How long can gas be stored in a plastic jerry can?

Sorry - not a Volvo-specific question. I'm just making plans for this hurricane season's evacuations. Lots of people ran out of gas last year, because the pump owners went away too, so I decided to purchase two 10-gallon plastic jerry cans for gas.

How long can I store gas in them? I'll probably have 87 octane gas in them.

They'll be stored in a relatively cool area of my garage.

Thanks, AC

Reply to
Aawara Chowdhury
Loading thread data ...

I believe it begins to go 'off' after about three months.

That said, I've used fuel that's six months old without any problems.

David

Reply to
David Balfour

Old fuel tends to loose the most volatile components. This will make cold starting difficult. I'd probably use the fuel after a year or so, diluting one jerry can on a tankfull.

Reply to
M-gineering

Thanks! I'll plan on filling my car with the stored gas once a month.

AC

Reply to
Aawara Chowdhury

Or, go to a motorcycle store and buy fuel stabilizer. I use this in gasoline that I use for my lawnmower and snow blower. I also add it to the tank on my bike when it starts to get cold. After the stuff has been sitting in my garage for a year, I pour the remainder in the car and fill the can up again, and there is no change in the way the car runs.

Reply to
Mike F

The gas for the lawnmower works fine over the winter. I know a car is different, but tis is an emergency should nature get excited!

I think the key is to buy some glass marbles or some other inert device to raise the fuel level in the can to the filler neck to eliminate air from the mix, and then simply use the fuel come October.

PLEASE if there is an emergency bear in mind that you have 2 big bombs, 20 gal of fuel is a hell of a lot of energy. keep the cans out of the sun, and the marbles or whatever, by keeping the fuel to the top of the container will help minimize the extremely flammable atomized fuel and fumes mixture.

A further word of caution - don't fill from the cans in case of emergency in a easily visible location - the entire area will be populated with upset folks. Pull to a secluded spot for the xfer of fuel to the tank, and be very very very careful - for example the cell phone - cigarette lighter charger thing might cause a tiny spark...

Reply to
Steve

It gradually starts to go stale, but I've used gas that was a couple years old and it works, it probably isn't the best idea but it'll get you along in a pinch.

Reply to
James Sweet

Do not store petrol (gasoline) in plastic containers. Doing so is just too dangerous. Only steel containers will do, and even they have to be of a recognised design. Now make my day - tell me you are storing the jerrycans inside a garage which is integral to your house :-). If either guess is correct, it is possibly worth pointing that a single spark could make history of you, your family and your house. If you haven't done so already, discuss with your local fire department what they think of you storing a 20 gallon unexploded bomb in two plastic containers in your garage. For your own safety, PLEASE dispose of the contents of the containers as quickly and safely as possible, and then get rid of the containers themselves. And bear in mind that even when they are empty, there will be sufficient fume inside the containers to singe your eyebrows (and then some).

With concern

Bill

Reply to
Bill

Huh? It's very common to store gasoline in plastic jugs, in fact I don't remember the last time I even saw a metal gas can for sale though I'm sure they can be bought somewhere still. You just need to make sure everything is sealed and don't place them near a gas fired water heater or furnace.

Reply to
James Sweet

So according to you, standards approval of plastic fuel containers doesn't make them safe?

I guess that you'd freak if someone was storing about 100L of LPG (propane) in an approved automotive tank in a garden shed. :-)

Come to think of it, the 10L standards approved plastic petrol container in the same shed is far more dangerous.

What's more, LPG doesn't go stale like petrol. I've recently used some in my cars that was probably over 5 years old. I wouldn't even think about using 5 year old petrol!

Must be time to convert my mower (10.5HP Briggs and Stratton motor) to LPG. :-)

Reply to
athol

It may just be the difference between other countries' standards and the UK's. But for the UK legal position see:

formatting link
Maybe I am a wimp, but there is absolutely no way you would get me to store

20 gallons of petrol in plastic containers in my garage - I like living too much :-)

As for the LPG issue, I can't comment - is that available in plastic containers where you are? All propane in the UK is sold in (very robust) steel containers, as far as I know.

Bill

Reply to
Bill

Oddly, I'm learning some Volvo fuel tanks are just that: 20 gallon plastic containers. See Don B's post on April 23 under the subject "Help: Fuel leak under the tank of my '95 940 nonturbo"... maybe you already have a 20 gallon plastic container of petrol in your garage!

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

will a transparent gfrp container do?

Reply to
M-gineering

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.