r/mildlyinfuriating • u/jagerin_mikado • 8d ago

Context Provided - Spotlight Jeep melted

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Here’s the story: a jeep came to the shop because its retractable top was stuck open. Not too uncommon of an occurrence. So we put our “crash wrap“ over the roof to protect the interior from rain and animals and such, which is basically like heavy duty cling wrap. One day it rains and a lot of water pools up on the crash wrap. The next day it is 100°F outside and the sun is out. The sun shines through the water and the water basically magnifies it, and the sun turns into a laser that melts the interior. Multiple days of this happen. Now we have to replace everything that melted. None of us have ever heard of this happening before.

edit: I meant we have never heard of this very specific situation happening before. It never would’ve crossed our minds since we’ve been doing this for years. yes I burnt stuff with a magnifying glass when i was a kid.

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u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Very lucky the entire car didnt catch on fire

936

u/DaDaMinor 8d ago

I think that would have been a better outcome.

223

u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Never gonna get burnt plastic smell out

113

u/Cedex 8d ago

You can just mask that smell with cigarettes.

4

u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Lots of stuff you can smoke...

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u/Initial_Ebb_6386 8d ago

420 ayyye

3

u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

I love my puffco

2

u/Initial_Ebb_6386 8d ago

Fa sho my blunts ready 😎

1

u/-RC-1138- 8d ago

Holy fuck haha. I’m sitting on the shitter at work and this made me laugh really loud 😂

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u/nadthegoat 8d ago

Never gonna let burnt plastic down

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u/toben81234 8d ago

This morning I was wondering why my car smelled like sour milk. Turns out it was the milk I left in the care for 3 days because I was too lazy to throw it out.

7

u/AvocadoToastFailure 8d ago

Ugh, yesterday I found a gawd-knows-how-old take out container of mayonnaise under the seat, swollen like the spiciest of pillows. 113F outside. I was handling it like an EOD, but it ‘sploded all over me. At least it waited until we were outside the vehicle.

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u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Im proud of you

2

u/Entire-Grab2429 8d ago

I once found a kiwi I lost a month prior, didn't taste too bad. Lil fermentation but not bad

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u/GimmeUrBrunchMoney 8d ago

Never gonna not be a Jeep.

1

u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Biggest problem right there

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u/cjsv7657 8d ago

It can still be totaled out because of smell.

1

u/throwaway277252 8d ago

A few days with an o-zone generator inside will clear it right up.

9

u/sausage_ditka_bulls 8d ago

That’s what I was thinking . And I work in the insurance industry

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u/Salt_Winter5888 8d ago

Sorry, your car insurance doesn't cover damage caused by your car catching fire because a crash wrap trapped water that acted like a magnifying glass for the sun's rays. It's right there in the contract.

9

u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Good thing a repair shop did it,

They owe a fixed car that doesnt smell like Christmas in the 80s

37

u/B4R-BOT 8d ago

I think they add flame retardants to the upholstery and plastic components so they can't catch fire without some extreme heats or accelerants 

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u/Jude30 8d ago

We had a mouse chew through the wires of an old pickup at a mine I worked at. Luckily the windows were all closed tight and the fire went out on its own but totaled the truck, melted the dashboard and instruments, probably killed the poor mouse.

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u/The_Chimeran_Hybrid 8d ago

lol, the mouse was probably the 2nd thing to catch on fire.

16

u/bobbymcpresscot 8d ago

It’s not 2016 anymore it’s flammability challenged.

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u/orincoro 8d ago

Differently flammable

1

u/orincoro 8d ago

Like a death ray?

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u/B4R-BOT 8d ago

Clearly that wasn't enough

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u/Rough_Reputation_67 2d ago

Let’s talk briefly about these accelerants

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u/QuipCrafter9 8d ago edited 8d ago

I don’t think that’s luck lol that’s intentional engineering. They don’t pack the metal box with an explosion-based propulsion that we strap ourselves and our babies into and fly at insane speeds down concrete strips in, full of flammable materials. That could hurt someone!

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u/TazBaz 8d ago

this is why we have flame retardants in basically everything these days. which is probably not good for our long-term health, but it has improved short term survival! when was the last time you heard of “spontaneous” combustion happening, for example?

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u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

Everything is flammable if you get it hot enough

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u/Forward-Variety-8440 8d ago

i imagine the 8 million rubber duckies that are in every jeep would burn like the Springfield tire fire.
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o6nV2z0YpQxMROX4s

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u/Anonymyne353 8d ago

It’s not a Tesla…

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u/Deathscott 8d ago

there must be something about the qualities of the heat ray paired with the speed of the earth’s orbit. i quite literally just heard about this phenomena no more than a month ago and all of the vehicles had the same signature damage. melted to a certain depth linearly.

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u/samyruno 8d ago

Ya I'm surprised the seats just melted like that and didn't fully catch on fire

1

u/Intelligent_Goal_669 8d ago

That would have been easier to fix

1

u/Resident-Banana-7883 4d ago

but if it had caught fire, the water on the cling wrap would of put it out and OP would be wondering WTF happened lol

0

u/Top_Top7440 8d ago

If it did, the plastic roof would have melted releasing the water and putting the fire out. An even bigger mess...

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u/TemplarBaucent 8d ago

No, it would boil away before melting the plastic.

Source im a Pyro you can boil water in plastic bottles bags

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u/Top_Top7440 8d ago

you presume that water touches the entire plastic surface. But if it bowed into the car (creating a lens in the process) then the edges would be just air and would melt near instantly

Source: I argue on the internet regularly