Why is it dangerous to store gasoline in drums and is not dangerous to store it in your gas tank of your car or truck?

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I just heard about the fellow who stored gasoline at home, and the fire dept. came and confiscated it because it was dangerous. Why is it more dangerous than an RV with 90 gallon tanks. Truckers store many gallons of diesel fuel in their tanks.Your two cars in the garage can store 40 gallons. Is that dangerous. Will the fire department confiscate it if the are notified?

-- HERB (herb01@prodigy.net), November 29, 1999

Answers

I'm sure it was a "fire code" thing. Rules set down by someone else, and the FD has to enforce it.

I would assume they worry more about the random things...some idiot might use a rusty barrel that leaks, causing a fire hazard, or some other retard might store it next to the welder in the garage.....etc etc.

A lot of these types of codes and laws were meant for the average half-wit that the majority of our world is made of. We have to live by them too unfortunately.

-- C. Hill (pinionsmachine@hotmail.com), November 29, 1999.


Herb,

Only if your RV is slower than the fire truck.

-- maid upname (noid@ihope.com), November 29, 1999.


I'm sure it was a "fire code" thing. Rules set down by someone else, and the FD has to enforce them.

I would assume they worry more about the random things...some idiot might use a rusty barrel that leaks, causing a fire hazard, or some other retard might store it next to the welder in the garage.....etc etc.

A lot of these types of codes and laws were meant for the average half-wit that the majority of our world is made of. We have to live by them too unfortunately.

-- C. Hill (pinionsmachine@hotmail.com), November 29, 1999.


oops...sorry about that double post....damn IE is acting weird since I upgraded to the latest patch.

-- C. Hill (pinionsmachine@hotmail.com), November 29, 1999.

Gasoline stored in your car and RV is stored in a properly vented and grounded container that was designed to never be completely full to the top. Trucks do not store gasoline (flammable), they store diesel fuel (combustible). Gas has a much lower flash point then diesel fuel therefore it will ignite at a much lower temp then diesel. People tend to fill drums up to the top with gas and do not allow proper space for expansion due to temp change. Also your barrel could conduct a static charge and ignite inside if it is not properly grounded, this is especially true of the plastic drums.

-- Greg (skipy1@prodigy.net), November 29, 1999.


I have 18 (55 gal) drums full of gasoline. Perfectly safe.

Just keep the bung cap open for 24-48 hrs to allow gasoline to stabalize. Then close tightly to eliminate evaporation.

Keep out of sun. Try to locate under trees for shade and cover with a tarp to keep cool.

-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), November 29, 1999.


Forgot to mention the necessity of adding Pri-G for long term storage. Keeps the gas fresh and useable. Mix well!!!

-- Vernon Hale (create@premiernet.net), November 29, 1999.

C. Hill,

It may not be IE. The forum has been "funny" lately. Mr. Greenspun made some changes to improve performance, but it causes a delay in when a post shows up. It does seem better than it was, but it still may take a few minutes for your post to appear. If you get the "success" page after a post, you should be good to go. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), November 29, 1999.


How then do you ground these plastic container? Also, someone suggested I bury them underground in the yard, is that a good idea?



-- June (jun47@hotmail.com), November 29, 1999.

Yes, how do you ground them, also how much room are you supposed to leave in the top.

-- (freeman@interx.net), November 29, 1999.


A few answers:

Fill a 55 gallon drum to about 52 - 53 gallons. Do NOT fill a drum while on a non-conductive surface (such as a bed-liner) without grounding it. Do NOT use plastic drums. Their static charge cannot be adequately grounded. Keep the fuel filler-nozzle in DIRECT contact with the bung hole during fillup. Use a PETROLEUM-RATED manual hand pump for dispensing.

And don't smoke, or store drums near a heat/flame source. Use a little common sense. Most people fear what they don't understand. Learn how, and don't listen to "them".

Oh, and DO NOT BURY the drums! The EPA has STRICT regs for undergound tanks. Getting busted can land you in jail for a LONG time, and/or force you to pay multi-thousands of $'s in fines and "cleanup" costs. Overall, it's a very BAD idea. Above-ground is the way to go.

-- Dennis (djolson@cherco.net), November 29, 1999.


Why don't plastic 5gal gas cans have the same static problem as a drum? Different plastic? Does siphon filling (tube ends on the bottom)help w/ plastic static?

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), November 29, 1999.

The 5-gal plastic can has a smaller surface area and doesn't build up as much of a static charge as a 55 gallon container.

-- Sam Mcgee (weissacre@gwtc.net), November 30, 1999.

So if I already bought the 5 gallon plastic container and plan to use it anyway, is there a need to put it on a conductive surface at the gas station when I fill it? Is the concrete ground safe to put the cans on?Please help.



-- June (june45@hotmail.com), November 30, 1999.

One of the gas stations I go to (I think its the co-op) has a notice on the building with safety rules for dispensing gasoline. One of them says to place the gas can, metal or plastic, on the ground when filling. It specifically says not to fill the cans when they are in your vehicle (trunk or back of pick-up). Is concrete conductive? I don't know. Hmmm--will have to ask the bulk fuel guy.

-- Sam Mcgee (weissacre@gwtc.net), November 30, 1999.


MY bulk fuel guy sez he'll deliver to my plastic 60 gal drums when I'm ready. (and YES they ARE 60 gal drums, 4" taller than 55's, used to have "cooking winers" in them)

(And I WILL have each of them grounded with a cable since they are sitting on pallets now) C

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 30, 1999.


C. Hill -- Get Netscape -- unless you like the additional anti-virus practice that Microsucks enables you to participate in.

-- A (A@AisA.com), November 30, 1999.

Chuck,

Would you please describe in detail how you would ground your plastic drums? Thanks, I really need to know.

-- mostlylurking (mostlylurking@podunk.texas), November 30, 1999.


The following comments are strictly my opinion:

I am an internet developer with 7 years of experience. I can tell you that Netscape is the buggiest piece of crap on the planet, and I wouldn't use it if IE disapeared entirely. Don't even get me started in the lack of functionality, and sloppy web page displaying.

As for internet security...

If you are a target, you are a target. I don't care what browser you are using or otherwise..there is always a way, a hole.....

I didn't write this to offend anyone....I just dislike netscape browser, and now that they have merged with SUN they are 100 times worse than they ever were. Not to mention that SUN raised the prices of Netscape Server software 800%(and didn't change or improve the software at all)I should note that I used Netscape Enterprise server for 3 years without one single problem...so its not ALL of their software that sucks....just the browser.

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I'm not sure if you fit into this catagory, but many people dislike Microsoft software for no particular reason. People attack them because of security holes and what have you. Actually, I follow the hacker scene quite strongly, and the last several major website hacks that I can recall were Apache servers running on Linux or Unix.

Like I said above...I don't care what software you are running..there is always a hole....a backdoor....a hack.

MS is in the spotlight because the majority of the oldschool hackers out there are Penguin heads (Linux enthusiasts), and they choose to hate Microsoft because it is fun to do so.

Yes, I am aware of all the forceful tactics that Gates laid on people, but after being in the corporate world for 7 years of my young life (I am 28) I can tell you that Gates did nothing that doesn't happen at any given large corporation on any given day. Trust me, Gates didn't pioneer the strongarm tactics he's been accused of.

Anyway..I chose to use MS software because it is currently superior for the jobs I have to do. I have no brand loyalty, and if someone writes a better peice of software, Im all over it.

As for the Apple lovers who think Microsoft stole the Windows GUI from the mac...I'll have you know that Apple stole the GUI idea from Xerox long before Windows was even a sparkle in Billy's eye.

end of rant :)

-- C. Hill (pinionsmachine@hotmail.com), November 30, 1999.


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