Zero ing pump at Fuel station

sheeps68

Just had a disagreement at petrol station. This happend once before about 6 months ago. When I take my car to fill it up with diesel I have always taken pump out of holder and waited before putting it into car for the display to b zeroed. My reasoning is I do not wish to pay persons before bill so like it to show 00:00 before I put it in the car and begin filling. I am aware that most forecourts have video recording so this is my safety feature of making sure its clear before my filling starts. However now on 2 occasions at this forecourt they have refused to zero it until in my car as its a flammable liquid. I do not feel comfortable at risk of having to pay for previous persons fuel as not zero before nozzle goes into my car.

Can anyone elighten me as to regulations? How can I be sure of not running risks? Is garage taking jobsworth situation too far? Dont really want to go elsewhere despite the threat I made today as they are currently 4p a litre cheaper than everywhere else. Yes it was a supermarket.

anewman

Put it in and wait till it zeroes before pulling the trigger. The trigger will not work before it zeroes anyway. When the previous person puts the trigger back, this operates a button on the holder which cuts the pump and stops it working. You can tell when the pump is working as it makes noise. There's very little chance you can be charged for the previous person's fuel.

You're worrying about nothing. Hope that puts your mind at ease :beer:

The people operating the tills often don't have the first clue how the pumps work. They'll say your tank's full if the pump keeps clicking off when the pump is at fault and won't take it as a hint there's something wrong with the pump.

Diesel itself is actually not flammable anyway. Slippy and smelly but not flammable. But don't try arguing this point with the petrol station attendants because they know everything

KeithP

sheeps68 wrote: »

Is garage taking jobsworth situation too far?

Probably.

But are you taking things to far?

Try this...

Put your hands behind your back and smile sweetly at CCTV camera.
Grab nozzle handle in your mouth.
Place nozzle in car.
Wait for display to go to zero before removing hands from behind your back.
Again smile sweetly at CCTV camera.

You will have now clearly defeated any plan by the supermarket to extract too much money from you.

You will have also provided their security staff with a few moments of hilarity.

:rolleyes:

Wig

I think you are both taking jobsworth attitudes.

The staff because the pump is still running when you remove the nozzle from your car, so their safety argument falls down there but it does cut down the hazard by 50%.

You because there's no way you would be charged for the previous persons fuel. As the other guy said if you are really worried, put it in your car and put your hands on the roof of the car or in your pockets or on your head until they reset the pump.

There is a good argument for reseting the pump to zero when the fuel is paid for - just makes sense.

Premier_2

anewman wrote: »

...Diesel itself is actually not flammable anyway. Slippy and smelly but not flammable. ...

I guess that depends on how you define flammable, but diesel certainly burns else a diesel engine wouldn't work.

According to Exxonmobil (Esso) MSDS:

PHYSICAL / CHEMICAL HAZARDS
Material can release vapours that readily form flammable mixtures. Vapour accumulation could flash and/or explode if ignited. Material can accumulate static charges which may cause an incendiary electrical discharge.

http://www.sweeneyoil.com/uploads/MSDSSheetEssoDiesel.pdf

vikingaero

When he pump zeros it is activated and pumping is enabled. So if you hold the pump in your hand you could pump fuel onto the forecourt or even drop the nozzle. I find that diesel pumps always seem to contain residual fuel from the previous fuelling.

I've pumped fuel thousands of times with the nozzle in the filler and never been charged for the previous persons fuel. It's more likely that a numpty customer will call the incorrect pump number to the cashier when paying.

sheeps68

Thanks everyone.

Think It will take some time to change my habits of awaiting a pump to zero before putting it in car.

"I've pumped fuel thousands of times with the nozzle in the filler and never been charged for the previous persons fuel. It's more likely that a numpty customer will call the incorrect pump number to the cashier when paying." Think that was start of my habit just after I started driving someone had given wrong pump and paid for cheaper fuel hence my pump wasnt zeroed and they tried to charge me for previous persons fuel before I even started to fuel in a litlle country fuel station. Hence habit reinforced.

"As the other guy said if you are really worried, put it in your car and put your hands on the roof of the car or in your pockets or on your head until they reset the pump." May try to do the hands on car trick if needed.

"There is a good argument for reseting the pump to zero when the fuel is paid for - just makes sense." Now that would be just so sensible.

Premier_2

sheeps68 wrote: »

...Think that was start of my habit just after I started driving someone had given wrong pump and paid for cheaper fuel hence my pump wasnt zeroed and they tried to charge me for previous persons fuel before I even started to fuel in a litlle country fuel station. Hence habit reinforced.
...

Ignoring this was a "little country fuel station" so probably would have seen you hadn't even dispensed any fuel, surely the fact that your car was still empty whilst the pump was showing it had dispensed perhaps £20 worth of fuel was adequate proof?

How busy exactly was this "little country fuel station"? You can only pay for fuel once normally, so if someone had given the wrong pump, there should be a driver who has had fuel who hasn't paid yet ... or they had a drive off. Bit of a coincidence.

The pump motor would have stopped when the pump was placed back in the holster. How many customers do they have that like to have two attempts to dispense fuel into their car?

sheeps68

Premier wrote: »

Given this was a "little country fuel station" so probably would have seen you hadn't even dispensed any fuel, surely the fact that your car was still empty whilst the pump was showing it had dispensed perhaps £20 worth of fuel was adequate proof?

That's how they saw sense My little car couldn't even have held the amount the pump said was dispensed. Hence start of habit of 20+ years.

rev_henry

Premier wrote: »

I guess that depends on how you define flammable, but diesel certainly burns else a diesel engine wouldn't work.

According to Exxonmobil (Esso) MSDS:

http://www.sweeneyoil.com/uploads/MSDSSheetEssoDiesel.pdf

Of course it burns but only once its hot enough. Diesel is made of very long molecules which require a lot of energy in the form of heat to break up (i.e. burn). If you just chucked a lit match at cold diesel nothing would happen.

Wig

rev_henry wrote: »

Of course it burns but only once its hot enough. Diesel is made of very long molecules which require a lot of energy in the form of heat to break up (i.e. burn). If you just chucked a lit match at cold diesel nothing would happen.

Same when you throw a lit cigarette into a pool of cold petrol, the petrol will extinguish the cigarette. can't say I've ever tried it though being a non smoker. Not sure about a lit match into a pool of petrol, I think that might ignite the petrol assuming the match remains lit as it flies through the air.