Jerry Can Advice (1 Viewer)

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Mine mounts vertically, I didn't consider horizontal placement. It would be hard to imagine the gas getting anywhere close to 200 degrees inside the Rotopax, and not filling them to the brim would give some mitigation.

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It’s not the ambient air temp that heats up the fuel, it’s the pressure caused by the fuel trying to expand that heats it up, and eventually causes it to boil.

I’ve vented my rotopax several times before and after without that issue but I was on my way to Telluride when I stopped to vent and was shocked that the fuel was bubbling and spraying out with the cap loosened so much. Since then I now vent VERY slowly
 
@TonyP ? any danger in using a can listed as Diesel for unleaded fuel? assuming the can is new and has never had fuel in it
i saw this whole thread about the difference being just the gasket:


I think sometimes @cruiseroutfit has them. I searched on ebay and found these:


All good if i just swap out rubber gaskets for Viton gaskets?
 
It’s not the ambient air temp that heats up the fuel, it’s the pressure caused by the fuel trying to expand that heats it up, and eventually causes it to boil.

I’ve vented my rotopax several times before and after without that issue but I was on my way to Telluride when I stopped to vent and was shocked that the fuel was bubbling and spraying out with the cap loosened so much. Since then I now vent VERY slowly

That is fascinating/weird.
Even in 108 degrees in Moab with completely full Rotopax...only boiling that’s ever happened was in my main fuel tank and three out of four guy’s main tanks. No cans boiling or perceivably warm. We would have noticed, too, bc Tony p was adding fuel at the top from a can he had in his cargo area.

Think I might test a RP on the way to Ouray this summer just for curiosity sake.
 
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Wavian makes a decent 'Jerry Can'. I haven't had any troubles with them.

 
In CA the whole can is supposed to be red for gas...but CA is nutty (starting Friday I can’t buy a box a .22 caliber rabbit rounds without a dang background check...and if you are from out of state? You can’t buy them at all). :meh: :bang:
 
I’m gonna go against the grain :cool: my favorites are genuine circa 1940’s or so German Jerry cans like Wedco cans. “Probably” not DOT legal, but I don’t care. No leaks ever. Yet... not simple to pour but I use a super siphon.

Not sure where to get now but I got all mine at a surplus store. About $20@ for 20 liter cans.
 
The caps are color coded for fuel type
In CA the whole can is supposed to be red for gas...but CA is nutty (starting Friday I can’t buy a box a .22 caliber rabbit rounds without a dang background check...and if you are from out of state? You can’t buy them at all). :meh: :bang:
Ironically Californians are color coded too. Mostly blue it appears to my chagrin...
 
I’m gonna go against the grain :cool: my favorites are genuine circa 1940’s or so German Jerry cans like Wedco cans. “Probably” not DOT legal, but I don’t care. No leaks ever. Yet... not simple to pour but I use a super siphon.

Not sure where to get now but I got all mine at a surplus store. About $20@ for 20 liter cans.

I’d like those too, but out here they are like vapor-ware...
 
I've only seen military scepters in tan for fuel use, as they're generally used for diesel. There are water military scepters too as can be identified by the breather on the cap (and "Water" on the side). Changing the gasket is easy and will allow petrol to be used.

The best part of the military scepters besides their build quality, is you can get the donkey dick spout and empty 5gal into your tank in literally less 10 seconds due to the combo of the spout and the built in vent on the Jerry. If you do buy a military style scepter, get the wrench tool, it'll make life easy and your hands will appreciate it.

Donkey dick looks like this:
04353_mfc_spout_1_inch_28mm.jpg


Wrench:

316M%2B75Cu9L.jpg
 
Here’s my experience.

Rotopax are sealed the best, I never could pop a seal. They are also built in a way that you can’t smell off gassing. Long ago when I was laying them flat on a roof, they were being treated like @Markuson treated them, and they were fine, and returned to normal size. I never had a problem with them getting too tight on their mount. That’s me though.

That said, I have the old ones that came with a normal spout. It was simple, zero spill, zero issues. The new one come with CARB compliant spout and they always spill fuel and are impossible to get every last drop of fuel out of the Rotopax because of their shape.

Sceptre MFC (military cans) are pretty good, but they absolutely off gas. I could always smell the 3-4 in the back of a truck. Put 3-4 full ones in an enclosed area, and you’ll get a big whiff of liquid dinosaur.

Sceptre are super safe though. I had a pile of 30 filled with gas and diesel in a large fire, and the cans just bubble and manipulate, but they never leaked which would of created a worse situation. We used the fuel in those after we got the fire out.

If buying a MFC, here is a link to get a gasoline spout. Scepter Military MFC Spout 3/4 19mm - Shop Online

It is a 19mm that fits gasoline fill ports. The donkey dick that @TonyP mentioned works, but it is 28mm on only fits in large diesel fill ports (so you can send it down the fill neck). You can buy Sceptre accessories from Canada, just not the cans themselves.

Also, if you have a MFC filled with 20L, and you drive around with them, when you connect a spout and tilt them to fill you main tank, they will drop about 3-5 ounces of fuel on the ground. That is why they are not CARB compliant. The internal vent gets filled with fuel during transport, and when pouring, the air will push the fuel in the vent out and on the ground during filling. Nothing to worry about, just how they work. Bad on the earth, bad if you want “tread lightly,” but nothing technically wrong with the can.

Metal jerry cans, like wavian, and good. They are metal so scratch and dents happen, but they don’t return to their original shape after those incidents. Sometimes makes it hard to get back in their mounts.

This is just from my experiences, I’m sure others have had different experiences with certain containers.
 
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That is fascinating/weird.
Even in 108 degrees in Moab with completely full Rotopax...only boiling that’s ever happened was in my main fuel tank and three out of four guy’s main tanks. No cans boiling or perceivably warm. We would have noticed, too, bc Tony p was adding fuel at the top from a can he had in his cargo area.

Think I might test a RP on the way to Ouray this summer just for curiosity sake.
I was on 285 out of Denver and stopped in Jefferson to fill up, on the way down from whatever mountain pass that is. According to Google Jefferson is at 9,501'. The gas station there was closed, and I was towing and near empty, so I pulled the RP to fill my tank. Opening too quickly the fuel started spraying out, so I tightened it up and let it slooooowly vent. Once it finally stopped wheezing (which was a good 5 minutes) I opened the can to get the spout out and noticed it the fuel was bubbling. The RP wasn't hot to touch, but the fuel was NOT stable either. I'm not a chemical engineer, just a guy with 2 eyes reporting what he saw :)

Side note: I subsequently spent 5+ minutes trying to pour gas out of the 4 gal RP, the stupid CARB-compliant nozzle got wedged into the truck filler tube and trying to remove the can popped the cap off and spilled additional fuel. Argh. I just bought one of these last week to avoid the spillage and 3-hands required issue in the future:

Amazon product ASIN B004ETRWLS
 
I was on 285 out of Denver and stopped in Jefferson to fill up, on the way down from whatever mountain pass that is. According to Google Jefferson is at 9,501'. The gas station there was closed, and I was towing and near empty, so I pulled the RP to fill my tank. Opening too quickly the fuel started spraying out, so I tightened it up and let it slooooowly vent. Once it finally stopped wheezing (which was a good 5 minutes) I opened the can to get the spout out and noticed it the fuel was bubbling. The RP wasn't hot to touch, but the fuel was NOT stable either. I'm not a chemical engineer, just a guy with 2 eyes reporting what he saw :)

Side note: I subsequently spent 5+ minutes trying to pour gas out of the 4 gal RP, the stupid CARB-compliant nozzle got wedged into the truck filler tube and trying to remove the can popped the cap off and spilled additional fuel. Argh. I just bought one of these last week to avoid the spillage and 3-hands required issue in the future:

Amazon product ASIN B004ETRWLS
That’s the spout that my Rotopaxs came with. You’ll love those.

@TonyP, I notice the smell when I put MFCs in the back of the 200 after topping a bunch off, but the Rotopax I could never tell. My MFCs are all pretty much brand new though. Maybe they need a good coat of spray paint, sand, and sweat to hold the crap in?
 
You can buy red scepter military style fuel cans from a mud member right here. I just purchased two myself.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/scepter-fuel-and-water-cans-for-sale-or.751819/
I was on 285 out of Denver and stopped in Jefferson to fill up, on the way down from whatever mountain pass that is. According to Google Jefferson is at 9,501'. The gas station there was closed, and I was towing and near empty, so I pulled the RP to fill my tank. Opening too quickly the fuel started spraying out, so I tightened it up and let it slooooowly vent. Once it finally stopped wheezing (which was a good 5 minutes) I opened the can to get the spout out and noticed it the fuel was bubbling. The RP wasn't hot to touch, but the fuel was NOT stable either. I'm not a chemical engineer, just a guy with 2 eyes reporting what he saw :)

Side note: I subsequently spent 5+ minutes trying to pour gas out of the 4 gal RP, the stupid CARB-compliant nozzle got wedged into the truck filler tube and trying to remove the can popped the cap off and spilled additional fuel. Argh. I just bought one of these last week to avoid the spillage and 3-hands required issue in the future:

Amazon product ASIN B004ETRWLS

Interesting stuff. :)

Like your messy spout issue... CA compliant spouts are a joke. They are so cuddly that I suspect they spill more than standard one for the kind of reasons you mention.

I have only ever had boiling gas on hot days at summits in Moab...
 

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