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Pass the pipe, Jerry can modification..

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by hudsonhawk, Feb 15, 2006.

  1. mpc

    mpc Member

  2. grannyscj

    grannyscj Headed to the Yukon

    You really need to listen to everyone here. First of all a metal gas can has to have a vent. Just expansion and contraction of the fuel from ambient temps is enough to split the seams or crush the can. Thats not even taking into account radiant heat from sunlight. So if you close up the original one you'll have to build in another. Second even if you used an inert gas, any pinhole, imperfect seal, split seam, etc., would result in a vaporized stream of highly volatile fuel. Jerry cans were not built to be a pressurized container, so this would be guaranteed, if not right away, at some point in the "life" of the device. I absolutely cannot stress how much this is something you should not attempt. Get a siphon or a crank pump, I wouldn't even use an electric pump. It only takes one small mistake doing fuel transfers to end your life and those nearby.:v6:
     
  3. 66cj5

    66cj5 Jeep with no name

    would track down a larger spout, say an orginal Jerry-can style with the 1.5" (might even be bigger) nozzle.
     
  4. hudsonhawk

    hudsonhawk Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the feed-back. A lot of your comments are the exact reason I have not implemented this. Yes I know the dangers of a pressurized flamable liquid. I am just looking for an easier way to transfer fuel into the tank.

    I have a fuel tank mounted in the bed of the Jeep and the Jerry can mounts are in the bed right behind the tank. This makes it impossible to do the gravity feed and the siphon systems dont work because they are on the same level as the tank. The bed of the jeep is about waist high and in order to pour the jerry cans I have to hold them on my sholder.

    I would never dream of using an electric pump. Way to much chance of BOOM as so many of you put it.
     
  5. hudsonhawk

    hudsonhawk Well-Known Member

  6. w3srl

    w3srl All-around swell dude Staff Member

    You go right ahead, I'll be watching from a safe distance. Say, the next county.... :D
     
  7. Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member


    In all seriousness if you actually end up actually trying this, after the inevitable outcome can I have your stereo ???

    H.
     
  8. Hawkes

    Hawkes Member

    Reminds me of something my neighbor did. He had a BMW car with a faulty fuel pump. He took the back seat out to access the top of the fuel tank, and saw rust and sediment in the tank. Stuck the shop vac in to suck the dirt and fuel out. House and car survived, he punted the burning mass of shop vac out of the garage before it caught anything else on fire. Apparently vapors and electricity don't mix. :rofl:

    Paul
     
  9. mb82

    mb82 I feel great!

    R) Now thats something I would like to see, only because I bet it would be funny as all heck.
     
  10. PeteL

    PeteL If it wasn't for physics, and law enforcement... 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Hudsonhawk,

    How about taking a Tee from the suction side of the fuel line or fuel pump, run it to your can? With a shutoffs you would have a secure reserve, non-pressurized. It would need a vent to let air into the tank.

    But I feel it is still an increased risk with little payback. I'm a firefighter - and we never get called when someone does something smart! ;-)

    My original GI jerrycans have NO vent, except the internal vaccum breaker tube. This is the small hole that is sealed by the cap gasket when the cap is tight. Recall those desert jeeps with extra jerrycans strapped on the hood, all on their sides? BTW it is part of the military design to make these jerrycans empty in a matter of seconds, not "twenty minutes," (imagine refueling in combat!). Find an original style big nozzle...

    Also, I think you might find the authorities frown on plumbed-in external fuel tanks. Big risk in an accident. A sealed can has got to be safer.

    Good luck.
    Pete
     
  11. PeteL

    PeteL If it wasn't for physics, and law enforcement... 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    That vacuum-cleaner/flamethrower deal is actually an organized sport in some places.

    Well, maybe a dis-organized sport, with a Darwin Award.

    At the very least I'd want a real long extension cord...

    Pete
     
  12. Flexiheep

    Flexiheep Sponsor

    I guess I can be a semi bad influence here, about 10 years ago I was tired of not finding a jerry can nozzle that didn't leak. I mount my jerry cans on the top of the rear fender under the roll cage (no top ever on my jeep), so I plumbed them into the filler neck on the under seat tank. I wish I had pictures right now, but I am 8000 miles from home. I drilled and tapped the filler inside the body to accept a 1/8th inch pipe thread that I screwed a hose barb to. The same was done to the Jerry can, one at the bottom and one at the top for a vent that was plumbed into the gas tank vent. I connected the jerry can to the main tank with 1/4 inch hose with a ball valve to control the flow.

    I know its a bad description, but it is nice to reach over and flip the ball valve to drop 5 more gallons in the tank.

    I'll get pictures when I get home if people care.

    For what it is worth I drilled a small hole in the sheetmetal, then used a tapered punch and a hammer to spread the hole out to a good size to tap. I got a good 3 threads to tighten the pipe fittings into.
     
  13. lynn

    lynn Time machine / Early CJ5 HR Rep Staff Member

    A buddy of mine uses a siphon line with a squeeze ball to get it going, like commonly used on boats. Easy, fast transfer from jerry can to tank. Let me see if I can find one...

    3/8 is the biggest line size I could find. OK, "relatively" fast... ;) :D

    http://www.opentip.com/product_info.php?products_id=104763


    [​IMG]
     
  14. jflots

    jflots Member

    Portable boat tanks use a pick-up through the top and have a vented cap. No pressure-ization just the engine's fuel pump. Either a similiar pickup or a gravity feed to an inline T valve somewhere arround the drivers seat. Easy switch from either tank.
     
  15. John A. Shows

    John A. Shows Comic Relief


    That's pretty cool Lynn
     
  16. w3srl

    w3srl All-around swell dude Staff Member

    I just wrote a paper for an OSHA Standards class on this very subject, and some of the horrific after-effects I've seen when normally intelligent people do dumb stuff with gasoline. With that said, I'm gonna file this one away with the "knuckle-pudding" discussion, never to be heard from again. :rofl:
     
  17. TIMMER78

    TIMMER78 New Member

    Harbor Frieght Sells A Small Liquid Pump That Works off of A Drill You Just Hook Hose On Either Side And Put The Pump In Your Drill And you have a Power Pump. It Is Supposed To Be Fast Also.
    Just A Thought. I have also seen a pump nozzle that looks like a gas pump handle and you put the hose in the jerry can and squeze the handle on the nozzle and it works as a pump as long as you keep squezing.
     
  18. arcticatdan

    arcticatdan New Member

    You just need to seal the main tank and place a hose from the can to the tank. Then when the main tank goes down it will pull from the can. They used to do it all the time in the Snowmobile world with extra gas tanks mounted on the rear of the tunnel.
     
  19. DBaughman

    DBaughman A Jeep Called Mater

    You can drill it with an air drill and be ok, BUT the problem is that pressurized air can cause static electricty. Static electricity and gasoline do not go together. It is not worth taking the chance.
     
  20. Pantheus

    Pantheus Old fart with 47 CJ-2A