True tale or "wet" dream?

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Alright, I'm not sure if I'm posting this more intending to give a few laughs to you guys, or to have some engineering minds debate over the possibility and finally test the credibility of the story below.



We are having a debate at work over this... whether it's even possible or not (I am pushing for a test of it in the parking lot). My boss wants to write to Mythbusters and see if they will test it. Supposedly the guy who told us this story may have pictures from the insurance company.



This has nothing to do with diesels or trucks or vehicles at all... but it is a relatively funny story... or so I thought. If anyone does test it, please take a video.



A guy at work told this story:



"When I was younger, living at home with my parents... probably around '91 or '92... I had bought myself a water bed. I got it home, set it up in my bedroom, hooked up the hose. I watched it fill for a few minutes and thought to myself 'A king size waterbed... probably take around 8 hours or so to fill... '



I had a buddy who used to race at Slinger, and we all used to meet up and hang out in the pits and drink beer. So I left to go to the races, and left the waterbed to fill.



I was there all night, drinkin and havin a good time. I finally came home all liquored up. We had a house with the garage underneath the main floor of the house, so when I got home I walked in through the basement. I get inside and there's water coming down pretty good down the back wall. I figure a pipe must have burst so I start looking around, and there's water all over the basement.



I go up stairs and wake up my dad 'Dad, get up, I think a pipe broke, we need to fix it. ' My dad sits up and yells at me 'You might want to go look for your waterbed, it's in the backyard!'



I look out the kitchen window, and sure enough, there it is sitting out by the pool. I look in my room and there's a giant hole in the wall. All that's left are the studs, everything between the studs was blown through into the backyard.



What had happened was my brother came in my room, turned the light on, saw that the mattress was 8 feet tall filled with water, shut the hose off, and left the light on didn't drain the water. Well the bed was blown up enough to be touching the light. When the light heated up it burned a hole in the mattress, and all the pressure released and fired the bed right through the back wall into the backyard. The damages were $8500 in '91... . the insurance company paid it and then dropped us. My dad was p***ed. "

 

[DragonflyDriver]

I vote urban legend wannabee. There's no way the mattress or the hose or anything in between (the connection) would have held up to the pressure necessary that when released would have moved all of that water even an inch or two, let alone through a wall.

 

[JLEONARD]

Yes definately a wet dream on the gulf stream.

We sleep on a waterbed... been sleeping on one (actually several matresses) for 25 plus years. I've drained them, pumped them out, filled them several times.

No way it can expand that much.

It can "maybe" expand a couple of inches over the frame TOPS. First of all the hose connection adapter wouldn't take that much pressure without comming undone. Second, the matress is only plastic and that can only take so much pressure/loading. Third, IF it could, it would exert pressure back on the hose. If I thought it worthwhile I'd do some cipherin' and figure out when it would start putting water BACK into the hose. Fourth, the beams in the house would break from the weight before it would "reach the ceiling" I'm guessing.



But since you're from Missouri (no offense Daniel P) , waterbed matresses are only about $120 or so... ... buyoneandfillerupintheparkinglotandtestityourself ..... if you're so inclined. Make sure you wear a wetsuit. :-laf

 

[JDiepstra]

I also vote bs

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Actually... I'm from Wisconsin, not Missouri.



It would technically never put water back into the hose. Eventually the pressure in the waterbed would match the pressure of the water coming out of the hose and reach an equilibrium. Without any outside force, it would all just sit there like that... .



Although, the heat from the light would cause the water to expand, especially if it heated the water to boiling before it burned the hole in the plastic... that could cause quite a bit of built up pressure.



Of course, like you said, eventually that building pressure would push back into the hose and into the spout. Now... providing all the fittings held, a check valve in the piping to the spout could contain that pressure to the waterbed.



Keeping in mind that everyone exaggerates when they tell a story like this, if you pick apart the fact from fiction, could this really happen? Ok... so maybe a waterbed couldn't fill up to 8 feet tall. And maybe the pressure from a hose isn't enough alone to fire a king size water bed through a wall.



What about if he filled it up on its side (why, I don't know... but he has been known to do some strange things) so that it already was high enough to touch the light. He left the hose run until the plastic stretched as far as it would go and it reached equilibrium and the flow stopped. Then came the light. An incandesent, if covered enough to not be able to be cooled by the surrounding air, I think could heat water to vaporize into steam. Now assuming the fittings hold, and there is a check valve, could the steam build up enough pressure to pop the mattress in the weak spot created by the heat of the lamp? Could the pressure released then be enough to fire off the gigantic water balloon? Now he did tell me that the headboard went first, so would there be enough force to push a wooden headboard through drywall?



I don't know, I'd be interested to test this. I've seen steam do some amazing things...

 

[JLEONARD]

I'm from Wisconsin, not Missouri

I know:-laf



The lightbulb doesn't have the wattage to heat up the mass of water in a waterbed as you theorize... . it would take a very, very long time. A waterbed heater is something like 200 watts I think, and it takes a very long time, hours, to bring the water up to just under 100F. So forget the boiling or steam theory.

And if the bed ever did surround the bulb enough to heat the bed the bulb would be crushed.

Personally I think the first thing that would happen is the floor would collapse. They (whomever they are) say a waterbed's mass is like having a full size refridgerator sitting ona floor... . so and you are describing a waterbed that is what, 6 or so times it's intended size? So that like stacking 6 fridges and expecting the floor to hold? Will it? The floor (2nd story) in my old house never would have stood up to that I can say that for sure.

 

[FFL8N]

A light bulb would never be able to heat that much water any where close to boiling... .

Next, If the frame of the water bed gave way, which it could under that much weight, it could break the supports under the bed and "roll" the bed forward into the wall. Water weight 8. 345 lbs. per gallon. You could easily have enough force to break the studs lose from the base plate and push out the wall. I don't think that the whole bed would end up outside though. If the bed was 7' X 6' and it overfilled to 3' high. 7 * 6 * 3=126. 126*7. 48=942. 48 942. 48*8. 345=7865 lbs..... If I figured this out right... LOL Almost the weight of one of our trucks pushing on the wall... . I think it could give!!!

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

Ok, but the bulb is at the top, so all the water it would heat would stay at the top, and it wouldn't neccesarily have to heat the whole bed. A heater built for that would heat the bed evenly. 200 watts over an entire mass doesn't compare to a concentrated 75 or 100 watts in a small area. Also, most heaters like one used for heating a bed have open loop controllers... in otherwords, there's no feedback in the form of a thermostat or anything of the like. It just controls the power going to the element constantly to not allow it to heat beyond a certain point. It does this basically by truncating the crests off of the sine wave representing the a/c current flow, effectively decreasing the output power to the element. The 75 watts of a light bulb are unrestricted and uncontrolled... and can heat the element up to 4000 some degrees Farenheit. Obviously this is drastcially reduced to the surface by the vacuum or gas insulator in the bulb, but still a lot of heat nonetheless.



I think the floor in my parents house could hold 6 refridgerators, no problem. Especially their not stacked, the weight is spread over the footprint of a bed. But it wouldn't even have to. If the bed was on it's side to start, it wouldn't have to expand to 6 times it's size to reach the bulb. I'm saying it just filled up to the equilibrium of pressure in the hose matching pressure in the mattress. After that, the heat would do the rest.



I don't know... I'm on the fence on this one. If a whole bunch of things fell into place just right to create the right conditions, I do think you could blow up a waterbed with quite some force.

 

[PToombs]

I have some yesses and nos. If the mattress got that big, the bulb would burn a small hole in it, the water would squirt up and pop the bulb. Then the water would drain out of the hole and the mattress would shrink back to the bed size. If it did split from there, the water would just run out, most likely out the door. It wouldn't have enough force to blow out the wall.



If it was on it's side, rolled to the wall, and broke the wall loose, which popped it, the mattress itself would be a soggy mess wrapped around the studs.



I think you been Tippin again. :-laf

 

[JLEONARD]

 think you been Tippin again.

Guzzlin':-laf:-laf:-laf

 

[Paychk]

Ever watch water boil in a Styrofoam cup on an open flame? the water cools the cup faster than the flame can heat it so it doesn't melt until the water boils out.

No way a light bulb would generate enough heat to melt through the skin of a full water bed.

 

[PToombs]

Paychk, I thought the bulb would warm it enough that the pressure would stretch and push it open.



I'm still waiting for Matt to get drunk enough to try this and let us know how it works out.

 

[Tippin Spotted Cow]

One guy here at work absolutely 100% denies that it's possible, so I told him if we try it he can sit on the mattress. I even offered to buy him a nice Evel Knievel helmet and a red white and blue leather jacket with the tassles all over.

 

[JLEONARD]

Paychk, I thought the bulb would warm it enough that the pressure would stretch and push it open.

It won't tranfser enough heat ... similar to trying to unsolder a copper pipe that has water in it.

 

[Paychk]

Paychk, I thought the bulb would warm it enough that the pressure would stretch and push it open.



I'm still waiting for Matt to get drunk enough to try this and let us know how it works out.

The mass of water would keep the vinyl cool enough it wouldn't reach the elastic stage.



That would be a sight!

 

[icman95]

Whether or not it happens-Who cares? If it goes on Mythbusters, you know the ending already. If they can't get it to blow on its own-and I don't think it will-then they call in the retired FBI agent with his bag of tricks and blow it up just for fun. Now THAT I'd like to see!

 

[BigEasy]

wow... I see some folks never paid attention in science class, or everyday life for that matter...