Paint can in pressurized plane

benyflyguy

benyflyguy

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A buddy of mine called me with a neat question.
Can you take standard unopened 1 gallon paint cans in a pressurized plane?? plane pressurized to ~8k with altitude usually FL250.
Only a few cans. Was going to be in pressurized part of plane.
I don’t fly at those altitudes. But my rationale was that the paint doesn’t know the altitude it’s at- it only would be subjected to 8000’.
 
I’ve never tried it but I expect it would be OK… id put the paint cans in a plastic tote or something like that to contain any paint spill just in case though.
 
benyflyguy said:
A buddy of mine called me with a neat question.
Can you take standard unopened 1 gallon paint cans in a pressurized plane?? plane pressurized to ~8k with altitude usually FL250.
Only a few cans. Was going to be in pressurized part of plane.
I don’t fly at those altitudes. But my rationale was that the paint doesn’t know the altitude it’s at- it only would be subjected to 8000’.
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The paint isn't the concern. The air in the can is.

There is about a 10 PSI difference between pressure at sea level and 25,000'. If a paint can lid is 8" in diameter, the total area is PI*R^2 = 3.14 x 16 = about = 50 in^2.

Multiply 50 in^2 x 10 PSI and you get a 500 pound force trying to open that paint can at 25,000' in an unpressurized airplane.

This seems like a lot, so someone check my math...
 
It wouldn’t explode if you had it in your car and drove it through - over the Rockies to Leadville which is about 10,000 feet. It will be fine.
 
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Bigger question - can you take a pressurized can in a painted plane?
 
kyleb said:
The paint isn't the concern. The air in the can is.

There is about a 10 PSI difference between pressure at sea level and 25,000'. If a paint can lid is 8" in diameter, the total area is PI*R^2 = 3.14 x 16 = about = 50 in^2.

Multiply 50 in^2 x 10 PSI and you get a 500 pound force trying to open that paint can at 25,000' in an unpressurized airplane.

This seems like a lot, so someone check my math...
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That sounds reasonable and would probably not be a good idea. Since he said the plane was pressurized to 8000’ it should be fine.

On a similar note. Many years ago I put my bag containing those single serving containers of apple sauce and some chocolate pudding cups in the unpressurized nose baggage of the Citation. Bad, bad idea.
 
Lindberg said:
Are you sure it wouldn't?
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Yes. You can buy a can of paint in Leadville that survived the trip up the mountain and the lid won’t go flying when you pry it open. There isn’t much air in the can and the can isn’t infinitely rigid. I live at 9100 feet and the worst we’ve had is the very rare instance of a bag of chips popping open just as we get home. An unopened paint can at 8000 feet isn’t going to pop open from the pressure change.
 
FormerHangie said:
How many PSI are in the can already? Do you think the few PSI drop in atmospheric pressure is enough to make a difference?
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I have no idea. But since the lid is held on only by friction, I wouldn't expect it to take a lot.
 
Zeldman said:
I know that taking a bag of Doritos in an unpressurized plane to 12,000 MSL will make a pop noise then Doritos all over the plane and passengers...
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Sounds like a excellent opportunity for some youtuber to make a video.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
That's not true.

No problem taking it on an airliner. Pressurized cans have to be certified by the DOT to withstand any US road and then some without bursting.
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But we're not talking about a soft drink can. We're talking about a paint can with a lid that is pried off.

And the issue of air pressure differential, does the volume of air inside factor in? If it's a full can of paint, there's not that much air in the can.
 
donjohnston said:
But we're not talking about a soft drink can. We're talking about a paint can with a lid that is pried off.

And the issue of air pressure differential, does the volume of air inside factor in? If it's a full can of paint, there's not that much air in the can.
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I assumed spray paint. Did the OP mean a regular old gallon?
 
careful where you put the can....or you could have a paint in the arse. o_O
 
Kritchlow said:
The bigger question… is it hazmat ?
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Very unlikely unless it was some kind of very specialized product and more than 1000 lbs of it was being moved.


Zeldman said:
I know that taking a bag of Doritos in an unpressurized plane to 12,000 MSL will make a pop noise then Doritos all over the plane and passengers...
Click to expand...
From what I understand, chip companies alter their packaging (reduced amount of air blown in before sealing the bag) for product bound for mountain elevations for just this reason.

Also locking clips are available for paint can lids which prevent them from popping open in transport. Probably not a bad idea for a paint can in an airplane regardless of altitude.
canclips.jpg
 
Bags of chips bought in MI tend to pop at 8000-8500.
 
Top popping off would only be a problem in case of loss of pressurization. Are you feeling lucky?
 
I've taken pneumatic wheelchair tires to 10k feet in an unpressurized airplane. Typically I pump these tires up as far as I can get them around 130 - 140PSI.
 
This seems like a good Mythbusters exercise. It wouldn’t be too hard to do. Put a compressed air fitting in a paint can lid. Fill the paint can with various levels of water. Apply pressure and see when it pops.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Nope.
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It absolutely does matter how much air is inside because as other have noted, the paint can is not a truly rigid object. The lid, walls, and even perhaps the paint itself will all deflect and accommodate the pressure change of a small amount of air much different than an large volume of air. Take the extreme case - 1 ml of air in the can. Can a pressure change involving that 1 ml of air actually cause any measurable effect across the entire paint can (in the real world where the can lid would just deform a tiny bit to relieve any pressure)?
 
Zeldman said:
I know that taking a bag of Doritos in an unpressurized plane to 12,000 MSL will make a pop noise then Doritos all over the plane and passengers...
Click to expand...


Z: Sounds like you cheated death, again.
 
bnt83 said:
I've taken pneumatic wheelchair tires to 10k feet in an unpressurized airplane. Typically I pump these tires up as far as I can get them around 130 - 140PSI.
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I’ve taken pneumatic airplane tires up to 43k feet, at roughly the same pressure. While the airplane tires are designed for it, comparing flexible tires to mostly rigid cans is an apples-to-sirloin comparison.
 
Excellent idea for a myth buster experiment.

Let’s do it for Doritos, 2 liter of Diet Pepsi, 6 pack of Corona, and a can of tennis balls.
 
WDD said:
Excellent idea for a myth buster experiment.

Let’s do it for Doritos, 2 liter of Diet Pepsi, 6 pack of Corona, and a can of tennis balls.
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Never had canned or bottled (even twist off caps) containers rupture due to altitude changes.
 
Drop a mentos in one ….. :).
 
Matthew Rogers said:
It absolutely does matter how much air is inside because as other have noted, the paint can is not a truly rigid object. The lid, walls, and even perhaps the paint itself will all deflect and accommodate the pressure change of a small amount of air much different than an large volume of air. Take the extreme case - 1 ml of air in the can. Can a pressure change involving that 1 ml of air actually cause any measurable effect across the entire paint can (in the real world where the can lid would just deform a tiny bit to relieve any pressure)?
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I sit corrected.
 
the can is pressurized to roughly 30-40psi....the altitude differential is increased by 10 psi....the can ruptures greater than 150 psi....no biggie and there's plenty of safety margin.
 
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