Previews

Gold Rush: White Water exclusive – Fred sucks on a gas pipe and do not try this at home

Fred Hurt siphons gas in a bid to clear his fuel tanks that are contaminated with water. Pic credit: Discovery.
Fred Hurt siphons gas in a bid to clear his fuel tanks that are contaminated with water. Pic credit: Discovery.

A little friendly caveat before we jump into our exclusive sneak preview of Gold Rush:  White Water on Discovery tonight, Friday.

The footage you are about to see is done by an old hand who has done it before and knows exactly what he is doing.

But “Dakota Fred” Hurt may be a seasoned pro and yet, he might be thinking to himself, “I am too old to be having to do this s***!” What we do for money and treasure hunting the gold.

His capable son Dustin Hurt is not in this week’s clip, but fans saw him have a stellar week last click as he found decent-sized nuggets at the bottom of the waterfall area in the creek where gold had settled from eons of pounding water.

Gold Rush: White Water preview

In the clip, Fred explains why the motor isn’t working right and shows his team the trick to discerning what could be wrong. Water has leaked into the tank, and the mixture of gasoline and water turns a milky hue thanks to volatile and oily compounds in gasoline.

Explaining his analysis of the problem, Fred says: “So, right now, all we’re gonna do is try to drain some of this gas into a pan here. Let’s go ahead and find out if we got anything in there.”

His companion says it is not looking good. Fred agrees.

Explaining further, Fred says: “That gas would be crystal clear… it’s milky. That’s water in the gas tank right there, so you get water in the gas, then a gasoline engine will not run. You’re gonna have to drain every bit of that gas out of that or siphon it out. Just bring one of them hoses… I’ll be the victim, and I’ll do the siphoning on it.”

He adds: “This is not gonna be fun. Hoooh-whoah alright! There you go!  You think I siphoned gas in my younger days [laughs].”

Why you should never siphon gas with a hose

There are many dangers to siphoning gas. First are the dangerous fumes and the flammable nature of gasoline, so a spark or a lit cigarette nearby can ignite you in flames.

Also, by doing what Fred does in the clip, you can ingest it, and it is poisonous. If it is ingested even in the smallest amounts, you can get stomach irritation, not to mention it poisoning your nervous system and causing inflammation of the lungs.

Swallowing enough gasoline can put someone into a coma and may even cause death.

Diesel vapors can irritate eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Excessive short-term exposure can cause dizziness, extreme drowsiness, a loss of coordination, blood pressure elevation, severe headaches, nausea, asphyxiation, and lung damage leading to pneumonia, according to the CDC and other poison sites.

Enjoy the show, the gold stakes are super high for the Hurts, and the results so far are promising, but please do not do this type of equipment maintenance that Fred and his team are doing on the series at home:

Gold Rush: White Water airs on Fridays at 10 pm on Discovery Channel.

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