Fueling from Plastic Containers and Blowing yourself up?

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 21:27:10 -0600, Charlie
wrote:

snipped
This is why airliners almost always burn upon crashing. For years
there has been a ton of research to build tanks that have honey
combing in them or other materials to impede the combustibility of the
air above the liquid fuel. All research to date has done very little
to reduce the probability of burning upon impact for kerosene filled
tanks

(jet fuel is essentially just kerosene).

Now, back to my question. I am not interested in web sites that talk
about filling gas cans in the back of pick ups. I am interested in
hearing from anyone who has actually witnessed or knows of someone who
has been involved in a combustion occurring from using a plastic or
metal gas can. My point is that I think the regulations on all of
this are probably just bull ****. I think there have been so few, if
any, real accidents involving this situation that the safety
regulations are overdone to the point of absurdity. Industry itself
drives a lot of this so they can sell newer containers. Look at the
propane industry over the last few years. Those *******s are always
changing something and getting a law passed so they can force us to
have to discard our older containers and buy new ones. I'm thinking
that this gas can stuff is about the same. The probability of a spark
causing ignition during fueling from one of these containers might be
more remote than being struck by lightening.

Thanks.
--Juaquin


Speaking of 'non-conductive', neither silk nor glass is conductive but
rub them together & you get a tremendous electrical charge.

I do know a guy who had a fueling fire while fueling an RV-6A from
plastic cans containing auto fuel. No explosion, but a fire in the
filler neck, a fire on the top of the plastic can, & a fire in the
spilled fuel on the ground. He actually managed to drop the filler cap
on the wing tank & put out the fires on the can & ground without any
permanent damage. He now bites the bullet & fuels with avgas from the truck.

I agree that the chance of a problem is pretty remote, but after hearing
his story (and he has no reason to lie about it) I now take my cans out
of the truck & fill 'em on the ground. :-)

Charlie

Don't know about where you live, but in Ontario it has been illegal to
fill a portable container in or on a vehicle for several decades. Also
illegal to transport fuel in "non-approved" containers. Also illegal
to cary more than a given amount (cannot remember the figure) of
gasoline without a placard. To carry more than a certain amount you
need to have a dedicated fuel transport vehicle. You can carry 200
gallons of deisel fuel in your pickup to fuel your tractor, but you
can NOT carry 200 gallons of gasoline for the same purpose.

Also illegal to have an "automatic" nozzle with a trigger lock on a
self serve pump. The "attendant", if not "trained" must continuously
control the nozzle by hand.

Now, when it comes to enforcement, half a dozen "inspectors" will
never see half the fuel pumps in Ontario in their life-time.
I remember the fuel and weights and measures inspectors checking the
pumps etc on a regular basis back in the sixties and seventies when I
was pumping gas on a regular basis.