this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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[–] 6daemonbag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is that why I couldn't siphon my gas that I needed for a generator after a hurricane? Not only did I fail at what I thought would be an easy task, I got sick and threw up in my 95⁰ house

[–] Stephen304@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Pro tip for sucking volatile gases, you can suck air into your mouth and push it out your nose without it going into your lungs. I do that when I clean glass pieces with iso when there's still some vapors present. If you exhale out your nose while you do this you can be extra sure none goes into your lungs. Granted you should also be sure you're actually pulling liquid if you're trying to syphon, but at least you wouldn't be pulling into your lungs.

[–] valkyrie@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Stephen304@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why don't you just try it...? It's not that hard to do. Just relax your sinus muscles and close your lips, then alternate between using your tongue to fill the space in your mouth pushing air out your nose and moving your tongue out of the way to create a void, sucking air back in. If you can coordinate this while also alternating between closing your sinuses and opening your lips while you create the void in order to suck air in your lips, and then closing your lips and opening your sinus so that the air gets pushed out your nose, then you'll be able to pump air from your mouth out your nose without using your lungs.

[–] valkyrie@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I guess I'm not really following the technique. But let me ask this: Regardless if you aren't getting air to your lungs then there is no point of breathing right? Since the lungs are the ones that get the oxygen into your bloodstream. If using the technique above is actually effective, wouldn't you choke because of not getting enough oxygen?

[–] Stephen304@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah so you're essentially holding your breath while you do it, so you'd need to take a break to breathe in and if you're trying to siphon you would need to seal your lips to prevent losing your progress / prevent the liquid from falling back down. But you can exhale while doing it, which also helps to make sure your don't accidentally inhale whatever fumes you're "pumping".

Granted it's kind of a silly thing to do and only marginally useful. Each cycle only moves a mouthful of air so I only find it useful for clearing trace amounts of isopropyl fumes from vapes and pipes without hurting my throat, but a fun trick nonetheless if you have the coordination. And depending on the fumes it might still burn your nostrils a bit.

Maybe the better way to explain the technique is: you can close the back of your throat and move your tongue back and forth to push air in and out of your mouth. You can also close your lips and do the same motion with your tongue to push air in and out your nose. All you really need to do is alternate between the two so that instead of pushing the air back out your mouth, you push it out your nose.

[–] 6daemonbag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Haha yeah that was my method. I was just too stubborn and, combined with the heat at the time, courting disaster.

[–] Stephen304@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Ah I thought you meant that you got sick from getting the fumes into your lungs. That's unfortunate.

[–] InputZero@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Yup, you got a lung full of gasoline vapors and nothing else. You need a car siphon pump, they're super cheap and available at any auto store. You just gotta make sure it's got a long hose on both sides and a tube for air to get into the tank. If the hose is too long just cut it. Those stick ones don't work on every car cause some gas tanks have slight bends.