Fuel Container Repair

Some time ago we picked up a 20 litre Jerry Can from the Dungog Dump Shop for next to nothing. These 20 litre containers cost up to $50 new. After a good clean and a couple of coats of paint it went into use as one of our fuel storage containers. Unfortunately the rubber gasket in the cap was damaged and it had a tendency to leak if not fully upright. Not a useful container to have in the boot of the car after visiting the petrol station.

Refurbished

Another thing to remember is that petrol contains highly volatile additives which are needed to ignite the fuel in the engine for optimum performance. If the container is not airtight these volatiles evaporate and you are left with fuel which is not ideally configured for its purpose. The fuel will work but not as efficiently as it should. Hence we keep our containers well sealed and rotate the stored fuel to ensure everything is as fresh as possible.

Just backing up a bit. We try to keep some spare fuel at home as the nearest source is at least 20 kilometres away. The tractor uses diesel and we keep it topped up and a couple of containers of diesel on hand which is plenty for its light work. Our car is petrol as are our mowers, generator and the water pumps on the dam. In the dry spells we pump water up to the 20, 000 litre garden water storage tank to be distributed to the fruit trees and vegetables. Having sufficient fuel on hand for these water pumps is critical.

The generator is efficient but we try to keep enough fuel on hand to run it for a few days should there be a power outage. It also makes sense to only collect fuel when there are other tasks to be performed as part of the fuel collection journey. Fuel prices vary from week to week and it also makes good sense to purchase (restock) at the optimum time and not be forced to top up in peak periods.

Rather than toss away (recycle) the faulty fuel container we checked to see if new seals were available. And to our surprise they are a standard stock item at camping and auto parts stores. For an investment of $10 a set of three was acquired. And with only a few minutes work a refurbished fuel container joined our collection.

Repair kit