Exploding Vacuums

[Berto]

Have any of y'all ever had a vacuum blow up/explode/catch fire in the middle of using it?

What happened?

 

[Bushytails]

Nope.

--Bushytails

 

[Grape Ape]

Yes, the vacuum was being used in an area with gas fumes The fumes were sucked into the motor and exploded.

 

[rightsaidfred]

Yeah I was living at a place with crummy carpet like you would see in a weight room with large strands of fibers tearing off down the center of it... some of these extroardinarily hard to break fibers wound up in my Panasonic vacuum and I smelled a lot of really nasty smoke as the vacuum nearly caught on fire and self destructed

 

[Priest]

How large does a vacuum full of gas fumes explode? Would it knock you over?

 

[Bushytails]

gasoline/air explosions aren't incredibly powerful, but you might get a decent pop and some shrapnel if the plastic cracks.

--Bushytails

 

[Gardetto]

This sounds like something they did on that TV show where they test theories...

 

[GreenBeaner]

Oh, that's one of my worst fears. Ever since I learned how to use a vacuum, the thought of it blowing up has always been in the back of my mind. Especially because sometimes when you vacuum you start to smell a kind of burning smell. Fortunately, I haven't had any exploding vacuums in my day.