Bursting an innertube

[Whale Rider]

still he or she should be careful

[Blown2Bits]

Safety is always a good idea, a lot of damage to your body is permanent or at least does not heal back to 100%.

[PomeranianLooner]

just a word for the wise, popping a tractor tire in an enclosed room CAN kill you. While I dont like popping I dont want anyone getting hurt so please be careful, a truck tube @ 8 barg (that is common pressure) bursting will hurt you severely if you stand directly besides it. min safe distance would be more than 5m! (I assumed a pressurized volume 0,0358m³, energy content if it bursts @ 8 bar is roughly equal to 10g of TNT)

Further reading for those people who are interested in weird numbers and fomulars:
ASME PCC2 section 501 III.

So just be careful...

Sure - bursting tires, especially from trucks, construction and agricultural equipment is indeed very dangerous. Inner tubes are relatively safe, since when overinflated they will not go anywhere near 8bar. Still, basic safety precautions like earplugs and safety glasses should be used. To reach such a high pressure tubes need tires to hold them together, otherwise they'll inflate like balloon at much smaller pressure.

[yet_another_aussie]

Earlier I pumped a bicycle tyre up to 55PSI and rode it for a bit then the front tyre blew as I had bent down low to check the chain tensioner at the rear.
Was pretty loud but was about as deafening as blowing a fresh Q11 to pop in an enclosed space (This was in a shed).



Has anyone else had any similar accidents or deliberately done it?

[Merl]

Would be nice if they were videos of women bouncing on big upturned tubes.

[PomeranianLooner]

When I worked in bike shop, I both witnessed and experienced a few accidents when tube burst during pumping due to defective rim or tire. Bike tubes are always loud.

[yet_another_aussie]

The strange thing Pomeranian, is it burst after holding 55PSI (done via compressor too) and after some low speed test riding.
I am very glad it didn't burst while I was riding it at speed. I actually couldn't stop laughing for a while afterwards

[PomeranianLooner]

The tube itself won't hold such pressure as 55psi, if it's inflated freely it will burst from excessive strain at much lower pressure. When it comes to a bike wheel, you can put even 160psi only because the tire prevents tube from further expansion. But if for some reason the tire bead will slip of the rim, a small piece of tube will inflate outside the wheel (bubble) until it bursts. Sometimes due to tire wear or rimtape failure tube gets punctured by spoke or tire wires coming from the tire.

[Danniballoon]

Exactly... something like this.

[Danniballoon]

Or this... Anyone got a pin