A personal Pet Peeve - Look what the government has done to the simple, old fashioned gas can!
http://sobiloff.typepad.com/blakeblog/2012/10/more-than-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-gas-cans.html
I guess somebody complained that the old ones which would refuel your mower with without spilling a drop weren't 'safe' and somehow this made it to a congressional committee, which we all know is perfectly capable of screwing up something as simple as your showerhead, let alone an ordinary gas can - Enter the Feds and now after much frustration you can literally spill gas all over the place, but it's almost impossible to get any where you want it . . . . namely into whatever tank you're trying to fill
I have an old (maybe 10 year old) poly Blitz diesel can that I use for filling my mower. It's not too bad as it actually flows enough to empty the can in 2 or 3 minutes. The vent it integral with the spout and a yellow cap placed on the end actually seals it pretty tight - I can transport diesel in the iMiEV without it stinking up the car. I LOVE going to gas stations in the iMiEV to get fuel for the mower :lol:
Anyway, I needed 2 or 3 more diesel cans to ferry fuel to the boat in my dingy, so I ordered 2 new Midwest EPA and CARB compliant cans from Amazon - Let me tell you . . . . things have sure changed. Now, the can's can't legally emit one hydrocarbon of fuel during the refueling process, the cans must be airtight and not spill when dropped from a C-130 at 5,000 feet and they have to be so childproof my wife cannot even get the cap off the spout . . . . and in the process, it now takes more than eight minutes to get the 5 gallons out of the can. You cannot hold the can steady enough to keep the spring in the 'spill-proof' spout compressed for 8 minutes, even if you don't fall asleep in the process!
A 'gas can cottage industry' has sprung up on eBay thanks to these new cans. First, any 10 or 15 year old can you have laying around (the ones which actually functioned as refueling cans) are now worth a fortune on the used market. You can buy press in vents which actually allow enough air into the can to allow the fuel to run out. You can buy 'non-anything compliant' nozzles to put on your new can, which combined with the new vent you installed in the hole you drilled in the can will actually allow you to use a new can pretty much like you did with your old cans 25 years ago. You can also buy a dedicated cap which allows you to securely close the can without having to fumble with putting the spout into the can inverted, which is the only way you can seal a new can
There are literally dozens of vendors now selling parts to make a new cans function as they should - Something you can pour fuel out of into another tank without spilling a drop and without it taking all day . . . . and thank heavens for those people, or old fashioned gas cans would be selling for hundreds of dollars these days!
After buying aftermarket vents, caps and spouts, I now have a pair of functioning diesel cans . . . . but not without lots of searching and time spent modifying my EPA/CARB compliant useless cans
Don
http://sobiloff.typepad.com/blakeblog/2012/10/more-than-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-gas-cans.html
I guess somebody complained that the old ones which would refuel your mower with without spilling a drop weren't 'safe' and somehow this made it to a congressional committee, which we all know is perfectly capable of screwing up something as simple as your showerhead, let alone an ordinary gas can - Enter the Feds and now after much frustration you can literally spill gas all over the place, but it's almost impossible to get any where you want it . . . . namely into whatever tank you're trying to fill
I have an old (maybe 10 year old) poly Blitz diesel can that I use for filling my mower. It's not too bad as it actually flows enough to empty the can in 2 or 3 minutes. The vent it integral with the spout and a yellow cap placed on the end actually seals it pretty tight - I can transport diesel in the iMiEV without it stinking up the car. I LOVE going to gas stations in the iMiEV to get fuel for the mower :lol:
Anyway, I needed 2 or 3 more diesel cans to ferry fuel to the boat in my dingy, so I ordered 2 new Midwest EPA and CARB compliant cans from Amazon - Let me tell you . . . . things have sure changed. Now, the can's can't legally emit one hydrocarbon of fuel during the refueling process, the cans must be airtight and not spill when dropped from a C-130 at 5,000 feet and they have to be so childproof my wife cannot even get the cap off the spout . . . . and in the process, it now takes more than eight minutes to get the 5 gallons out of the can. You cannot hold the can steady enough to keep the spring in the 'spill-proof' spout compressed for 8 minutes, even if you don't fall asleep in the process!
A 'gas can cottage industry' has sprung up on eBay thanks to these new cans. First, any 10 or 15 year old can you have laying around (the ones which actually functioned as refueling cans) are now worth a fortune on the used market. You can buy press in vents which actually allow enough air into the can to allow the fuel to run out. You can buy 'non-anything compliant' nozzles to put on your new can, which combined with the new vent you installed in the hole you drilled in the can will actually allow you to use a new can pretty much like you did with your old cans 25 years ago. You can also buy a dedicated cap which allows you to securely close the can without having to fumble with putting the spout into the can inverted, which is the only way you can seal a new can
There are literally dozens of vendors now selling parts to make a new cans function as they should - Something you can pour fuel out of into another tank without spilling a drop and without it taking all day . . . . and thank heavens for those people, or old fashioned gas cans would be selling for hundreds of dollars these days!
After buying aftermarket vents, caps and spouts, I now have a pair of functioning diesel cans . . . . but not without lots of searching and time spent modifying my EPA/CARB compliant useless cans
Don
