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Fire!


keninpalamos

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I like many was out enjoying the weather today. Just doing a little bit of fettling to my little Autosleeper. I could smell something burning and it smelt like plastic or rubber. My Hymer was parked just behind the little camper which had the back door open. On the back wall of the wardrobe is a small mirror. As the sun started to fall it hit the mirror and I noticed the heat being produced from 3-4 foot away. The burning smell became more intense and by now I was getting a little concerned. I turned to look at the Hymer, smoke was coming from a wiper arm spindle and the lower edge of the windscreen. It very quickly dawned on me what was happening. There is some damage but could have been a lot worse.

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I think you mean “concave” rather than “convex”, as a convex mirror would reflect the sun’s rays outwards not focus them.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curved_mirror

 

A concave mirror can certainly be employed to focus the sun’s rays and produce fire, as shown in this video-clip

 

 

It’s quite possible that the type of mirror often fitted inside leisure-vehicles will not be genuinely flat (as it doesn’t really need to be) and, if it is actually slightly concave, would focus the sun’s rays quite some distance from the mirror itself. Unfortunately In Ken’s case the focal point just happened to be the front of his Hymer.

 

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Blimey! that could've been nasty.. :-S

 

Off Topic

A few years back we had the rear screen in our Hiace tailgate shatter whilst it was just sat on our drive'..

I heard a loud noise and went out front to have a look but didn't notice anything at first..until I saw the tailgate glass completely crazed/shattered but still in place...

It was parked tail-end in towards the house but the sun was on it..

It didn't have any existing chips or cracks that I was aware of...but I had fitted a "stick-on" Fresnel lens not long before..and I wondered if that was just coincidental or whether it may have played a part?

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A windscreen can shatter too from excess temperatures as I witnessed some years ago on the IOW, I was close to the car and got a few odd stares. I've also seen a breakage in icy weather.

 

We use a concave mirror indoor ... it came with a fire warning so ...

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