anybody know if this is super illegal?

[Horton]

 

[Clydesdale]

Everything’s illegal in California.

[oldjeep]

Seems legal enough, but their tie down sucks. I wouldn't be filling plastic cans without setting them on the ground. Static sucks.

[MDB1056]

@Clydesdale - need to add "..or causes cancer"

[The_MS]

Over 4 per gallon out there already?

[Horton]

@oldjeep The tie down is obviously stupid. I did that just to make it look like I was trying in case I got pulled over. The cans are actually wedged in there so tight they don't move.

 

now static I hadn't thought about that.

[oldjeep]

@Horton - you mean that MN pumps have a warning sticker that California pumps don't? Now I'm embarrassed for MN ;)

 

[swc5150]

I've seen worse...

 

[WDKinley]

I used to do exactly that with around 30 gallons total .... but changed how I handle it now. I have a large rubbermaid bin WITH LID that holds a total of 4 "5 gallon" jerry cans. I keep it inside the back of the SUV. I only have a 10 minute drive and with the lid it keeps the fumes down. I despise having to put the hitch carrier on and then strap down the jugs.

 

Something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-50-Gal-Stacker-Tote-Stadium-Blue-Set-of-3/44785763

[Than_Bogan]

Yeah definitely don't fill gas cans unless they are on the ground.

[Fastguy888]

@horton I know from hauling gas for my DirtBike it has more to do with the Canister itself than where it is carried or secured. I got a fixit ticket for hauling a very secure square VP style jug on my hitch hauler like that, cop said I had to get a "certified jug" like the style you have shown.

[DW]

If your asking, it probably is! ?

How would it be different than jugs carried on any open trailer, aka all the landscaping business’

[Bdecker]

@horton - that is exactly how I do it, so it must be wrong somehow! Can’t stand putting the cans in my car so we have an old hitch haul at the ski site. It’s a short drive but I’m certain I’ve passed cops before with this contraption.

[BlueSki]

Maybe not illegal, but the lack of a MasterCraft sticker on the truck is probably an issue.

[wawaskr]

@horton and you are concerned if some random dude enters the bathroom when your wife and daugher are in there...smh

[ghutch]

Theres only one way to find out

[MichaelGoodman]

Back in the 70's when we had the first gas crunch they caught some guy bring in a water bed filled

with gas from Mexico now that would make a nice explosion.

[vtjc]

Don’t get rear ended.

[ski6jones]

I'm sure OSHA has a class for that.

[kmenard]

I thought the plate said but job

[dbutcher]

Legal or illegal, please find a better way. How hard is it to drag your boat to the gas station or get a bulk delivery tank at the lake?

[jjackkrash]

Looks like you are getting ready for an FPSRussia video shoot.

[BraceMaker]

Other than not putting on ground no difference than a utility trailer full of landscaping tools and fuel.

[Ski2000]

Here’s how I used to do it. Right next to my water

 

[skibrain]

Those don’t look like California Air Resource (CARB) compliant cans to me.

[Ed_Johnson]

Have been using a Aluminum Carrier, very similar for years, with no problem...The bigger problem was when I used my Wife's car with the cans inside and she smelled gas when she later got into her car.

 

OMG, hair on fire.....keep doing what your doing, it's just fine !!!

 

 

[Cnewbert]

We trailer our boat, so we aren’t faced with this problem. But I think if we kept our boat on a lift at my own dock, I’d get a couple of 30 gallon wheeled gas caddies with hand pumps and haul the empty one as needed to the gas station in a small utility trailer, always having a full(er) one at the dock while the empty one awaits filling. I imagine there’s a good reason why some (or many) people don’t do this, but I’m not sure why.

[oldjeep]

I've got a 14 gallon caddy that we bring to the lake when we are staying for a week. Otherwise it is the fuel supply for all the yard equipment. Anything much bigger than that would be a pain for me to lift in and out of the pickup bed. If we lived on the lake I think I would just get one of those $3000 fuel trailers.

[ReallyGottaSki]

huh! a fuel trailer..yeah!

 

 

[ironhorse]

I haul 12 - 5 gallon cans in the back of my truck and usually fill them on my tailgate, however when I'm at Costco, the gas guy makes me lift them to the ground and limits me to 8 cans.

[Dirt]

@Than_Bogan its Horton. Why warn him? there is a sticker on the pumps. He can read.

Sounds like a good topic for some more mandatory training. Must save people from themselves.

[lpskier]

I thought burning gasoline in California was illegal.

[Than_Bogan]

I actually had the impression that filling plastic tanks that weren't grounded was VERY dangerous, but clearly that cannot be true or half of you would not be here to post about it! I guess the conditions that cause an arc and ignite the gas vapors are a lot rarer than I thought?

[UWSkier]

You have to remove the potential between the tank and the pump (which is grounded). In theory, if you rest the pump nozzle on the mouth of the can, you are removing that potential then, but you should keep it in contact as the fuel flowing into the can can charge it again.

 

Better off just grounding the can to the same ground as the pump (the ground).

[oldjeep]

Potentially very dangerous, but likely a one in tens of thousands chance of it happening. You do have to get a static spark to occur in the vapor at the top of the can. Kind of like all the people who used to smoke while gassing up their cars, only a few of them blew themselves up ;)

[dchristman]

My first thought was to solve the problem by grounding that rack with a metal plate wired to it that you drop on the ground before fueling. My second thought was how the heck is a plastic container grounded by putting it on the ground anyway since the plastic is an insulator? hmmmm?

[thager]

I like the WTF button @Horton!!!

[motoskier]

Gas is $.30 a gallon cheaper across the street

[Horton]

@motoskier i know

[oldjeep]

The plastic isn't really an insulator in this case since it is the source of the static and you are trying to negate the difference between the ground potential of the pump and the actual ground.

As far as grounding the rack - in the olden days some pumps used to actually have a ground strap with a clamp that you could hook to something. Can't recall if that was just diesel pumps or if some gas pumps had them. It was back in the day during college when I was driving trucks that were full of AV-Gas and chemicals for a heli-crop duster. So we did our best not to screw up and get a spark ;)

 

Unfortunately since the rack is painted there is a pretty decent chance that grounding it wouldn't do anything ;)

[oldjeep]

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am not any sort of electrical engineer or electrician - but I have zapped myself plenty and I will be staying at a Holiday Inn Express tomorrow ;)

 

[BraceMaker]

Diesel doesnt really need a ground you could extinguish a cigarette on the fuel neck with minimal risk. Gasoline... Pmmmpfh

 

[Jmoski]

By putting the gas can on the ground you allow the static from pouring the gas into the can to dissipate into the ground. It’s the plastic bed liner that acts as a insulator when the can is in the bed of a truck (or carpet in the back of an SUV) that’s the real culprit.

[Jaypro]

I know this has been covered @Horton , but that why we driver super crew 4 door pickups

[DanE]

The real danger with gasoline and sparks starts when temperatures goes well below freezing. Thats when the fumes are in such a compressed state that there is room for oxygen in the container. At some level in the can there will be an ideal mixture for ignition.

At hot summer temps there is only fumes in the cans, no oxygen no ignition.

[braindamage]

Idk.,.looks good to me.

[dchristman]

 

[GPJ]

That should work better than the bumper sticker that says "If you tailgate me I'll flick a booger on your windshield"

[Than_Bogan]

As a former machine vision engineer, I am endlessly amused by the red boxes that poor algorithm is drawing once the fire confuses the snot out of it.

 

That may not be the KEY takeaway though...

[BlueSki]

@GPJ good point! I am going to set up something similar, with a sticker that says, “go ahead and tailgate, you will blow up too!” I’ll leave the cans empty but the idiots won’t know.