Petrol in Diesel Can

[rwoofer]

I have a large 20l diesel jerry can that looks to be made from polyethylene. I know it is for Diesel as Diesel is written in large letters down the side. Would there be any reason why I couldn't use it for petrol?

I know petrol acts more like a solvent and probably pressurises more in transport, so not sure what the real difference between petrol and diesel cans really is.

 

[aquaplane]

Petrol and diesel are both hydrocarbons with similar but different properties, I don't think a polythene or polypropylene fuel can will be able to tell the difference.

If you label it incorrectly you will die though, maybe.

 

[Aardee]

Are you planning to use the can for long-term storage, or just for transportation?

 

[Bru]

There's (almost certainly*) no reason at all why YOU can't use it for anything you like

But please, I beg you, do us poor s*ds who have to authorise the pumps at petrol stations a favour and don't try and fill it up on the forecourt**!

(At most sites it's max 2x5l plastic or 1x10l metal or 1 22l metal, clearly marked by the manufacturer with the relevant standards etc. Yeah, yeah, we've thrashed this one to death on the forums over the years, it is just the way it is)

* Assuming it is a proper fuel container and not just some plastic thing that somebody wrote "Diesel" on with a marker pen

 

[TSB240]

I have a large 20l diesel jerry can that looks to be made from polyethylene. I know it is for Diesel as Diesel is written in large letters down the side. Would there be any reason why I couldn't use it for petrol?

I know petrol acts more like a solvent and probably pressurises more in transport, so not sure what the real difference between petrol and diesel cans really is.

I have used a similar jerry can for the last 10 years. Initially for supplying 2T fuel for racing Karts and latterly as a subsidiary tank for OB fuel.

You will now be breaking the law carrying it in your car after filling it.

You are only allowed to carry a maximum of 10 litres of Petrol in two 5 litre plastic jerry cans in a car.

You can actually still take a 25litre plastic dedicated OB Fuel Tank to be filled but quite a few of the Elf and safety brigade run garages may refuse you filling it as they think this is also Illegal.

 

[rwoofer]

Filling it up on a forecourt was exactly what I was planning on doing (and have done for diesel many times before). The jerry can is far stronger than those 5l petrol cans that forecourts supply and I only need to transport it about 2 miles. Is this another triumph of H & S over common sense?

 

[Lakesailor]

Park at the far pump and look like you are going to fill the car. Then fill the can instead.

 

[Bru]

You can actually still take a 25litre plastic dedicated OB Fuel Tank to be filled but quite a few of the Elf and safety brigade run garages may refuse you filling it as they think this is also Illegal.

To clarify, we don't THINK it's illegal at all. Unless they are included on our Petroleum Licence it IS illegal for us to permit fuel to be dispensed into them

The licence is site specific although there is a standard form which is usually adopted unless the site operator asks the Petroluem Officer for a custom licence

Of course, there's always unmanned pay at pump sites ...

 

[Bru]

Park at the far pump and look like you are going to fill the car. Then fill the can instead.

Bully for you, as long as you're happy to drop some poor s*d in the smelly stuff. Failing to spot an illegal container is a serious disciplinary offence and (on our sites for certain and I suspect elsewhere) it is one of the items senior management look for when carrying out their daily review of the CCTV images

 

[stevebrassett]

The unmanned pumps sounds a good idea. Some ASDAs have them.

 

[Leighb]

Reading the various replies it seems that you can legally fill a metal 22L can with petrol on a forecourt, but, you cannot transport it in your car. How are you supposed to move it then, presumably you have to carry it home?

If you are in fact allowed to carry 22L of petrol in a car, then I would expect that 2X10L metal cans would also be legal, probably that is too simple though.

 

[David2452]

How much is a proper petrol container that gets nobody in bother and keeps your car insurers satisfied?

 

[rwoofer]

Reading the various replies it seems that you can legally fill a metal 22L can with petrol on a forecourt, but, you cannot transport it in your car. How are you supposed to move it then, presumably you have to carry it home?

If you are in fact allowed to carry 22L of petrol in a car, then I would expect that 2X10L metal cans would also be legal, probably that is too simple though.

Park car off forecourt, fill up can, then carry can the extra few metres to the car?

 

[TSB240]

To clarify, we don't THINK it's illegal at all. Unless they are included on our Petroleum Licence it IS illegal for us to permit fuel to be dispensed into them

The licence is site specific although there is a standard form which is usually adopted unless the site operator asks the Petroluem Officer for a custom licence

Of course, there's always unmanned pay at pump sites ...

I stand corrected.
In which case I find it astounding that the two largest fuel stations adjacent to our marinas in NWales with loads of power boats and no petrol refueling facilities do not have them on their Petroleum Licence.

 

[Bru]

I stand corrected.
In which case I find it astounding that the two largest fuel stations adjacent to our marinas in NWales with loads of power boats and no petrol refueling facilities do not have them on their Petroleum Licence.

Indeed.

It may also be the case that they ARE covered on the licence but fall outside of company policy (as is the case at our sites*). This isn't due to excessive elf'n safety, it''s due to the difficulties staff face in trying to identify containers on a busy forecourt from a distance. Standard off the shelf 5l and 10l cans are easy to spot as being OK, "jerry" cans are a probem because only the UN pattern with the correct EN markings and a lid locking pin are acceptable, NATO pattern cans which look identical from more than a few feet away aren't

And portable appliance tanks, which is what we're talking about here, are a nightmare to check. The only way to do it is for somebody to don a hi-viz (yep, going outside without one is a big no-no) and go onto the forecourt to have a look. Can't do it when we're single manned, not a practical proposition when we're busy either. So the policy tends to be keep it simple (standard containers only) and if in doubt rule it out

* I use my initiative and I know the details of our site licence as well as the stated company policy but most staff on the shop floor have neither the background or the experience to realistically do so.

I grant this is a pain in the posterior for us boat users (and before I started working for a forecourt operator I was as rabidly annoyed by it as anyone) but the problem for the operator and their staff is that Trading Standards actively conduct test purchases using a variety of illegal containers and a failed test purchase can and does lead to significant fines for the operator and even withdrawal of their petroleum licence in extremis

 

[Zagato]

How much is a proper petrol container that gets nobody in bother and keeps your car insurers satisfied?

I have used two of these for my business for the past ten years and they are kept in the back of the car. They are very robust and get thrown around a bit and when in sunlight expand with no problems. Much better than the rubbish things you get in petrol stations. I have been refused only once at a Shell garage as the only information about the container is on the label and it fell off 5 years ago - I have had no problem since.

http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/stihl-00008810230-2-5-litre-petrol-can.html

Stihl also do more expensive ones so it's worth looking at their range. Stihl is good stuff by the way...

 

[TonyBuckley]

And also frowned upon if 15 years old, wearing a motorcycle helmut while on the phone.

 

[TonyBuckley]

My wonderful yellow 20l plastic diesel tank often gets commented upon by forecourt staff. Its very good except when the breather twist cap become disturbed in the boot and vented a few litres. I'm glad that wasn't petrol!

 

[Bru]

And also frowned upon if 15 years old, wearing a motorcycle helmut while on the phone.

The helmet, to my eternal annoyance (I'd not so cheerfully refuse to serve anyone so rude as to not remove their helmet but I'm not allowed to) is OK, the mobile phone is a bit of an issue (despite Myth Busters) but 15 years old would be the show stopper!!!

And don't even get me started about people who fill containers with petrol INSIDE vehicles. Please go and blow yourself up somewhere else, I can't be doing with all the paperwork!

 

[FishyInverness]

Erbas - it must absolutely gall you that you have to jump through all these hoops, risk fines, disciplinaries, etc - Whilst your industry continually forces, as do the majority of service industries these days, their service personnel out of a job by creating these self-service roboforecourts where "anything goes" because there's no human to even bother with these, apparently-important-up-to-the-point-they-work-out-a-cheap-no-need-to-pay-staff-way-of-doing-it, rules?