<VV> magnesium fans

[Roger Gault]

It's going to be pretty hard to light of a fan with a torch.  To get mag to
burn you have to get it up to the ignition temp.  This is easy with foil or
powder, but the fan is pretty thick.  Since mag has a high heat
conductivity, the heat is just conducted off to the areas outside the torch
flame and the area under the torch doesn't get hot enough to burn.  Like
trying to braze copper.  Now, if you put it in a fire larger than the
fan.....

Roger

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "D. Barry Ellison" <bars84crx at hotmail.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 5:14 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> magnesium fans


> Really strange how some topics hit home at the right time.
>
> I DO NOT ADVISE ATTEMPTING THE FOLLOWING !!!!
>
> DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!
>
> A couple of years back I powder coated my fan red.  Some of it's cracked a
> little so I decided to take it all off and just paint it.  The easiest way
> I've found to remove powdercoating is with a propane torch.  I breaks it
up
> enough that a light sandblasting takes it off easy.
>
> After I touched the top of the fan with the torch and the first part
started
> to smoke like usual, I said to myself, "Oh poopsky (only I didn't say
> poopsky, but the S word)  I'M PUTTING A FLAME TO MAGNESIUM!"  My eyes got
> big and I backed away.  Then I realized nothing happened.  So I tried it
> again, nothing spectacular happened.  I finished the entire fan w/o
> incident.
>
> I'll try to find a cracked fan and run some tests to see how much it takes
> to ignite.  Should be fun to tape it and post it to YouTube.
>
> Update: Got this from Wikipedia...Magnesium is a highly flammable metal,
but
> while it is easy to ignite when powdered or shaved into thin strips, it is
> difficult to ignite in mass or bulk. ...Burning or molten magnesium metal
> reacts violently with water. Magnesium powder is an explosive
hazard....The
> autoignition temperature of magnesium is approximately 744 K (473 °C, 883
> °F). ....
>
> Also according to Wikipedia, propane burns at (1995 °C/3623 °F).   I guess
> it being in bulk saved me, plus that I didn't really hold it in one spot
for
> any length of time.  Not pure enough maybe?
>
> Your mileage may vary.
>
> There, that should "fan the flame" on this topic.
>
> Barry Ellison
> 65 Corsa 140/4 Black Coupe, soon to be running again, on jackstands
awaiting
> parts
> 64 110 PG, on jack stands awaiting parts
> 61 Lakewood, on jack stands awaiting parts
> 65 Monza 140/4 Red/black top vert, under cover
>
> >From: Geoffrey Johnson <geoffj at unm.edu>
> >To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
> >Subject: Re: <VV> magnesium fans
> >Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:11:06 -0700
> >
> >My father caught one on fire, I am not sure exactly how.   Yeah, he had a
> >hell of a time putting it out.   Think he had to cover it with dirt and
> >stomp on it to starve out the fire.
> >
> >
> >>>
> >>>Subject: <VV> magnesium fans
> >>>
> >>>Has anyone, um, tossed one of these on a bonfire, just to see what
would
> >>>happen? Sort of like the vacuum cleaner blowups taken to the next
level.
> >>>I've seen magnesium burn, and it's rather intense. Not sure you can put
> >>>out
> >>>a magnesium fire...
> >>>Just wondering....
> >>>
> >>>harry yarnell
> >>
> >
>
>
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