Many people cannot figure out the reasons behind a loud noise, smoke, and oil leakage from the lawn mower and get confused after seeing an explosion. You should leave your mower when these signs appear, as it can blow up.
Can a Lawn Mower Blow Up? A lawn mower can blow up due to refueling when its internal temperature is high due to hot weather or overworking. Moreover, grass clippings can cause clogging of mufflers that cannot reduce the exhaust noise and causes an explosion. Furthermore, it can explode due to oil leakage or spilling, dirty deck, and changes in the internal components.
There are different types of mowers, like gas-powered, battery-operated, or electrical ones, but all are equally at risk of explosion due to poor maintenance.
Furthermore, excessive use of lawn mowers can pose a risk of explosion as all of their internal components can heat up.
What causes a lawn mower to blow up?
Different factors are responsible for blowing a lawn mower, including grass clippings, an unstable engine, damaged cooling fins, etc.
Refueling of hot lawn mower
You should take care of the lawn mower’s condition, whether its motor is too hot or cold, as high temperatures can burn this grass-cutting tool.
There is a risk of accidental spillage when filling the tank when all its components are in burning hot condition due to excessive use. This can cause this mower to blow up.
Sometimes, the external temperature is high, which can raise the temperature of metallic components when you take them out for mowing.
Furthermore, spillage of the fuel on the hot components can cause a fire hazard that will be difficult to control.
Accumulation of grass clippings
Grass clippings are equally responsible for the explosion of the lawn mower as a spillage of oil on the hot motor or other components.
These can get stuck inside the deck and are responsible for the blockage of the muffler. The muffler needs to be in a functional condition that can help reduce the exhaust noise.
It avoids the production of sparks that can burn the stored clippings, so a clogged muffler raises the possibility of the production of sparks and burning the dry grass.
This can give rise to a risk of explosion in the lawn mower and makes you unable to get control over the blazing fire.
Collision to metallic objects
The presence of stones and other metallic objects in the garden can affect grass growth and interfere with the mower’s working.
The quick movement of blades has the potential to cut everything that comes in its way, so the rocks and hard surfaces can have a negative impact on iron plates.
Moreover, this direct contact between the hard surface and blades can give rise to a spark that is enough to initiate a fire when dry grass is stored inside the deck.
Therefore, it can put a lawn mower at risk of blowing out; that’s why removing all the stones, and metallic objects from the grassy ground is better to avoid interference.
Oil spillage and leakage
Gasoline or other fuel types can be responsible for blowing a lawn mower because its flash point is lower than the temperature achieved by the blades when it is working.
It can catch fire in case of accidental oil spillage on the lawn as the motor gets hot when you turn it on.
Similarly, flammable oil in the mower can be risky if it starts leaking on the ground.
So, it is better to look for oil spillage in the garden before starting the mowing process to avoid such fire risks.
Dirty deck
A dirty deck can be the root cause of a severe fire hazard as it is responsible for overheating the machine.
When you do not regularly clean the deck, the lumps can stress the internal components and raise the temperature. This happens when you leave the lawn mower in the rain.
The blades have to struggle hard for movement due to difficulty cutting, which can also exert stress on the engine.
Most commonly, the wet grass accumulates on the deck instead of dry grass and produces black smoke.
Changes in internal components
Its instruction manuals provide information about not interfering with the internal components as they are designed specifically.
However, some people like to do experiments by bringing changes in the internal parts and making changes in the carburetor and the fuel system, etc.
It can raise the probability of explosion risks if you cannot reconnect the carburetor system after disconnecting.
Therefore, the engine’s speed increases when you turn it on, which can cause its blowing.
How do you protect lawn mowers from blowing up?
It is not difficult to protect a lawn mower if you have read the manual carefully before operating it. In addition, the manual explains all the maintenance guidelines that can help you avoid explosions.
Regular maintenance of the deck and cleaning of the internal components are essential to improve its durability and reduce inconvenience due to explosions.
Moreover, avoid cutting wet and tall grass as it can interfere with functioning and stress the motor. In addition, the larger grass takes a lot of time to cut down and makes it prone to damage.
Therefore, it is better to quickly mow the leaf blades when they reach a height more than the desired length.
You can sharpen the blades to improve their working and reduce the chances of an explosion, as dull blades need more force from the engine to operate effectively.
Furthermore, cleaning the filters and maintaining cooling fins can also help avoid heat buildup by reducing the internal temperature.
What does the color of smoke from blowing lawn mower indicates?
You can see three different smoke colors that arise from a blowing lawn mower depending on the cause of the explosion.
A cloud of white smoke indicates fuel burning with oil when it finds its way through the motor, or it can be a new machine.
Moreover, it can also appear whitish due to overfilling of the crankcase. In the same way, blue smoke comes from it when fuel is spilled over the motor and begins to burn immediately.
Furthermore, black smoke indicates excessive burning of fuel due to lesser excess of air in the combustion chamber.
It tells you about the poor mixture of fuel and air due to the clogging of air filters, as air cannot get mixed with fuel in the right proportion.
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