Keeping spare petrol in the boot of my car?

goldspanners

in germany it is law that you keep spare fuel and a warning triangle in the boot.
it must be kept in a proper container,like the petrol plastic containers you can buy at filling stations.
i may be wrong but i think the metal ones are now illegal.

jonathon

danger_mouse wrote: »

i may be wrong so ive got my flameproof suit on here...........

Is there a law regarding this, im sure i was told that it is no longer legal to carry a petrol can of the plastic variety in your car when full, its only supposed to be carried emptied incase you need to fill it up.

As i say, im not 100% on the accuracty but its is 100% what i was told, perhaps it related to mainland europe rather than uk....

how do i fill my lawnmower push it to the petrol station?

Conor_3

needaspirin wrote: »

Well you learn something every day! 30 years in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry and that's a new one on me. :rotfl:

You obviously didn't learn anything. Petrol does indeed go off but it's a fair bit longer than a week. A good few months as any classic car owner who has laid his car up over winter sometimes finds out in summer when they try to start it.

moonrakerz

alibongo42 wrote: »

I travel 30 miles each way to work along country roads, passing no petrol stations on the way. Carrying spare seems to me like a sensible precautionary measure.

Is it not easier, safer and cheaper to keep an eye on your fuel gauge ?

Stephen_Leak

I always keep an approved 5 litre plastic can of petrol in the back of the car, just in case. Mind you, if I have any more emergency equipment in my car, I am going to have to paint it dark green with a "2" on the roof.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/petroleum/faqs.htm

needaspirin

Just to put things right. Petrol does not "go off". If left in a vented container for long enough it will evaporate away to nothing, leaving behind the additives. If kept in a sealed container it will remain as good as the day it was refined.

deltic_2

Petrol is not just flamable, it is extremely explosive !!

It's bad in liquid form, but is many times worse in vapour form when you spill it. That is why it is kept in a specially sealed container so that the vapours cannot deteriorate the seals and escape. A cupful of petrol vapourising can make 300 litres of air into an explosive mix which could easily ignite. Imagine what a 5 litre can can do !! I would not want to be hit in the rear with that in my boot ready to spill and vapourise.

Before anyone says about the petrol tank, that is tested to withstand heavy impacts and there are numerous safety devices to stop large scale leakage in the event of an accident. I doubt the cans are as rigourously made.

moonrakerz

deltic wrote: »

Petrol is not just flamable, it is extremely explosive !!

It's bad in liquid form, but is many times worse in vapour form when you spill it. That is why it is kept in a specially sealed container so that the vapours cannot deteriorate the seals and escape. A cupful of petrol vapourising can make 300 litres of air into an explosive mix which could easily ignite. Imagine what a 5 litre can can do !! I would not want to be hit in the rear with that in my boot ready to spill and vapourise.

Before anyone says about the petrol tank, that is tested to withstand heavy impacts and there are numerous safety devices to stop large scale leakage in the event of an accident. I doubt the cans are as rigourously made.

A very sensible salutary warning !

I really don't understand why people routinely carry cans of petrol around in there cars "just in case". All cars have a fuel gauge, and if that doesn't work, just fill the car up every x hundred miles.
Just watch a "die hard" movie, all those wonderful explosions with rolling clouds of flame and smoke are achieved with just a few cupfuls of unleaded ! And you are happy with a gallon of the stuff in the boot - no thanks.

Just to show how dangerous it is - and how stupid people can be:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2zykxUDItI&feature=related

hartcjhart

ELF AND SAFETY ELF AND SAFETY!!!

there is absolutely nothing wrong with carrying a spare can of petrol in the boot of the car,I would advise that it is held securely in place with a strap of some kind just to stop it moving about.

fuel guages can go wrong at any time so there is a risk of running out.

the chance of an explosion is very very small,and most of the spectacular crashes on telly with the fireball are manafactured explosions,

aardvaak

cajef wrote: »

And me, to think I fill my petrol can up about once a year for my lawn mower, I never knew I was using petrol that had gone 'off'.:rolleyes:

Core! you are lucky once a year for your lawn mower I have to use the whole 5 litres to cut my lawn once!