Yet another way to burn your house down.

[eight0eight]

So turns out 0000 steel wool is both conductive, and flammable. I had a few 9 volts sitting in a shelf space with a bunch of bass related tools and such. I shifted some stuff around grabbing cables and saw some sparks. Then it started straight up catching on fire when I picked it up. My first thought was to blow it out, that didn't go well. Threw it into the sink before anything else caught. Kinda freaky since all the stuff had been sitting there for months within inches of where this happened. Even if I hadn't burned the house down this was directly over most of my nicest instruments!

It reminded me of an incident years ago when the two 9 volts in my pocket lined up just right and created a REALLY warm spot in my pocket. Gotta be careful with those 9 volts!

 

[Drunk Heffalump]

Glad you're OK, lesson learned no doubt, that and adrenaline makes the world go so slow.
Pay attention kiddies, cuz I know lots of guys using steel wool to polish frets, not su-prizing all of them have 9 volts in their spares/tool case....

 

[SolarMan]

9 volt batteries and 0000 steel wool are common stuff in a wilderness survival kit.

Works great!

 

[spade2you]

Glad you're alright.

I had a humidifier that started to leak. I decided to put it in a small rubbermaid tub to catch the water leaking out. It shorted itself out before it could catch fire or blow a fuse, but I smell't some smoke. Bad idea. Very lucky it didn't burn up my house and guitar collection.

 

[tplyons]

9 volt batteries and 0000 steel wool are common stuff in a wilderness survival kit.

Works great!

This. Those two are nearly designed to start a fire together. Definitely shouldn't be stored near each other.

 

[Zooberwerx]

9 volt batteries and 0000 steel wool are common stuff in a wilderness survival kit.

Works great!

Learned that in Boy Scouts back in the 60's. Sure beats rubbing two sticks together.

Riis

 

[eight0eight]

We always used a lighter and dryer lint

 

[TolerancEJ]

Steel wool is supposed to be stored in a tin can with a lid. Yes, it is flammable.

 

[rebelscum]

Just put the bit I have in a coffee can, and in the garage.
Thank you for this very important post!

*Edit ... O.P, is your gear OK?

 

[eight0eight]

Yeah, all my gear is fine. Thanks for asking. Luckily it happened while I was looking. Never knew the stuff was flammable but I'll sure take better care of it going forward! Figured I'd post as some others might not know either. I've had the stuff stored within inches of those battery terminals for months now. Scary.

 

[rebelscum]

Good to know! Mine was just sitting in a drawer in my kitchen with random stuff inches away from the electric range!

 

[ShredderMaximus]

They make for cool ghetto fireworks. Well, cooler than those stupid little ash snake things at least.

 

[SolarMan]

Try mixing the 0000 wool with some sugar and saltpetre (potassium nitrate)

Fun!

 

[DblG]

... Never knew the stuff was flammable but I'll sure take better care of it going forward! Figured I'd post as some others might not know either...

Thank You...I didn't know.

 

[RustyAxe]

When I pull a 9V out of its bubble pack I put tape across the connectors. Dad taught me that 50 years ago. He also taught me to start a fire this way (which proved his point!).

 

[jchrisk1]

Cell phone batteries work too.

 

[SirMjac28]

Wow that's freaky glad it worked out and you're safe and this is why I don't watch those Final Destination movies they really creep me out.

 

[RoadRanger]

When I pull a 9V out of its bubble pack I put tape across the connectors.

+1,000,000

 

[eight0eight]

Currently taping my 9 volts. Good suggestion.

 

[6jase5]

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