Petrol container

[Drawweight]

I bought a plastic 20 litre petrol container to store petrol in for my lawnmower.

It appears that the cap isn’t sealing properly as the level has dropped a bit and there a smell of petrol in the shed. Not drastic but evident.

Is there a way to get a proper seal on the cap?

[Pebbles167]

Ptfe tape on the neck threads will work. Hardly a long term solution for something opened regularly though. O ring might work I guess.

[OutInTheShed]

20 litres ?
Is that a steel chinese jerry can?

If it doesn't seal, it's probably because it's rubbish.

Unless you are doing vast amounts of mowing, you would be better off with a couple of plastic 5 litre cans which tend to actually work.

Some garages interpret the rules differently, it's easier to fill 5 litre cans. I find it good to buy 5 litres at a time, when the first can is half empty, get the second filled. Fuel doesn't keep well these days. Likewise, I have a couple of plastic 10 litre diesel cans for my boat.

[biggiles]

I don't think there are any legal 20 litre plastic jerrycans for petrol in the UK. Only metal ones.

Leaky jerrycans are a pain, I wouldn't mess around with it, I'd get rid of it and stick to small plastic ones or bigger metal ones.

[Spurry]

Although quite expensive, I have several of this 10Litre type which work well. The nozzle is especially useful for two-stroke mix for chainsaws, strimmers and such.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256678791771?var=557016...

[OutInTheShed]

biggiles said:

I don't think there are any legal 20 litre plastic jerrycans for petrol in the UK. Only metal ones.

Leaky jerrycans are a pain, I wouldn't mess around with it, I'd get rid of it and stick to small plastic ones or bigger metal ones.

I think you'll find there are 20 litre or 25 litre plastic petrol cans available legally.

But you may have trouble getting them filled.
My sailing club buys petrol in such cans, but I think maybe there is a difference between being a 'member of the public' and a nominated person with an account.
If the OP is buying petrol for his business it may be different from your average punter.

People with big outboard motors may tell you some garages will fill big 'portable tanks' and some won't.

Personally, 10 litres of diesel is convenient, bigger gets heavy.
5 litres of petrol is as much mowing/strimming/outboard motoring as I want to listen to in a couple of months, so there's no benefit in a bigger can.

[Cheib]

OutInTheShed said:

But you may have trouble getting them filled.

I normally fill two 20l jerry cans with diesel at a time as I’ve got a ride on and compact tractor which both take about 20l to fill up. I’ve owned them for ten years. Never been questioned. I also have a 20l for petrol which gets filled a lot less frequently, can’t say I’ve ever had problems with petrol going “off”.

[OutInTheShed]

Cheib said:

....., can t say I ve ever had problems with petrol going off .

I've personally known a couple of cases of small engines flat refusing to start on last year's petrol, despite the fuel being stored in sealed plastic cans.
Fresh petrol and away to go!

So now I avoid storing petrol longer than I need to, and if an engine won't start, fresh fuel is high up the list of things to try.

[alscar]

We get through about 2 x 20 litres each season in the various lawn care machines - always kept in 20l Jerry cans and no issues with leakages and or going off.
Fill up anywhere with no issues other than Tesco’s where they seem to get cross once you fill up the first.
E5.

[darreni]

I keep my petrol cans in the garage which can get pretty warm at this time of year, and i recently noticed the cans (carplan green plastic) are swelling and bulging.
They also seem pressurized when removing the lids. I've not noticed it before - is this normal or a sign they need changing? They must be 20 years old.

[OIC]

Always store 99 RON fuel.

It lasts for years.

Use it in my genny and top up the car when needed.

The good stuff is still reasonably good.

The cheap E10 stuff is only good for weekly use.

Love petrol.

[chris1roll]

darreni said:

I keep my petrol cans in the garage which can get pretty warm at this time of year, and i recently noticed the cans (carplan green plastic) are swelling and bulging.
They also seem pressurized when removing the lids. I've not noticed it before - is this normal or a sign they need changing? They must be 20 years old.

Perfectly normal.
If you go and look at them in the middle of winter the sides will be sucked in, and you'll get a hiss the other way when opening.

Unless the plastic is starting to craze I wouldnt worry about it.

[darreni]

Many thanks.

[jimmyjimjim]

chris1roll said:

darreni said:

I keep my petrol cans in the garage which can get pretty warm at this time of year, and i recently noticed the cans (carplan green plastic) are swelling and bulging.
They also seem pressurized when removing the lids. I've not noticed it before - is this normal or a sign they need changing? They must be 20 years old.

Perfectly normal.
If you go and look at them in the middle of winter the sides will be sucked in, and you'll get a hiss the other way when opening.

Unless the plastic is starting to craze I wouldnt worry about it.

I get this every year in my garage in Colorado - it gets HOT in there and I notice this every time I go in after I have to fill the mower.

I've taken to squeezing some air out, then tightening the cap as much as possible; this helps. The can is 15+ years old, it's done the same every year, nothing to worry about. Standard red plastic.

[ARH]

I take my lawnmower for a 1.3 mile walk every weekend in the summer and manage fine with a 5 litre can, when its empty I fill it back up. Cant see why I would ever need to have more than that.

I guess the OP is far richer than me and has a lot more grass

[Snow and Rocks]

10l plastic container from Screwfix is cheap and lasts well in my experience. Included screw on spout is a bit flimsy feeling but hasn't broken yet despite lots of use.

10l is a decent compromise between capacity and size/weight for filling small machines.