Portable tank for ourboard - 5 litre

cbeeson

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It seems that if I use a plastic portable fuel tank of no more than 5 litres capacity, I can legally disconnect it from the outboard, remove it from the boat and store petrol in it in my garage. If it's any bigger, it has to stay connected to the outboard when the boat's on my drive. Fine so far - 5 litres means over 5 hours cruising. But where do I get a tank that small? Normal minimum is 12 litres or so. Any leads?
 

boatmike

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As a matter of curiosity, where did you get that rule from? Is it your insurance company? I keep my outboard tank in the dinghy in the garage, but it's not attached to the house. Does this matter?
 

fireball

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Here is the HSEs document on petrol storage ... metal containers = 10l, plastic = 5l, up to a max of 275l at any one location assuming certain criteria are met ...

How the HSE would find out that an individual was not in compliance though .. depends if you like your neighbours or not!!
 

misterg

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Surely you are talking about petrol stored in a the fuel tank of a "vehicle" (which the web site alludes to including motor boats, hovercraft, etc.) in which case, the sky's the limit (275 litres), although you can't keep more than 2 5l plastic storage cans in you garage.

HSE won't be bothered about compliance, but your insurers might be.

Reminds me when the last fuel blockades were happening - apparently some bloke was found with a wheelie-bin full of petrol in his shed.

Scary.

Andy
 

boatmike

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Typical HSE legislation! So reading it literally Chris is right. The typical plastic outboard tank is illegal if you take it off the boat, but if you park the boat on its trailer in your garage with the tank on board its OK. What a farce! Incidentally Chris it seems you are OK to use a 10 litre container if its steel so why not get a small steel one instead? The bit about storing away from other inflammables is a thought too. What about paint, white spirit, gas bottles, etc....... Most garages are full of the like....... I'm not too worried about mine from a practical point of view because its over 10 metres behind the house and my little RIB stays on the trailer but I bet most of us with outboard powered dinghys take the outboard and tank home when ashore and leave them in the garage.......
 

cbeeson

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This did all arise from an email conversation with the HSE, and from a concern not to upset insurers if, say, the garage burnt down. Yes, I could use a 10 litre steel portable tank - but I can't find one of those either! I spent this morning traipsing round the Preston Boat Jumble without any success - but a few raised eyebrows from stallholders. I really don't want to leave any kind of petrol container out in the open in my part of the world.

So: anyone seen a 5 litre plastic tank for sale?
 

cbeeson

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I've been considering adapting a 5 litre petrol can, but it's not that straightforward. I'd need to provide a petrol-tight pickup-pipe connection and a sealable vent, all with limited access to the inside of the 'tank'. If anyone's done this I'd be glad to hear from them.

Another route might be to adapt a tank from another application, if anyone has come across such a thing.
 
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