignition" (a rope soaked in gasoline) to get the thing to explode, but when it does, it really goes up. Plausible.
Gunslinger: Quick Draw. Kid Curry is rumored to have been able to drop a coin from his wrist, and before it hit the ground, get off five shots from his pistol. This sounds like a challenge! So Grant, Kari and Tory gather up some period pieces and try to see what they can do. Unfortunately, they can't do much. Even Grant's automatic quick-draw machine can only get off three shots before the gun jams up, so they bring in an expert, Lightning Larry, who is better, but helps them decide that three or perhaps four, shots is about the best to be hoped for. Five just isn't practical. Busted.
Gunslinger: Hole in a Silver Dollar. Is it possible to shoot a hole in a silver dollar with a period gun? Both of the guns they purchased, a Navy Colt and a Colt Peacemaker, were unable to pierce the silver dollar. They each put nice dents in the coin, but they simply did not have the velocity to pierce the coin. A current weapon, the .357 Magnum, did so nicely, however. Busted.
Gunslinger: Shoot a Hole in Coin in the Air. To test this myth, the team brings back Lightning Larry, because, well, their shooting skills aren't very good. So while Kari tosses lead coins into the air, Larry shoots at them, and sure enough, he puts a hole through one while it flies. Confirmed. However, Larry was unable to pierce the silver coin, just like the earlier test with a stationary coin. Busted.
Gunslinger: Shooting Through the Hangman's Rope with One Shot. Luckily, Larry is still hanging around, because there's just no way that the team could take this one (and there's even less chance that they could do it after watching Larry try). While Larry hit the rope on his first shot, it actually took him five shots to cut all the way through the rope and drop the hanging dummy. Even the test dummy in the trailer wouldn't fall for the team. Busted.


















Comments
Well, the myth of the lighter exploding on the dashboard may have been busted on the show but my colleague at work just walked in with shards of a lighter that just exploded while sitting on his passenger seat!
Posted by: Colin | September 5, 2008 3:44 PM
Hi Colin -
Obviously there are times when what happens in real life isn't the same as what happens in a semi-controlled television environment. Now the difficulty is in replicating it, to see what can cause such an incident to happen in the first place!
Posted by: Chad Everett | September 8, 2008 12:39 PM