Water jerrycan for gasoline

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by Cari Laut

29 cfr may hold regulations for OSHA regulated entities, but that doesn’t make a Jerry can bought at Home Depot insufficient for a private vessel.

Yes, but it could regulate what could be sold? I haven't seen a basic fuel jug that wasn't a "safety" type for sale anywhere for many years.

The actual requirements are probably an intersection of many regulations from several sources. OSHA, USCG, CARB(in California, and probably an equivalent elsewhere) etc. Since most are sold for cars and trucks, DOT probably has a word on what is sold as well.

USCG would apply to private vessels, as would ABYC, but ABYC is voluntary and not law.

[capt jgw]

Originally Posted by Fintry

First, take a look at these:
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/co...type~gasoline/
https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gall...can-99551.html
They're painted steel, which would not be my first choice, but outboard tanks were painted steel fifty years ago and they lasted five-ten years.



----


I suspect blue five gallon water jugs are the same material as red gasoline jusgs, so as a practical matter, it would probably be OK if you kept them outside -- which you would have to do anyway. Unless the boat is gas powered, you don't want any gas in the boat.



However most states restrict putting gasoline in anything but an approved container. I doubt that most filling stations enforce that, but you might want to paint them red.


Jim

If the gas station attendant is paying attention (they aren't, they're too busy selling beer and cigarettes) they're supposed to shut off the pump if they see you trying to put gasoline into a blue container. I'd bet most of them don't even know how to do that. I like the paint them red idea, the attendants will never know the difference.

[CaptTom]

I can only imagine what life would be like trying to run our boats to OSHA specifications.

I assume the true answer is that there's no law requiring recreational boaters to use only OSHA-certified safety cans for fuel. Although it would be technically prohibited to put gasoline in the blue water cans, you can order the same-shaped, red, Jerry-style plastic cans on Amazon.

[NorthCoastJoe]

I have carried gasoline in all sorts of plastic containers. Bleach jugs, motor oil jugs, etc, it will work but I would not want to leave it out in the sun or keep it in a closed environment for weeks. I did it as a way to extend my range in remote places on a motorcycle trip, a few days use then thrown away. I would not do it for long term storage.

I have seen metal jerry cans for sale, I would go with that and a few coats of epoxy paint to the outside.

I don't know if they still teach it in boating classes now but as a kid I learned.
One cup of vaporized gasoline in a closed space equals one stick of dynamite.

[Montanan]

Highly recommend that you don't go there.



The polymer of the plastic jugs may not be chemically compatible for handling gasoline or diesel.

Also they will not have a flame arrest screen.

[CaptTom]

I'm curious about these flame arrest screens.

I've certainly seen them on the high-end, metal "safety" cans on construction sites and such. And no doubt the screen would be handy if someone left the cap off and was tossing cigarette buts around or welding nearby.

I've also seen cheap plastic screens on the residential-grade plastic cans, back in the old days when you could buy them with a spout which actually poured smoothly, instead of gurgling and splashing gas all over the environment, like California requires us to do now.

I'm not convinced those were "flame arrest" screens. Or that I'd want/need one on my boat.

[Montanan]

Flame arrestors, very simple protection.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...ainst-n1252595


New law requires portable gas containers to add devices to protect against explosions
An NBC News investigation found that under certain conditions, plastic gas
containers were susceptible to explosions that could cause severe burns.



The "Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2020'' establishes "performance standards to protect against portable fuel container explosions near open flames or other ignition sources" and directs the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to "promulgate a final rule to require flame mitigation devices in portable fuel containers" within the next two and a half years.

A report issued by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to accompany the original version of the proposed legislation in 2019 cited the findings of a 2013 NBC News investigation of portable plastic gasoline containers.

[wholybee]

The flame arrestors unfortunately prevent you from pumping or siphoning out of the can. No shaker siphons, the cool pump Jedi likes, etc, will not work. As nice of an idea as they are, you pretty much have to remove them to use the can.

[CaptTom]

Buy functioning gas cans now while you still can!

I think I bought the last four 6-gallon cans when they phased those out.

[Jammer]

I had a close friend once who I remember pouring gasoline from one can to another on deck while smoking a cigarette. Interesting character. Showed up at work one day with a large burn on his forehead. Turns out he'd started a bonfire 15' across using two full 6 gallon jugs of gasoline and got to close to the heat. He died some years ago of complications of chronic alcohol abuse.


Safety is a continuum between those sorts of behaviors on the one had and some of the highly prescriptive OSHA rules on the other. Most sensible people choose a place in between. The trouble is that it is hard to find good information upon which to base individual decisions.


My grandfather, who was a surgeon in the 1960s, performed skin grafts (then an experimental technique) on someone who presented at his small-town ER with burns from a refueling accident he was pouring gasoline from a can into a lawn mower. I can't remember (or maybe never knew) the details but the results were life-changing. I know a friend of a friend who had a fire in his van while hauling a can of gasoline on his way to mow the lawn somewhere away from his house. He was OK, the van wasn't.


The point here is that accidents with injuries involving gasoline transfer and storage are common. They happen more or less every day but since there's no centralized reporting it's hard to know the exact prevalence. Dozens of cases a year get sent to regional burn centers, which is not a place where people make complete recoveries.


I use the Type I safety cans for most gasoline handling. I have them in 5 gallon, 3 gallon, 2 gallon, and 1 gallon. I like them because I can trust them; they don't leak, they don't overpressurize on a hot day, and if there's a fire in spite of using care while refueling then between the self-closing cap and the flame arrestor they're not going to make it worse. They are CARB exempt by statute and don't have one of those awful self-closing spouts that everyone hates.


I have used the 6 gallon rectangular jerry cans, both the metal 1940s kind and the plastic Moller-Scepter 1990s ones. They're awkward and you're going to spill. There are better choices.


Look at the RotopaX fuel containers if you really need to carry a bunch of gasoline around and attachment is a consideration. They are rectangular.



Look at the Justrite Safety Cans if attachment doesn't matter. Generally they are round and yes that makes them harder to store on a boat.



But why would anyone want so much gasoline on a cruising boat? Dinghy gas? Unless you have an 18' center console dinghy with a 2-stroke why would you need more than a few gallons?

[paul.devalier]

Real world answer:
Don't do it. Lessons learned from having done it : they leak and they spill and they puncture more easily. I went back to the red cans.

More technical answer :
I used to work in the plastics packaging industry. Most people would be surprised by the sophisticated technology in designing the formulation, the barriers and most importantly the opening, lip and closure technologies. It is incredibly hard to engineer caps that fit on cans. And they are engineered precisely for both the liquids and gases of application including viscosity and pour factor. Boats get hot and boats get cold. There is a reason that the containers have different colours.

[s/v Jedi]

In more than 20 years of cruising in the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida I have never seen anyone with a type 1 safety can for gasoline. Not a single cruiser.

Conclusion: they are not used.

Everyone has jerrycans and most cruisers carry a decent amount of them. A supply sufficient for outboard motor, generator etc. for many months. Smaller boats carry them on deck, strapped to the stanchions, larger boats often have special lockers for them.

We carry 5 jerrycans.

[mikereed100]

Jerry jugs are for sissies. Just be sure you double bag before stowing. Safety first!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stW7cxGl5o0

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

Jerry jugs are for sissies. Just be sure you double bag before stowing. Safety first!

And this, folks, is why we can't have nice things. Like gas cans which just work the way a normal person would use them, taking reasonable safety precautions.

I'm all for safer products. But in the end we can't stop Darwin from doing his thing.

[peghall]

Originally Posted by Sailorman Ed

From my plastics background, the only difference between the blue water jugs, the red gas jugs and the yellow diesel jugs is the color concentrate added to the HDPE blow molded plastic. And the engraving on the mold.

There are two types of PE--linear and cross-linked. Linear, LD or HD is used to hold water and waste...Cross-linked must be used to hold petroleum products because petroleum will saturate linear.


--Peggie