I see that Scewfix, among others, is seling 20 litre jerry cans.
I thought it was illegal to use these for petrol storage, e.g in one's garage. IIRC the limit was two 5-litre cans.
Am I wrong on this? What is the current position?
Apologies; that should be 'Screwfix'!
Google for five minutes and you'll find lots of previosu discussions about this
Kate ( snipped-for-privacy@all.invalid) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Plastic. These are metal. The regs also vary according to distance from house/road.
They're also a lot cheaper off the army-surplus 4x4 suppliers - have a look in one of the Land-Rover mags.
Oh, and you don't HAVE to keep 'em full at all times. Petrol goes off, remember. Or you could put diesel in 'em.
2 x 5l in approved plastic. 2 x 10l in suitable metal.
20l jerry cans are illegal for petrol but not other flamable substances.
Google will produce the minefield of regulations pertaining to storage/transport of petrol, in/near/distant to buildings/habitation/flamable structures.
Whether legal or not it is not sensible to store petrol in a garage, especially if attached to a house. Of course jerry cans can store any liquid, even water.
Huw
I wonder when _they_ will decide that calling these 'cans, storage; fluids for the use of' by the name 'Jerry can' is a hate crime glorifying the war?
AIUI, the army in the desert campaign received their water in 'unfriendly' tins which couldn't be reused and which caused lots of wastage ... apparently the LRDG discovered that the Afrika Korp has a very good method for carrying water which was adopted/knicked by the British Army ... a 'Jerry' can!
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Brian
My Screwfix ones rusted with gas oil in them.
The message from Kate contains these words:
I use one to store paraffin.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ could you expand on what you men by this? I have about half a small container (2 - 3 litres) of unleaded that's many years old. Are you saying I shouldn't use this in my car - or just that you expect it to evapourate?
Pete
On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 13:09:25 GMT,it is alleged that Peter Lynch spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:
From what I understand, the more volatile components evaporate (believe it or not, part of the volume of normal petrol is butane and propane gas, in solution). What's left is less flammable, slightly.
Mixed with new, it should be perfectly ok. On its own, it may not have the 'oomph' to start a cold engine, although this kind of problem is usually reserved for lawnmowers that have been sitting over winter etc.
No, you have a small container of gunge that will choke up your carburetor, and put a layer of varnish in the cylinders.
DO NOT, REPEAT NOT, USE IT IN YOUR CAR!
I've got a jerry can marked "OLD PETROL - DO NOT USE", after about 6 months any left in the other cans goes in there. Handy for bonfires.
|On 2006-03-21, Adrian wrote: |>
|> Oh, and you don't HAVE to keep 'em full at all times. Petrol goes off, | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |could you expand on what you men by this? I have about half a small |container (2 - 3 litres) of unleaded that's many years old. Are you |saying I shouldn't use this in my car - or just that you expect it |to evapourate?
I once put some very old petrol from a can into an empty tank, and it was the classic "kangaroo petrol". The problem cured itself when I filled the tank up at a pump. At the time I blamed it on water in the petrol, but did not take it further.
From then on I emptied the can into the tank monthly.
In your case I would fill the tank and then add a liter of the old stuff. continue till it is all used.
The message from Peter Lynch contains these words:
There's quite a lot of dissolved butane in petrol, which makes little difference to the running of engines, but the lack of it can make 'em a bastard to start.
Fuel ageing is quite a well known problem - fuel stabilisers are available - often from chandlers, outboards often get left unused for months on end.
Briggs and Stratton - who are quite reputable - sell it, for a start.
During one petrol crisis I hoarded a small quantity. Some was in metal cans, and some in plastic. The contents of the plastic containers 'eveporated' but the steel ones were ok. It all worked fine when used, though.
I find it quite amusing that you consider old petrol just 6 months old unsuitable for use in a car (it's still usable) yet you consider it suitable for bonfires :-)
The message from Matt contains these words:
Well, you know some people - they don't care whether a bonfire goes whumph or whoomph.
It still burns OK (eventually), but leaves gum behind.
My bonfire doesn't mind, my car does.
Perhaps I being a little over-cautious over the time, but half a can of petrol costs a couple of quid, an engine strip costs a lot more.
Limp Dick.
Thin tinplate cans that needed a wooden case around them for strength. They did get re-used, but they tended to split of dropped.
The "Jerry can" was an obvious idea that had already occurred to the British. The German gimmick to their excellent design was the use of quick and cheap roller resistance welding to seal the seam.
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