Shiny Trailer Caused Fire

[Lucky 13]

Has anyone ever seen a fire start because of a very shiny trailer? I did. Our neighbors this weekend at the Tin Can Tourist Rally were sitting outside their very shiny Silver Streak and a hole was burned into the woman's foam sandals.

[TBRich]

Louis & Sergio (LHall) have gone through a couple of outdoor rugs because they got holes melted in them by reflections form their very shiny trailer...something akin to holding a magnifying glass to them in the sun... Weird but true...saw with our own eyes.

[SteSpot]

Our shiny trailer has burned holes in a couple of outdoor rugs....At first I thought something had spilled on the rug and when I looked closer I discovered that the rug had melted like hot plastic......we had been warned so we have not made a big investment in outdoor rugs......so far nothing else has burned....paula

[Stefrobrts]

Wouldn't the rounded shape of the trailers cause most light to be scattered? I think you'd need a concave shape, like the inside of the door, to focus light into a point and start a fire. I've heard of it happening before and I think that's what was involved.

If things are bursting into flames around your trailer, it's shiny enough!

[webspinner]

Maybe a parabolic indentation, like a nice, round dent, would do the trick.

[snake]

That's another great reason to leave the polishing of my Airstreams to the eventual next owners.

Wouldn't it be awful to incur the wrath of Smokey the Bear by starting a blaze while boondocking out in the National Forest!

[Gene]

Only trailers equipped with double action impulse flommulators can melt things and they can even do it at night!

Gene

[safari57]

Well, we all know Airstreams are HOT

This just proves it.

[garry]

I suspect the ghost of previous owners messing with your mind.

[SteSpot]

Not just in front of the door......and since I didn't watch it happen, I cannot report exactly how it happened and at first I was in denial that such a thing could indeed happen.....thought my DH had spilled something on the rug.....but alas, it was not so.....but we did have burn lines on our rug..all horizontal to the trailer but some wider than others......so go figure. paula

[overlander64]

I have seen the holes melted in several plastic mats in the patio area next to highly polished Airstreams over the years. I observed this happen twice on my first Caravan in 1999, and have seen it happen at several rallys since then. When I have seen it happen, the ambient temperature has been over 90 degrees and the sun has been very strong (the trailers in question were in full sunlight).

I have noticed that my patio mat has been warm to hot in places, but my coach evidently doesn't produce a strong enough reflection to start melting the plastic. I purposely asked for the "original sheen" polish when I had my Overlander polished and Plasticoated.

Kevin

P.S.: I have also seen the result of what can happen when a large, male bison sees his reflection in a highly polished Airstream motorhome touring Yellowstone National Park.

[2airishuman]

the annual fried egg and melted patio mat threads...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f441...ire-56614.html

and there are others going back many years.

cheers
2air'