A recent thread in a.h.r blamed the government for "ruining" the portable gasoline container: TITLE: The government ruined the gas can... URL:
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Personally, I feel manufacturers ruined the gasoline can, simply by following only half the requirements for a gasoline can.
That half is the government requirement that the gas stay
*inside* the can. Yet, the manufacturers wholly punted on the consumer's requirement that the gas flows *out* of the can!
All photos below are of the Blitz brand, since it's all I could find local Lowes hardware store, here in California anyway:
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The real problem is that the engineers at Blitz designed a gas can *only* to government standards (and not to consumer needs).
For example, the government stipulated that no gas should diffuse or leak leak out of the can, even after a year in the hot sun; and, they mandated that accidental expression of the contents be prevented; and and they required child-proof caps, all of which Blitz engineered into the gas can.
But, the government didn't mandate consumer ease of use. Neither did Blitz design to any reasonable consumer use model.
The result is that Blitz engineers designed a gas can that holds gasoline *in*; but Joe Consumer can't easily get that gas *out*.
In a followup post, I'll describe what I think may be the engineer foibles that resulted, which I know many of you know full well.
I'm also well aware of the common workarounds to the problem, which I will mention later; but if you know of better solutions, now would be a good time to suggest them. The best solution of all, would be a replacement cap - so if you know of one, please let us know where to get it.
The few Blitz portable gasoline containers I own hold gasoline
*in* without losing an ounce by weight even after a full year in the blazing sun, it's almost ridiculous how difficult it is to get that gasoline *out* of the poorly designed Blitz gas can!
A quick way to show how well the can holds the gasoline *in*, is simply to take two cans from the cool windowless shed, as I did just now, and put one in the sun and leave the other next to it, in the shade, for a few minutes (this was after about ten min):
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Bear in mind, both those portable gasoline containers are holding a full 5 gallons, and they still balloon outward in the sun. When they're a quarter full or less, they basically blow over in the wind like a beach ball rolling about.
It should be clear that the Blitz cans are designed only to keep the gasoline *in*, but that no attention whatsoever was made to making it easy for the consumer to get the gas *out*.
For example, pour spout manipulation requires two hands alone:
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The problem with that is we're talking five gallons of gasoline, which you can't hold high in the air with your pinky while you're refueling a standard-sized automobile. So, in effect, you need three hands (two to defeat the buttons, the other to fight gravity).
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Worse yet, your third hand will be holding those five gallons for a long time, because there is no external vent. The internal vent only allows the gasoline to trickle out.
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You'd think these handles conspicuously molded into the can would be helpful under these circumstances, but only the top handle is of any use whatsoever when there is any appreciable gas in the can: (If you don't believe me, try to use that handle & report back):
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Of course, the only logical solution is to remove the button (which the manufacturer designed expecting you to do just that):
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And Youtube videos exist showing where to drill the 1/2-inch hole to vent the gasoline can (again, where the manufacturer left conspicuously thick knowing full well that's what you'd do):
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Since nobody on this planet can stand the pour spout, most of the time you just remove the spout in its entirety and just pour or siphon out of the open mouth of the can.
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That means you'll be removing the cap a lot - so - again, the manufacturer made it painfully obvious what you have to do in order to make cap removal even close to palatable:
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True to the design goal of keeping gasoline *in* the can, even if you tilt the can fully upside down, and do the Harlem Shake, you'll still *never* get all the gas *out* of the can!
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Would one of the engineers on this group explain *how* it can be that the spout isn't at a point where *all* the gasoline comes out when you fully invert the gasoline can???
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The result of this inexplicable design flaw is that the trapped gasoline vaporizes such that it all leaks out into the atmosphere the moment you remove the spout to refill the can.
While we're discussing engineering fixes, a little known yet very serious flaw in the Blitz spout design is that this spot tends to develop a circular crack, within only about a year of use, which again, allows all the gasoline to leak into the atmosphere:
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While common workarounds exist (e.g., remove the button, cut off the ratchet lock, add a tire valve vent, etc.) the one workaround I haven't seen, since the spout is so useless, is to replace it with a plain old gasoline cap?
Just take the damned thing off and use a funnel... seriously.
The nozzle is damn near worthless, a simple screw-off cap would be more practical, less likely to break, and would make it more clear to the end user how to actually get the gasoline out of the stupid thing.
Based on the spout information from Steve W., I just sent an email to snipped-for-privacy@ezpourspout.com (EZPourSpout, 18451 Centaur Road, Wildwood MO
63005) asking if they sell a plain flat one-piece gas cap.
I'll also call them tomorrow at 573-751-2783, and 866-223-6535 to ask the same question. (Blitz USA never returned my calls or emails.)
A plain gas cap would solve all the practical problems inherent in the Blitz USA gasoline cans & would still meet CARB & EPA standards: a) A cap would hold the gasoline inside the can until needed b) A cap could have the same child-proof lock features as does the spout! c) A cap would prevent accidental spills even better than the spout!
The advantage of the simple one-piece gas cap would be that it then gets out of the way when you actually need to pour or siphon the gasoline.
Personally, I siphon the 5 gallon cans into a vehicle and pour the 2 gallon cans into a funnel; but in both cases, I have no need for anything more than a simple flat one-piece gas cap.
QUESTION: Anyone know a source of plain gas caps for Blitz USA gasoline cans?
Because they sell it for containers made -before- 2009. In other words it works because it doesn't meet the regs. See it's up to you not use it on containers made after 2009....
I have only dealt with a few but the thread size on the pre 2009 cans is different than the post 2009 "new style" cans. Likely intentional to prevent the use of older accessories.
I'll try calling Blitz again to see if they changed their threads: Blitz U.S.A., Inc., 404 26th Ave. NW, Miami, OK 74354
Unfortunately, the Blitz USA hotline is out of commission: 24-hour Consumer Service Hotline at 877-922-5489 So is the Blitz local telephone number: 918-540-1515
I'm going to have to order a few caps just to see if they fit. I may also buy the water jug caps, to see if they fit.
If anyone has *already* tested the cap, it would be nice to see if they fit.
Maybe someone can test them side-by-side in the store? (I'll check out my local stores to see if they have both the water jugs and the gasoline jugs to test.)
They are available in some retail stores as well as online. I picked mine up at a Tractor Supply. Might want to check that avenue first, they list the retail stores on the site.
On the ones I have I measured up the original spout and discovered the new ones were the same as far as the seal and seat area, the hole in the cap was the same as well. Bit of surgery later and the new spout was secured with the old cap retainer ring.
The newest can I have is one of the dopey lever style and the yellow ring included did fit it, but the original had a locking tab.
You could also do what I used to do to have a plain cap, cut a piece of stainless with a holesaw and use an O ring to seal it inside the original cap.
I did try the ezpour retail store finder, but there were none in California when I looked at your original link.
That's an interesting idea. A circular piece of gasoline-stable sheet material inside the original spout cap. That might work.
That will be plan C, if the caps I ordered don't actually fit.
PS: I can't be the only one who hates those spouts enough to find a cap that fits, so, if others have tested various other cap suppliers - now is the time to report it to the news group.
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