Is there a safe way to pump gasoline into a plastic tank in the bed of a truck?

[JCoastie]

Here in New Zealand, all fuel outlets require the fuel nozzle to be earthed through the hose as a lot of new cars have plastic fuel tanks so along as you touch the nozzle to the tank you should not have any issues.

That would be great.
It's Tuesday and the night all the volunteer fire departments meet up. I'd going to head to the closest one and ask the same question regarding filling in the truck. Will post back what I hear.

 

[ruffdog]

I never let go of the pump handle when fueling. I keep my hand grounded to the pump at all times that way there won't be a spark between me and the handle.

 

[JCoastie]

Just got back from the fire station, very interesting. Insert every Alabama stereotype ever.
"Same as the dagum 5gal cans they fill in the back of pickup trucks all the time, shouldn't be any problem."

That was pretty much it. I'll call a different fire station tomorrow lol

 

[RayIN]

Think; how do pickup owners fill the added 40G tank in the front of truck-bed?, How is the OEM plastic gas tank filled without danger?
You are grounded by standing on the ground/pavement, your hand on fuel nozzle.
OH, but don't talk on your cell Phone while pumping fuel. Glad that nonsense was debunked long ago.

 

[aircommuter]

I once worked for the biggest utility company in California. We had a gas truck and a guy who gassed all the big trucks every night and of course checked the oil. The truck had a custom made 50’ hose that was drug around as rolling it up took too long. It was cheaper to have a new hose made and use the good remaining end portions to make short hoses for the pump island. Most of the time when a new hose was made it was installed by the guy who filled the trucks. That was a classification of a lube oil change person. I was a journeyman hired there so wasn’t involved in that. One day I was going to get some parts and the lube man said hey can you stop by the hose shop and pick up the new hose for the gas truck? Just doing what I normally do I grabbed my meter to take with me??
When I got to the hose shop I looked the hose over and connected my meter (set to continuity of course) to the fittings on the new hose. But there wasn’t any continuity. I walked back into the hose shop and said this hose isn’t any good! What’s wrong with it?? Whoever made it up didn’t connect the anti static wire. The reply was what’s that!!! Moral of the story is you don’t know if the hose you are using is even grounded in the first place.

 

[RayIN]

When filling a plastic gas container, always make contact with the nozzle to dissipate any static electricity, and prevent more from forming by the liquid flow.
If the plastic is not conductive, why does sitting it on the ground matter?
There would be no difference when filling the plastic gas tank for the vehicle.

 

[5030]

Good question actually. I guess if the can combusts on the ground, less chance of your vehicle going up as well.

 

[aircommuter]

It can be conductive if the voltage is high enough. Static voltage can be very high.

 

[rScotty]

When filling a plastic gas container, always make contact with the nozzle to dissipate any static electricity, and prevent more from forming by the liquid flow.
If the plastic is not conductive, why does sitting it on the ground matter?
There would be no difference when filling the plastic gas tank for the vehicle.

It can be conductive if the voltage is high enough. Static voltage can be very high.

That's right. A spark happens when electricity has enough voltage to jump across a low-conductive gap. Static electricity has very high voltage.
If If the plastic was conductive, current would just flow in the conductive material down to ground and no spark would happen.
Be safe,
rScotty

 

[Jstpssng]

I had never experienced static sparks from fueling, until last month. I had (2) 55 gallon drums of #2 heating oil setting on the bed mat in back of my truck, pumping them into an oil tank. Every time that I touched the steel pickup line I got zapped.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I had never experienced static sparks from fueling, until last month. I had (2) 55 gallon drums of #2 heating oil setting on the bed mat in back of my truck, pumping them into an oil tank. Every time that I touched the steel pickup line I got zapped.

Good thing it wasn't gasoline!

 

[Jstpssng]

Good thing it wasn't gasoline!

Funny, I thought the same thing at the time.

 

[bdhsfz6]

In my younger years, I always took the containers out of the truck and filled them on the ground. At some point, those 5 gal jugs got too heavy to comfortably hoist back into the truck, so I began filling them in the bed. There are signs at several gas pumps in the area that say not to do this, but I see people doing it all the time. I'm sure there have been accidents, but I've never seen or heard of one in this area.

Eventually, I got smart and switched from 5 gal jugs to much lighter 2.5 gal containers, which I fill on the ground. The way my back feels, I may be using 1 gal containers before long.

 

[LouNY]

An older thread with much ado about nothing. Almost all service station fill hose and nozzles are grounded, if the tank dispensing nozzle is held in contact with the tank fill there will be nothing to spark regardless of the static build up, as it will be continually dissipated through the hose grounding. If the filling nozzle is held in a manner which which does not contact the tank there could be a minute possibility of a static buildup. However seeing as how the gasoline it's self is conductive the static should be dissipated through the fluid.

 

[dougtrr2]

I always ponder the fact that people worry about static electricity, but yet gas stations allow you to refuel in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Yes, I know static sparks are real and an issue in some refueling scenarios, such as aircraft.

Doug in SW IA

 

[Richard]

The way my back feels, I may be using 1 gal containers before long.

I stole my wife's kitchen measuring cups..... though I do admit it takes a lot of trips to fill a 30 gallon machine at 1/2 cup per transfer...

 

[FullMetalBucket]

Many years ago when I was a kid we drove down to Florida and were looking for directions to a fair. It was in the middle of nowhere where so we pulled up to a gas station and asked a guy pumping gas into an old truck. His head was sorta facing down and then when he looked up he was smoking a big old stogie. First and only time I’ve ever seen that. Nothing like an open flame around gas fumes.

 

[Jstpssng]

Many years ago when I was a kid we drove down to Florida and were looking for directions to a fair. It was in the middle of nowhere where so we pulled up to a gas station and asked a guy pumping gas into an old truck. His head was sorta facing down and then when he looked up he was smoking a big old stogie. First and only time I’ve ever seen that. Nothing like an open flame around gas fumes.

Back in my gas pumping days a woman tossed her cigarette out onto the ground while I was filling her tank. When I called her out on it, she made it clear that she didn't want to hear about it.

 

[FullMetalBucket]

Back in my 20s I knew a guy who got 3rd degree burns on his arm and a bit of his side from what he thought was an empty gas can. I wasn’t there but the story he told was that he flicked a lit cigarette at the can for what ever reason and it went boom.

 

[RayIN]

Many years ago when I was a kid we drove down to Florida and were looking for directions to a fair. It was in the middle of nowhere where so we pulled up to a gas station and asked a guy pumping gas into an old truck. His head was sorta facing down and then when he looked up he was smoking a big old stogie. First and only time I’ve ever seen that. Nothing like an open flame around gas fumes.

Ignorance is bliss!
Empty/partially full gas containers can explode because the vapors are within the flammable limits. A full container will not explode because the vapors are too rich/above the flammable limit.
Flammable limits is the reason Acetylene is so_er flammable.