Filling a jerry can with gas.

[Snowdin]

The other day I bought one of these 53 liter Flo & Go at Crap Tire:

It was on sale and I figured it would be great to strap it down on the quad trailer and fill it up and then just pick up one end when gas is needed and fill up the quad without having to lift those heavy jerry cans (back is getting weak you know). Any way after I got home with it I remembered that the gas station dude won't let you fill up a jerry can while it's in the back of the truck because of static electricity issues so they probably won't let me fill this monster without putting it on the ground and I just wasted a bunch of dough. Is there anyway to ground the can while filling it? and will they allow grounding it for fill up?

 

[JaySimon]

Touch the side of the truck to ground yourself, start and play dumb if they call you on it?

Failing that, hit up the gas station dude to help you get it back into the truck.

 

[youngpolarisguy]

As long as it aint on a plastic box liner, if you touch the side of the can it should discharge any static and you should be safe. I fill mine in the box all the time never had any issues with it. Truly whats the diff between you gas can and your quad the quad isn't grounded till you stick the nozzle in it. Just as likely to go boom with you vehicle as it is with the can on you trailer. my 2 cents

 

[Snowdin]

As long as it aint on a plastic box liner, if you touch the side of the can it should discharge any static and you should be safe. I fill mine in the box all the time never had any issues with it. Truly whats the diff between you gas can and your quad the quad isn't grounded till you stick the nozzle in it. Just as likely to go boom with you vehicle as it is with the can on you trailer. my 2 cents

The Chevron engineers say the rubber from the vehicle touching the ground is enough grounding. But ya the can would be strapped down to the metal deck of the trailer and not on a plastic surface so you may be right that should be enough to ground it.

 

[sirkdev]

A ground strap of any makin's would work just fine, tank trucks employ this wonderful method every day. Although Jimmy the gas jockey might not get the concept.

You could also get T shirt that says I'm very grounded and that might work as well.

 

[whoDEANie]

I'm convinced that's all poppy-cock! The static concern is with the static that you carry on your body, not static build up on the gas can. When you first handle the pump, you discharge any static on your person. The concern is when you walk away from the pump and come back to it after you've "recharged" yourself - when you touch the pump again, you could spark and ignite the vapors. If the gas can does happen to have a static charge build up on it, you will discharge it anyway when you first touch it with the pump in whcih case there should be very little concern becuase the vapors at that point are negligible.

The moral of the story? ...don't walk away from the pump.

 

[Summiteer]

I'm convinced that's all poppy-cock! The static concern is with the static that you carry on your body, not static build up on the gas can. When you first handle the pump, you discharge any static on your person. The concern is when you walk away from the pump and come back to it after you've "recharged" yourself - when you touch the pump again, you could spark and ignite the vapors. If the gas can does happen to have a static charge build up on it, you will discharge it anyway when you first touch it with the pump in whcih case there should be very little concern becuase the vapors at that point are negligible.

The moral of the story? ...don't walk away from the pump.

Auto and Road User Journal
December 17, 1997
TranSafety, Inc.
1-800-777-2338
(U.S. and Canada)
(360) 683-6276
Fax: (360) 683-6719
info@usroads.com


NHTSA WARNS ABOUT RISK OF FIRE
WHILE FILLING PORTABLE GAS CONTAINERS:
DOT Press Release, January 6, 1997
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today urged motorists to avoid risk of fire by placing portable gasoline containers on the ground while filling them because filling them while they are located in beds of pickup trucks or in trunks or passenger car compartments can be hazardous.

Take the portable gas container out of your vehicle and set it on the ground while filling it with gas. Static electricity could cause fire to erupt while fueling when it is in your car or pickup bed, NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D., said. Adding to the danger is the location where these fires could occur -- at a gas station while getting fuel for your snow blower or emergency generator. Cold, dry days in winter increase the chance of ignition, so preventive measures are important.

Dr. Martinez told owners who have bedliners in their pickups to be especially careful. A bedliner is a plastic, protective lining that fits inside pickup beds to protect the vehicle s surface from wear and tear.

He explained that the bedliner acts as an insulator, allowing static electricity to build up on the gasoline container while it is being filled. The flow of gasoline through the pump nozzle can produce static electricity. During fueling, this can create a spark between the container and the fuel nozzle, igniting gasoline vapors and causing a fire or explosion. This danger also applies to nonmetallic containers capable of building up a static charge.

According to NHTSA, there have been 24 fires and 5 injuries associated with static electricity discharge from portable fuel containers, some of which included serious injuries and extensive property damage. Most of the fires involved pickup trucks that had plastic bedliners. Reports also describe fires that resulted while portable gasoline containers were being filled in trunks and passenger compartments of vehicles, when carpeting acted as an insulator.

NHTSA recommends the following safe procedures for filling portable gasoline containers:

Dispense gasoline only into approved containers.
Do not fill a container while it is inside a vehicle, a vehicle s trunk, pickup bed or on any surface other than the ground.
Bring the fill nozzle in contact with the inside of the fill opening before operating the nozzle. Contact should be maintained until the filling operation is complete.
Don't smoke while pumping gasoline.

 

[Longhorn]

Haha, huge warning about static followed with 'DONT SMOKE'...Hmmm does that really need to be said??

 

[whoDEANie]

NHTSA recommends the following safe procedures for filling portable gasoline containers:

Dispense gasoline only into approved containers.
Do not fill a container while it is inside a vehicle, a vehicle s trunk, pickup bed or on any surface other than the ground.
Bring the fill nozzle in contact with the inside of the fill opening before operating the nozzle. Contact should be maintained until the filling operation is complete.
Don't smoke while pumping gasoline.

I stand corrected. But I think they're just nit picking about the smoking thing!

 

[jncmcat]

I bought one of these flo n go units. Biggest POS I have ever owned. If you have half an hour to fill the lawn mower I guess there awesome.

 

[overkill131313]

I bought a 100 Liter plastic rolling jerry can......I think it is 200 pounds when filled.....well it feels that way when I lift it off the truck......guys I used to work with called me "The Human Fork Lift".... but I guess this is why I have back problems now lol.......so am I supposed to remove this for filling? or can I take a set of jumper cables and clip it to the plastic tank and clip it to the pump? I would love to say to the gas jocky......I have a sore back.....can you lift that back on to my truck? lol......I dont have a box liner but I have an Alum Deck!........what am I supposed to do? but then again I used to wash parts in gas all the time with a smoke in my mouth....lol.....even had a guy run when I showed him that you can put out a smoke in a bucket of gas one time.......ya....I was called the unsafty man too! LOL

 

[kingkris06]

bring it to a full service station and see if they even attempt to unload the tank .



by the same logic then , no one is allowed to gas up there quads/sleds/lawnmower/ snow blowers on the back of a truck or trailer ? there all plastic gas tanks

 

[overkill131313]

bring it to a full service station and see if they even attempt to unload the tank .



by the same logic then , no one is allowed to gas up there quads/sleds/lawnmower/ snow blowers on the back of a truck or trailer ? there all plastic gas tanks

this must be an Alberta thing......I have never been asked to remove jerry cans here in BC but when we went to Alberta last month.....they freaked when I just went to pour 24 cents into one can that was on the back of the truck to round off to an even amount.......I mean she came unglued at Red Deer Costco! I thought she was going to phone the cops on me!!!!!! I need to bring the 100 l plastic tank for her to lift up! lol

 

[byronkentgraham]

Wouldn't filling a slip tank be a problem then. Or am I not getting this at all

 

[Grinder]

I guess some people just dont get the message. Must be God culling the herd. The slip tank in my work truck grounded to the truck

YouTube - ‪Gas Pump Explosion Caused by Static Electricity‬‏

 

[overkill131313]

I guess some people just dont get the message. Must be God culling the herd. The slip tank in my work truck grounded to the truck

YouTube - ‪Gas Pump Explosion Caused by Static Electricity‬‏

grounded to the truck.....but I dont think the truck is grounded through those rubber tires unless you have one of those car sickness straps that drag on the ground! every car/truck gas tank is not grounded.......but what I think they are getting at is the PLASTIC tanks can have static build up.......yes alot of truck tanks are plastic too......SWTF????

 

[OVERKILL 19]

I bought a 100 Liter plastic rolling jerry can......I think it is 200 pounds when filled.....well it feels that way when I lift it off the truck......guys I used to work with called me "The Human Fork Lift".... but I guess this is why I have back problems now lol.......so am I supposed to remove this for filling? or can I take a set of jumper cables and clip it to the plastic tank and clip it to the pump? I would love to say to the gas jocky......I have a sore back.....can you lift that back on to my truck? lol......I dont have a box liner but I have an Alum Deck!........what am I supposed to do? but then again I used to wash parts in gas all the time with a smoke in my mouth....lol.....even had a guy run when I showed him that you can put out a smoke in a bucket of gas one time.......ya....I was called the unsafty man too! LOL

Gas does not burn, gas vapours burn! Just like wood,paper etc does not burn. Once heated the gasous vapours burn.

 

[mudbug]

I bought one of these flo n go units. Biggest POS I have ever owned. If you have half an hour to fill the lawn mower I guess there awesome.

Put the can higher then your lawn mower and squeeze the trigger it will flow right in, these cans were really made for boat docks. The fuel cans/tank is below the height of the flow in go sitting on the dock these work on the princeaple of gravity a couple of pumps on the nozzle and gravity takes over no more pumping!!

 

[crisscross1]

why not put a chain on the jerry can and through the other end on the ground. Done..

 

[overkill131313]

why not put a chain on the jerry can and through the other end on the ground. Done..

that is what should be done.......when I fill up at the airport, they clamp a cable to the can which is then grounded