Stupid question. Do you have to store diesel in 5 gal YELLOW can versus RED?

[subway]

Sorry again if it is stupid. The reason I asked I hate the plastic gas containers and would rather use the metal can with funnel attached. If I have to I will paint the two new can I bought for my tractor.

 

[kennyd]

Do you HAVE TO...No, But should you-YES. Yellow is the standard color for diesel fuel, and red is standard for gasoline. I wouldn't want to take the chance of mixing them up.

 

[Bird]

There are good reasons for using the proper colored containers, such as preventing you or someone else from putting the wrong fuel into a vehicle or enigne and damaging it, or in the event of a fire, the firemen would see the proper color of container, etc. However . . . I'm sorry to say I never had any containers except red plastic. I did mark them with a black marks-a-lot as to what they contained, never had a fire, and never put the wrong stuff in an engine. Just lucky? Maybe so. As the old saying goes, "Do what I say; not what I do."

 

[MrJimi]

I store mine in red containers, It would eliminate gas in diesel/diesel in gas engine but I am the only one that uses it and I have it wrote on the can in 2" tall letters..

 

[SkyPup]

I store our diesel in red, yellow, and blue Blitz 5 gallon plastic containers.

For gasoline, I only use red metal 5 gallon containers

 

[subway]

Thanks guys. I thought that was the case but I wasn't sure. I will probably just spray paint the cans yellow to make sure no one mixes them up.

 

[Lasgambler]

I admit it. I was using all RED containers at one time for gas and deisel. I was in a hurry one morning. I grabbed a container I thought was gas and brought it to the guys and said "here's gas for the stucco mixer".

I came back later and they were not mixing mud and told me my engine in the mixer was shot, It was running bad and smoking. They took my word for it as being gas, and no one checked to see if it was gas or D. My fault, Live and Learn.

I now have RED and YELLOW containers.

 

[LBrown59]

What about the larger 200 to 500 gallon tanks?
They don't come in colors do they.

 

[CurlyDave]

...I hate the plastic gas containers and would rather use the metal can with funnel attached.

Wait a few years and then look in the bottom of that metal can. Every one I have ever inspected carefully has at least some corrosion, and many have a lot of corrosion. I think the plastic fuel container is a great invention.

About the furthest I will deviate from always using the correct color coding is that I once had to buy a blue kerosene can instead of a yellow diesel one. I still have it and use it, but kero and diesel are very close. I don't use kero for anything, and have never bought any, so the chances of confusion are very low.

 

[RedDirt]

I had too many red gas cans already to go buy yellow when I got the diesel tractor. I store both gas and diesel now in red cans but the diesel cans have yellow electrical tape wrapped around the handle. I'm the only user so mix-up is unlikely.

I also date tag my cans when I fill them so I use the oldest stuff first. The tag includes contents: gas, mixed gas (for 2-stroke), gas w/Stabil, diesel.