Pour spout for gal cans

May 12, 2012 25 Replies

I made a pour spout years ago. It's worked great , but it has a few issues. The seal to the cap can leak. and the cardboard/foil gasket kept falling out.



When it fell out last time I lost it.. I tried to replace it with an o ring but none fit. So I went through my plumbing stuff and again nothing fit. So I made a gasket from a seal that was too large. I cut it in half to thin it, and also slit it to fit in. Sometimes it works and sometimes not...



I am no good at making a gasket with permatex, only gaskets that you compress in a bolt down...



Do any of you know of a solution short of going back to a cardboard/foil gasket?



Image here:

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allows me to pour alky and spirits without a funnel.


--------------------------------- Buy a gallon can with a flex spout.

Designed for the job.

Will be less costly than a custom gasket from a die house.

Lew

Damn! You just solved a problem that has been bugging me for many years.

tiredofspam wrote in news:yPOdnY5I2J-gXDDSnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@ptd.net:

It really isn't too difficult to pour from a can such as in the picture without spilling. The trick is to keep the opening at the highest point of the can. Of course with delirium tremens all bets are off ...

First thing is to note that the gasket does not need to be a narrow perimeter strip. Instead it would probably work just fine with a half inch hole in the middle.

For more durable thin materials to make a new gasket you should look inside the lids of other empty containers and find one that has a large enough diameter to work with. Some lids have a disk of a plastic foam type material that should work OK.

Try making a gasket out of a piece of sheet rubber like an old tire inner tube or something similar. I always keep the old inner tubes from bicycle tire changes, they come in handy for making small seals, gaskets, large rubber bands etc.

Indeed, and I routinely stop by the local Bandaq dealer and pick up a used truck tube or two to always have one on hand. Here, and at least up until last visit, they would give them away gratis in small numbers, anyway. The bike tube is much thinner material, of course, but that's ok for many things, too.

And, as another said, it's good to always have at least a small sheet of various gasket materials/thicknesses in the drawer as well...

Besides the gasket (which should be pretty simple to make), seems like it would be much easier to pour accurately with if the spout had a angle--like either bend it or stick a 45 on there...

But, a nice idea; hadn't thought of modifying one so...

I still have a bunch of old metal 5-gal oil cans (in which used to get hydraulic oil primarily) w/ the formed in pouring spout and the double lid on the spout w/ a 1/2" and a 1-1/2" opening depending on which is removed. They've become priceless w/ the demise of a working gas can w/o all the foolishness of the new spouts.

But the old small transfer plastic containers that have used for the small engines where the 5-gal is bulky to get to has split the plastic spout and gotten brittle. Just might have to follow your lead and make myself one of these to replace it. The only real disadvantage I see is the taller profile makes them a little more tip-easy and the other cans have larger opening for filling them--not sure my regular funnel that I've used will fit that opening but those are pretty minor problems to deal with.

Good idea... +1

--

Indubitably, my dear Han.

I found a gallon gas can with a flexible rubberesque spout decades ago. I just lost the can it went on, so I wonder if it would work on my solvent cans... It has about a 5/8" ID and is 8 inches long, so it fills everything without spilling a drop.

-- In an industrial society which confuses work and productivity, the necessity of producing has always been an enemy of the desire to create. -- Raoul Vaneigem

On 5/12/2012 6:09 AM, Han wrote: ...

Indeed, if it's absolutely the highest point, very little will spill, indeed...

But, I grok what you mean... :)

I have a tube, but it curls, and I don't want to fuss with it dropping in and out. I want something that will stay where I put it.

I move this spout from Alcohol to Mineral spirits.. I don't keep it on, I remove it to seal the can back up.

Good Idea though.I guess if I were to glue it down somehow.

I can't do the angle, since each can registers in a different position.

I already tested that when I built it by marking the top that I used and testing it.

So it is very generic. BTW each can of Alky can be different too.

BTW Lew, you have a fixation with GAS don't you. 8>)

Chairman, thanks. 2-3 minutes of work and it was gold... No leaks.. and stays put.

Thanks.

snipped-for-privacy@sdf.lNoOnSePsAtMar.org (Larry W) wrote in news:jolljb$8q2$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

A piece of pond liner would probably work just fine, if you know anyone who's just put in a pond or installs them. For the size you'd need, it'd probably be considered trash anyway.

Puckdropper

Han wrote in news:XnsA05148DB51AB6ikkezelf@

216.151.153.165:

For small amounts, I use a little pipette to suck the material out of the cans. I wonder if a turkey baster would work just as well for larger amounts?

It seems like those cans are designed to spill.

Puckdropper

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