kill them all! - the new gas can?

[Danny D.]

gfretwell wrote, on Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:16:38 -0400:

I haven't tried that, but if we can spec it out, that would be the ultimate handymans' solution to the entire problem!

[Danny D.]

Unquestionably Confused wrote, on Wed, 10 Sep 2014 19:25:22 -0500:

That's exactly what I do when I store the five gallon gas cans empty!

If I screw the spout on tightly, as if the can is full, the twenty-something psi bloats the can like a beach ball.

So, I too, leave the spout on loosely when the portable storage container is empty. I do try to get all the liquid out when I'm emptying it though, as there's no sense polluting more than we have to to live with the idiotic design of these gas can spouts.

As I said before, the solution is to find a good gas cap, which solves almost all the problems almost instantly.

[Danny D.]

J Burns wrote, on Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:36:21 -0400:

Legally, in California, you can carry up to 600 pounds (yes, pounds) of hazardous materials in your car (or truck) without needing a special permit. That's more gasoline than you can carry.

In NY, I believe it's 25 gallons, which is less gasoline than you can carry. I can carry about 50 gallons in my trunk, for example.

[Danny D.]

J Burns wrote, on Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:36:21 -0400:

Probably because they're not airtight?

I've read the spec, but it has been a while since, so, what I remember is that it can lose almost nothing (in ounces) after so many days at such and such a temperature outside.

[Danny D.]

BobMCT wrote, on Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:47:29 -0400:

I siphon all the time, as the wife hates to fill up at the gas station. It takes me about 4 minutes and change to empty five gallons off the roof of her car, but I use a ten-foot clear hose, of about 1/2 inch ID and use mouth suction.

Every once in a while, it gets me.

I've learned a few tricks, such as having three hoses so that I can do three five-gallon cans in sequence without breathing in any vapors.

[J Burns]

A couple of weeks ago, a hospital security official informed police he suspected a man of having gas in his trunk. They went for a warrant. The judge said if they suspected gas in a trunk, it was a public emergency and they didn't need a warrant. They brought their drug-sniffing dog, and he alerted. That guy's in big trouble now!

I've read that if you carry gas in a trunk, you should leave the trunk open and not combine that trip with other errands.

I put my can on the pavement before filling. If it's on the mat in a truck bed, a spark could jump between the nozzle and the can.

[J Burns]

The one I had was airtight. The vent was a tiny hole just above the threaded hole where the flexible metal pouring tube screwed in. When you screwed on the steel cap, it sealed everything with a rubber washer. I felt secure against leakage.

Plastic cans used to allow some of the volatile stuff to permeate. Whether or not this was a pollution problem, the fuel wouldn't be as good in the future. CARB cans are treated against permeation, I believe.

[Danny D.]

J Burns wrote, on Thu, 11 Sep 2014 01:46:53 -0400:

Since I carry 50 gallons of gas on my trunk all the time, and, since I've checked with the fire marshal & OSHA regulations for storage, and since I've checked with the CHP for transportation, I was surprised at what you wrote ... but ... if you read the article, you find he had completely assembled molotov cocktails in his car.

In addition, while you mentioned the "hospital security official", you didn't note that the perpetrator was a patient in their psychiatric ward, who had expressed ?homicidal tendencies?, according to the article and that a crossbow was in the car in addition to 25 molotov cocktails.

So, I wouldn't exactly characterize what the police termed "entirely assembled molotov cocktails" on the same level as someone transporting 10 five-gallon cans of gasoline in approved containers.

[J Burns]

;)

I wouldn't want to carry 50 gallons of gas in my trunk in consumer cans all the time. I'm sure no trucker would bump my trunk on purpose, but plastic cans may deteriorate and crack. It reminds me of the line from Young Frankenstein: "A riot is a terrible thing once it gets started."

I wasn't aware of it, but some military jerry cans were plastic. The National Forest Service, National Parks Service, and Bureau of Land Management, have prohibited the plastic ones since 2012 except in saltwater environments. They specify metal jerry cans meeting specification UN 3A1. For transportation, they recommend replacing the self-closing lid with a bung.

I'll put that on my shopping list.

[Pete C.]

The most recent design I've seen is a normal-ish push lever valve that works fine once you take a pair of pliers and rip out the stupid little lock tab you otherwise have to flip each time you use it.

[Dan Espen]

Hey, I remember the guy with the nutty wife story. Seriously, instead of enabling nuttiness, you should be doing something to stop it.

50 gallons of gas is around 400 pounds. That does wonders for your gas mileage, and is seriously dangerous. We just had a woman die in NJ, partly due to gas fumes in her car. Those cans can easily rupture in an accident.

[gfretwell]

Transporting gasoline in anything but DOT approved container or the vehicle gas tank is a violation. That is why that NATO can was illegal. It is not a DOT approved container ... and probably not red.

I had a guy screw with me once about putting gas in a diesel can and that is the same can, just yellow.

[Danny D.]

Dan Espen wrote, on Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:37:28 -0400:

A kid got bitten by a mountain lion last Sunday here in the Silicon Valley. A truck ran over 11 cars, and killed one guy on highway 17 about a month ago. There are something like 22 murders in San Jose to date.

Life was never perfectly safe, but, still, the chance of blowing up in an accident, while it is non zero, is probably less than that of getting bitten by a rattlesnake out here (which almost happened to me just last week).

Besides, if it's any consolation, Myth Busters had a devil of a time blowing up a Cadillac. IIRC, they had to resort to incendiary bullets, and the spilled gas wouldn't ignite from a cigarette.

Of course, gasoline vapor *does* explode, but, luckily, the cans

*do* seal the gasoline in pretty well, so, given I'm at retirement age and I've never had even a fender bender in my life, the odds are pretty good that I'm not going to get into an accident on my way home from the gas station.

People who are that afraid, by the way, shouldn't drive, just as if people are that afraid of poison oak, ticks, west nile virus, ebola, rattlers, black widow spiders, etc., shouldn't walk outside.

[Dan Espen]

Afraid?

Are you referring to someone afraid to fill up at a gas station?

I'm not afraid, just pointing out that gas cans in your car is cause for concern.

[Unquestionably Confused]

No, I haven't and for the exact reason you give.

Using the plastic 5 gallon cans with or without the screwed up spouts, it's not all that difficult to fill the Bobcat's tanks as they are at a convenient height and provide easy access to the fill neck. AAMOF, of late once I get the first gallon into the tank from a full can, I just set it down and remove the spout altogether. With the installed valve stem vent open, I just pour it into the tank without a funnel. The angle and the wide mouth filler neck make it a snap.

As for him that said he pours out five gallons in 20 seconds... Bullshit! You couldn't empty a five gallon can on the ground in that time let alone into a fuel tank.

[nestork]

Is there some Department of Transportation regulation that requires gas cans to be red and the corresponding cans for diesel fuel to be yellow?

It does occur to me that every Wedco plastic gas container I've ever seen has been red in colour, but it never crossed my mind that it was SUPPOSED to be red.

And, is there any reason for this?

[Doug Miller]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Time it. I think you'll find it's a lot more than 20 seconds.

[J Burns]

I sometimes pour gas into my riding mower without screwing the spout on, but it pours a lot faster with the spout. Head supplies the energy to make a liquid flow. With no spout, I have a fraction of an inch of head. With a 10" spout pointed down, I have several inches of head.

If I were to pour the gas into a funnel, I wouldn't have much head in the can or in the funnel.

Head supplies the energy to accelerate a liquid. Accelerated to a given speed, 4 times more will flow through a 1" opening than through a 1/2" opening. You can dump a can fastest if the spout has the largest opening that will fit your tank.

Turbulence slows flow. If a spout is tapered, being as wide as possible where it fastens to the can, it will cause less turbulence than a straight tube. Corrugations will cause turbulence.

Viscosity slows flow. If I entered a gas-pouring race, I'd let the can get hot in the sun before pouring.

[Unquestionably Confused]

I found numerous references in government sites (CA and VA, for instance) mandating red for gasoline, yellow for diesel and blue for kerosene. Can't find the federal standard but you can bet your bippy it's there someplace.

Reason? To make it very clear what's in the container of course. All you have to worry about is the guy who puts gasoline in the kerosene container or diesel in the gasoline containter

[J Burns]

A neighbor didn't care about can colors. When she lit her kerosene heater, it became obvious that she'd filled it with gasoline. She escaped injury, but the mobile home she was fixing to rent, was destroyed.