Comments on: Episode 14: Myths Revisited

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:31:08 +0000

Has someone ever experienced a gas hair curler device exploding while packed away in a glove compartment, under a seat or boot?

By: Bangkok - Vagabond electrocuted near Internet cafe neon sign - TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:48:30 +0000

[...] the electric fence was confirmed – you can pee much closer to it, and the stream remains intact. MythBusters Episode 14: Myths Revisited __________________ facilis est descensus [...]

By: Fela

Fela — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:27:24 +0000

I live in Hawaii, and the temperature never gets much above 90 here and is usually in the 80s.

Last month, after I got home at around 1pm, I heard a sound like a heavy book falling on the floor. I walked around the kitchen where the noise had come from and heard dripping.

A can of caffeine free diet Pepsi (which was in a 12-can fridgepack in my pantry along with a dozen other such boxes) had popped open (the mouth of the can was pushed out) and sprayed out with enough force to wet the door of the pantry and the entire shelf it was on, as well as the puddle on the actual floor. Not cool.

Last Thursday it happened again. Same type of soda. Same shelf, even. This time I knew exactly what to look for and so minimized the mess.

My wife and I (she once had it happen, about three months ago, but didn’t find out until hours later and had a big mess to clean up and the shelves were permanently stained with the box artwork) think that this is probably due to heating and cooling of the cans, because it always happens right around the time our home is at around 80 degrees, and right about the time we’ve cranked the AC.

I can’t remember whether I’d opened the pantry or not those days, but I am positive that the cans were undisturbed for at least twelve hours prior to their explosion.

I could probably reproduce this on purpose if I set my mind to it, but not dependably, and I really don’t have that kind of time (or willingness to clean.)

Thank goodness it was diet, or we’d get bugs everywhere.

Diet Pepsi is more carbonated than most sodas, I believe, and maybe the caffeine free stuff is even worse or something (or maybe it’s just at an ideal height for this.)

In any case, MythBusters is so obviously wrong that I’m actually a bit ashamed of them. They’re hurting for material lately, so they should probably revisit this and reclaim their honor, in part.

By: Nat

Nat — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:28:47 +0000

I had a can of Fix-A-Flat in the back of my car, and it exploded yesterday and literally blew apart a paperback book that it was near. The weird part is, yesterday wasn’t the hottest day we’ve had this summer.
So, yea, it is possible, I’ve got a sticky mess all over my car to prove it.

By: AD

AD — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:50:37 +0000

There is no doubt that soda cans can explode in a hot car. It’d be great for Mythbusters to determine the temperature at which this happens. I had about a dozen soda cans explode while driving through Death Valley in July in a van. The air conditioning was on full but it was ungodly hot — the air conditioning can only do so much — and I’ve always wondered how hot it actually was in that van.

By: CB

CB — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:23:32 +0000

RE: exploding soda: I don’t know about that but I had a bottle of semi-sparkling muscat (which is carbonated) explode in the car.

By: BCS

BCS — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:48:45 +0000

I had a can of “Fix-a-Flat” in the back of my car explode today. The can was stored below the trunk area of my Subaru Forester, near the spare tire. LOTS of damage under there…and a sticky mess that took 4 hours to clean out of the trunk. Vehicle had been parked in the hot sun for 8 hours, and I had driven it 2 minutes when it went off. VERY loud.

I think Mythbusters couldn’t get this to work because they were using an older car. You need a car less than 3 days old for this to work. :) Yes, I bought the car this happened to 3 days ago… Luckily it exploded in an area of the vehicle that acted as a sort of “bomb shelter”.

By: DRP

DRP — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:32:22 +0000

I am a safety inspector for a major refinery and folks, cans DO indeed explode inside hot vehicles. The idea that it has to be moving is of no consequence, it may be somewhat contributory in some cases for obvious reasons but the fact that pressure builds up is apparent. I don’t have extended years experiance as a stunt guy but I do have over 20 years experiance as a safety manager and have seen more than a few cans of paint, cola, WD-40 and most any aerosol type can explode. Most with extreme effects on the inside of the vehicle. I even have pictures!

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:56:35 +0000

The exploding soda can was revisted. This is a FACT that they can explode. When they did the experiement they did it in a stationary heated container. What if it was in a moving vehicle where the carbonation is getting more activated? Just like shaking a can and opening it. We had several cans explode in the trunk on a road trip cross-country, this was also in 1978. The soda manufactures have made improvements to their cans, so this could also be a fact finder.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:47:15 +0000

They need to revisit the can theory, I had a six pack in a cooler in my truck and thought it would be fine, came back a few day’s later and had a major mess, dried coke all over the windows, headliner, etc….everything was coated in nice sticky, dried coke. You couldn’t even see out the window. I hate to tell them this one is fact.