If the engine is not turning, why power off while refueling?

You know the answer. Unless the car is off, the ICE can start at any time, to charge the battery or keep the engine/catalytic converter warm. Also, if it's off it won't roll away on its own if you left it in N.

You got a problem obeying the law?

 

Can you say BOOM really (and I mean really) loud?

Off topic:

I hope you don't use your cellphone while fueling. I almost lost my last car to
a station fire started by the neighboring pumper's conversation!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ May 14 2007, 01:30 AM) [snapback]441492[/snapback]</div>

Following the thread drift: it's not the cellphone in itself, it's the static electricity generated when someone climbs into and out of the car to get the cellphone while the gas pump is running. Once the gas is flowing one should stay with it until the pump is off again. The danger is shown beautifully in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3x-8tj49ac

Thinking up related risky acts is left as an exercise for the reader.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ May 14 2007, 09:02 AM) [snapback]441555[/snapback]</div>

When we refuel airplanes, the first thing we do is attach a grounding wire to the aircraft. Static is a big risk in refueling, and aircraft can generate quite a charge moving though the air. The covered filler holes on cars are less prone to spark induced explosions, but the results are too serious to take lightly.

Tom

 

What's the big deal to simply press the POWER button and turn the Prius OFF? For the sake of safety, not just for the Prius driver but for all others who may be at the Service Station, just power OFF. Another item: I would guess that the GUESS GAUGE would NOT reset normally if you remained power ON during refueling.

 

The Prius will discharge while in N. I don't think the ICE will start, which can put the traction battery at risk if it was already low when you stopped.

Powering off guarantees the vehicle is in Park.

Static electricity is the culprit in the fires; I think the cellphone theory has been debunked.

After all, people us cellphones so much that you could blame everything on them...they're everywhere at all times!

Did you see that? A lady answered her phone in the restaurant and the chef cut himself!

My cellphone made that deer run across the road.

 

I rarely shut my car off for refueling purposes. Usually, I'll just turn on EV, and start filling up. Doesn't matter if it's full or self serve. I don't like turning off the car since my carputer would have to reboot, and I don't feel like having to wait for it.

 

I'm a flight instructor. The protocol for fueling airplanes is to have ALL potential sources of electrical power turned off, and, obviously, the engine as well (wouldn't do to slice the fuel guy up in the prop). Static electricity builds up in the fuel hoses due to the rapid movement of gasoline. There is a remote chance of a static discharge spark where the fuel nozzle meets the metal of the airplane, right over the gas tank. You can imagine the potential consequences of that.

Same thing applies to automobiles. The Prius is very well engineered and the electrical system no doubt is well insulated, but why take chances? And, as has been pointed out, shutting down the power automatically puts the car in park and prevents it from moving. It's also the law.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ May 14 2007, 12:43 PM) [snapback]441722[/snapback]</div>

Boy I could follow you around everytime you filled up and make the monthly quotaes..... LOL :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ystasino @ May 14 2007, 02:01 AM) [snapback]441487[/snapback]</div>

Because the sticker near the pump says that it is illegal to refuel while your motor is running, and your motor may come back on unless the power is off.

It's a matter of obeying a law that is there to protect you (and me).

Harry

 

Aside from the risks already mentioned here, I don't see any good reason to leave the car turned on while refueling. Here are my guesses why someone might want to do such a foolish thing:

1. To get in and out quicker... It really doesn't take that long to hit the power button though, so that's a bust.

2. To keep the car warmed up and not have to go through the warmup cycle again and hence lose some FE points... Since the it's most likely you're not in the station long enough for your car to really get cold, I don't think this is a good reason. And I defy you to show me a significant MPG hit by that one startup you might have saved yourself.

3. To keep a nice consumption graph going... If you really care about persistent data on your driving, get yourself a CAN-view.

If you can prove to your government that there's no chance of the engine starting while you fuel, and that there's no increased risk of static discharge due to electrical systems being turned on, then by all means, get the law changed. Until then, post your photo and license plate here so we all know to take cover when you're fueling.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Earthling @ May 14 2007, 01:10 PM) [snapback]441746[/snapback]</div>

Some of the stickers in our area say that we have to "...remain with the vehicle and in view of the nozzle." I could never understand how the nozzle could see me in the first place, let alone after I shove its head down the filler pipe. I try to follow the law, but I'm not sure how to do it in this case. Perhaps someone from Michigan can explain this to me.

Tom

 

As long as your SOC is aove half and you turn off your AC/heat, there is no reason the motor will start up. Rebooting does take a hit, albeit a small one. If my next stop is through the parking lot to another store (as it often is), the engine will run the whole time for no reason. If I leave it on, I can EV that 1/4 of a mile.

BTW, the law says the ENGINE must be off. If I don't power down, but ensure the engine does not need to start, I don't think I'm breaking any laws. The only time I will power down is if my kids are in the car or I'm in a bad neighborhood and have to go inside to pay.

 

^^^
A lot of times I won't even bother with EV since I know the car is warmed up and won't start. I haven't had the ICE start on me while I was filling. The weather is warmer now so that will help as well.

 

I was under the impression that the answer was already posted:

* Risk of static discharge is increased by a running engine (even if you trust yourself to "ensure" your engine doesn't start, do you trust everyone else? I don't).

* Risk of static discharge increased by active electrical systems.

I think the point of the law is not that you WILL blow up if you don't do as they say, but that you increase the risk. The video linked above is enough for me to say "yeah, it's worth reducing that risk, even if it's a very slim risk to begin with."

If you want hard numbers of static discharge in various operating modes, or statistics about Priuses catching fire at gas stations, I think that may be hard to come up with.

If you did want a poetic reason, which I know you said you didn't, my answer in Haiku form would be:

Power is always on,
Prius eagerly ingests.
Woofer booms, car too.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Angel Flight Pilot @ May 14 2007, 12:00 PM) [snapback]441737[/snapback]</div>

My friends dad worked for Northwest Airlines in the 1960s-80s and he was in DaNang and had to refuel a Boeing 720B with no ground power unit. Interesting to say the least! They had to leave one engine running.

Dave

 

If I am alone, I turn the car off when refueling. If someone else is in the car I press P and leave the system on (doors locked) so that the air conditioner continues to operate.

Around here it's against the law to use a cell phone while refueling a car, although that myth has been debunked (most recently by the mythbusters). It's also illegal to run a red light, but I regularly do it in dark intersections. And, it's illegal to speed, and who does not do it once in a while?