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soFlaNative

soFlaNative

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Now that Dorian's moved on I have some extra gas. Kept in an aluminum shed it does get warm (hot).
5 gal. plastic jugs and a jerry can look a like the gas is stabilized and won't be kept more than 3 months.

My question is should I barely crack the cap to vent, squeeze a bit of air out then seal, keep tightly closed and burp it when I'm nearby (seems pointless) or just deal with the balloon effect and swap them out every few years before they split like a bratwurst on the grill.

If you have one of those purpose built cabinets in a regulated environ bully for you.
 
Im in TX I just leave the vent a little loose and keep um in the shade of my 20x20 metal storage shed.

One plastic jerry style Ove been using over 20 yrs. so far no issues.

Direct sunlight is more of an issue than temp.


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I keep mine in an old (125 years) barn with a tin roof. I leave the plastic jugs vented. Been storing it like this for 10-12 years now with no issues.

I go through 150-200 gallons per year in various weed eaters, chain saws, lawn mowers, generators, etc., plus a Kawasaki Mule. I buy non-ethanol “high test” gas, and treat it with either Sea Foam or a Lucas product, called injector cleaner or some such. Every three months or so, I will pour what’s left, usually no more than five gallons, in my old farm pickup. Then replenish. Have had very good luck with this method of storage with everything except the Kawasaki.

Going to do a thread later on the problems with the Mule.
 
I don't know what you mean by "plastic jugs":confused:
If they are approved plastic gas cans then just leave them. Yes they will expand. Now if you over filled them you have a problem. I keep gas in a outdoor shed all year for many many years.
 
Rule3 said:
I don't know what you mean by "plastic jugs":confused:
If they are approved plastic gas cans then just leave them. Yes they will expand. Now if you over filled them you have a problem. I keep gas in a outdoor shed all year for many many years.
Click to expand...

I have a bunch of legal plastic storage containers for flammable products.

As far as gas goes I get only real gas (AKA no Ethanol swill)and add additives The containers do expand and contract but I do not loose sleep over it. I keep them for a portable generator, ATV & gas to make up 2 stroke mixtures and having a few gallons on hand for automobile use as we live quite rural and bad things can happen.

Diesel for the tractor and some Kero for some space heaters Also normally have 1 full Barbecue size propane tank there!

These are all kept in a old garage about a 100' from the house.
 
My Lawn Tractor is presently in a repair shop because I used 1 year old gas in it. Gas even had additives in it for long time storage in a 2 1/2 gallon plastic gas can.
So, I will NOT ever store gas that long again!
 
redlevel said:
I keep mine in an old (125 years) barn with a tin roof. I leave the plastic jugs vented. Been storing it like this for 10-12 years now with no issues.

I go through 150-200 gallons per year in various weed eaters, chain saws, lawn mowers, generators, etc., plus a Kawasaki Mule. I buy non-ethanol “high test” gas, and treat it with either Sea Foam or a Lucas product, called injector cleaner or some such. Every three months or so, I will pour what’s left, usually no more than five gallons, in my old farm pickup. Then replenish. Have had very good luck with this method of storage with everything except the Kawasaki.

Going to do a thread later on the problems with the Mule.
Click to expand...

Redlevel.....sometime back in an older thread you replied something similar and it just made sense to me. I now do the same thing, but on much smaller scale (don't need as many gallons):).

Don
 
Just this morning I filled 4 5 gal. plastic gas cans . I do use 2 0z. of fuel stabil per 5 gal. can.

I have 4 more cans to fill. I 've kept it up to 1 year with no problems. I use the gas for my generator, snow blowers, mowers and garden tractor. I dump it into my truck after a wile and just rotate the cans now and again.

In this state you can only find ethanol gas unless you get it from a airport. I do run my generator at least every month or two and put a load on it.

So far I've had no trouble . I store the gas in my 3 bay detached garage.
 
I usually try to rotate stored gas so it doesn't sit around longer than a month. If I am going to have it all winter, it gets Stabil.

When it starts to go "out of date" it goes into the truck's gas tank.
 
Like others, I live in the country and store gas in 5 gal. plastic jugs. The sun seems like the worst culprit on the plastic, as a couple of mine, 25 yrs. + old, have turned almost white with some black mold on them. Non-ethanol is what we locally call "clear" gas and runs around $4/gal or more. I use it, like everyone, for the 4 wheeler, chain saws, weed eater, generator, etc. I use Stabil in the tanks when not using the machines, and use enough that long term storage is not a problem. Now my vent is the "safety" nozzles on the new containers. A real pain in the *** to use.
 
Since it's the heart of the hurricane season, I filled the generator tank and all my gas cans Monday before I left for work. I will burn some of that up in the riding mower in the next month or two and around the middle of October I will drain the generator tank into an empty gas can and start filling the car and truck with the canned gas to use it up in a reasonable amount of time. I also store my gas in the garage to minimize temperature swings.

And when I shut down my generator, I always shut off the gas petcock and let the carburetor run out of gas too and will also pull the main jet out of the bowl to drain any residual gas in the carb before storing it for the winter.
 
I’ve heard that if the plastic cans swell from heat that they’re considered no good any more. I have a half dozen from hurricane Andrew in 1992 that have expanded and contracted more than Oprah Winfrey and they still work fine.
I wouldn’t leave them cracked open or you’ll vent fuel if it’s hot enough.
I should replace them I guess, but why?
Just an FYI....it’s not the same gas from 1992
 
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I had a plastic 5 gallon gas jug split after filling it for this storm. I had to quickly put the gas in other containers. I had just filled it and others up and when I returned and went to the back of the truck I immediately knew something was wrong from the smell, that and none of the cans had fallen over. I knew it wasn't heat expansion overflow as I don't overfill at all.

It split at the seam about 5" long at the top. It was a few years old but was actually my newest can but with the worst pour spout design. The one where you have to remove the little cap, move a little lever to the pour position and then hold the larger lever down while you pour, as in pour slowly, while also trying to keep that little attached cap out of the way. From Walmart. What a piece of .....

Moral of the story is that they can split, and pretty catastrophically. I'm lucky it didn't dump the whole 5gal in the bed, which would have probably dripped down onto my exhaust. I've had plenty that have had a lot of sun exposure over many years and are just fine. But the new(est) one split.
 
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I use 5 gallon steel jerry cans.
 
On the Faulkner homestead I rotate through 5 five gallon gasoline cans with Sta-bil in them and 5 five gallon diesel cans. They're all metal, and they seldom stay in the cans more than 3 or 4 months before they're rotated out.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I've got the 4 - 5 year old jugs / cans with the useless spouts flipped over for the caps. Funnels or a squeeze bulb siphon to fill my smaller jugs with ethanol free only.
Figured it was an either / or type question, I just wondered how long the jug would last when I kept seeing them wobbling almost like a Weeble.
 
I think you can buy the old type gas can filler cap / spout. Just look around online.

Of course these are sold as REPLACEMENTS ONLY for older gas cans. Heaven forbid someone would use them on a new gas can merely to circumvent a regulation passed by our brilliant legislators. :rolleyes:
 
Jack Flash said:
I think you can buy the old type gas can filler cap / spout. Just look around online.

Of course these are sold as REPLACEMENTS ONLY for older gas cans. Heaven forbid someone would use them on a new gas can merely to circumvent a regulation passed by our brilliant legislators. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Caps, spouts, and the snap-cap vents. Adding the
vents to the newer cans (that try to breathe through
the pour spout) speeds up the pour rate.
 
Jack Flash said:
I think you can buy the old type gas can filler cap / spout. Just look around online.

Of course these are sold as REPLACEMENTS ONLY for older gas cans. Heaven forbid someone would use them on a new gas can merely to circumvent a regulation passed by our brilliant legislators. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Problem with this is that they have made the openings so that the older spouts won't fit :mad:
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
Problem with this is that they have made the openings so that the older spouts won't fit :mad:
Click to expand...

I have a collection of many different funnels, I can work with any of that mandated BS if needed.

I did what was necessary to get my stuff to work for years.

Drilling out the junk inside the spouts was one option. Getting so called modern replacements that fit the old items. Adding hoses to make old spout systems work. Course doing all that some gas/kero/diesel does get spilled. Ah government progress nice is it not!:mad:
 
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