Jerry cans

[Johny London]

Saw what looked like pretty decent 20l green metal jerry cans in B&M the other day - anyone tried these? £20 each. Or should I go to the army surplus store? Or Screwfix?

[Alan de Enfield]

Before you 'spend' - why are you wanting jerry cans ?

 

I carry one for 'a bit of spare fuel' but there are enough marinas, fuel boats and canal / river side sellers to not really need cans.

 

Most marinas will actually prohibit you from refilling with cans because of the spillage and pollution risk - let alone the huge 'rainbows' spreading across the cut, that will dissolve your (and others) blacking.

 

Edit to add - if you really want jerry-cans get plastic ones (they don't scratch the paintwork). We have 5x 20 litre plastic cans on the 'Cat' as it is a bit difficult to find fuel in the middle of the ocean (or even half way across the bay of Biscay)

Edited September 5, 2016 by Alan de Enfield

[Johny London]

Good point - I saw them, and it made me think how many times I have seen other boats with them - can't hurt to have emergency reserve I guess. When I get a generator I'll certainly be wanting them, though of course that might be petrol... will hang fire for now then.

[pearley]

£20 is the going price from Screwfix and Toolstation so I would buy wherever it's most convenient.

 

Like Alan we have one jerry can purely as a backup but make sure rotate it regularly and, having had can contaminated before, always put a dose of Marine 16 in. I can understand why some sellers might not want to fill cans but in the 7 or 8 years we've had one no one has every refused us.

[Alan de Enfield]

I can understand why some sellers might not want to fill cans but in the 7 or 8 years we've had one no one has every refused us.

 

Maybe I wasn't clear - what I meant was that marinas / mooring providers forbid the filling of your boat with cans that you have brought 'onsite' due the risk of you spilling some when you 'tip the can', drop the syphon or whatever.

 

The BWML marina we are currently in recently 'revoked' (kicked them out) a boats mooring agreement as despite several requests not to refuel on their mooring (in the middle of dozens of other boats) they continued to do so, despite being told to move the boat to the re-fuelling pontoon where the necessary equipment was held to cope with spills.

 

What made it all the worse was that it was a petrol powered boat !!!, and, whenever they refuelled you could 'smell petrol' all around the marina.

 

It all got very heated when other moorers (alongside) threatened to cut their ropes and drag them out of the marina, the Police arrived after being informed that "they were under threat by someone with a machete", in the end the untied and set off towards Lincoln.

 

They apparently took a mooring at Torksey, but have now been 'evicted' from there for 'reasons unknown'.

[Chewbacka]

£20 is the going price from Screwfix and Toolstation so I would buy wherever it's most convenient.

 

Like Alan we have one jerry can purely as a backup but make sure rotate it regularly and, having had can contaminated before, always put a dose of Marine 16 in. I can understand why some sellers might not want to fill cans but in the 7 or 8 years we've had one no one has every refused us.

Just had a look at Machinemart, similar price but they also do a stainless steel Jerry can for an unbelievable £96

Who would buy that?????

[PaulG]

Before you 'spend' - why are you wanting jerry cans ?

 

I carry one for 'a bit of spare fuel' but there are enough marinas, fuel boats and canal / river side sellers to not really need cans.

 

Most marinas will actually prohibit you from refilling with cans because of the spillage and pollution risk - let alone the huge 'rainbows' spreading across the cut, that will dissolve your (and others) blacking.

 

Edit to add - if you really want jerry-cans get plastic ones (they don't scratch the paintwork). We have 5x 20 litre plastic cans on the 'Cat' as it is a bit difficult to find fuel in the middle of the ocean (or even half way across the bay of Biscay)

Because they hold a lot of beer?

[Alan de Enfield]

Because they hold a lot of beer?

 

I think you are confusing "Jerry can" with "Stein"

 

Easy mistake - both German (sorry - is that Political ?)

[bottle]

It may be me...

 

I have never used or carried 'spare', 'back-up', emergency fuel in a can in the last 50 years whether boating or using a vehicle.

 

The simple solution is watch the gauge or dipstick regularly and fill up when necessary.

 

No pollution, spillage etc.

[pearley]

It may be me...

 

I have never used or carried 'spare', 'back-up', emergency fuel in a can in the last 50 years whether boating or using a vehicle.

 

The simple solution is watch the gauge or dipstick regularly and fill up when necessary.

 

No pollution, spillage etc.

There is no gauge on our generator diesel tank and even if it was possible to fit one, the shallow depth of the tank would make it hopelessly inaccurate. And impossible to dip it. So I rely on calculating the contents from the hours run. If we are getting close to to the point where I might worry then I put the contents of the can into the tank which gives me another 4 or 5 days which often enables me to get to someone who sells at a better price.

 

I've been using a small submersible pump rather than upending the can which reduces any spillage risk.

Edited September 5, 2016 by pearley

[valrene9600]

Before you 'spend' - why are you wanting jerry cans ?

 

I carry one for 'a bit of spare fuel' but there are enough marinas, fuel boats and canal / river side sellers to not really need cans.

 

Most marinas will actually prohibit you from refilling with cans because of the spillage and pollution risk - let alone the huge 'rainbows' spreading across the cut, that will dissolve your (and others) blacking.

 

Edit to add - if you really want jerry-cans get plastic ones (they don't scratch the paintwork). We have 5x 20 litre plastic cans on the 'Cat' as it is a bit difficult to find fuel in the middle of the ocean (or even half way across the bay of Biscay)

Handy to spare jerry cans in winter in case you get frozen in. Always keep water and fuel tanks regularly topped up plus two Jerry's starting first week of December. Long life milk ,tin food, and part bake bread are other little precautions. Wake up to ice two mornings running and it's time to get within a reasonable let walking distance of a water tap so you can use trolley to fetch 25 litres at a time.

[mross]

I have a tiny, battery-operated pump, with auto cut-out absolutely ideal for decanting fuel from a jerry can. I use it to top up the small fuel tank for my Mikuni. It cost about £25 inc VAT. It's my favourite gadget.

[Mac of Cygnet]

I have a tiny, battery-operated pump, with auto cut-out absolutely ideal for decanting fuel from a jerry can. I use it to top up the small fuel tank for my Mikuni. It cost about £25 inc VAT. It's my favourite gadget.

 

A tad more expensive than my fuel syphon - 99p including postage!

 

[ditchcrawler]

It may be me...

 

I have never used or carried 'spare', 'back-up', emergency fuel in a can in the last 50 years whether boating or using a vehicle.

 

The simple solution is watch the gauge or dipstick regularly and fill up when necessary.

 

No pollution, spillage etc.

I do since I ran out going up Hatton because some one thought they had more right to 200 lt of diesel than I did. When I was on the Middle Level I used cans because it was hard to buy it from the pump there.

[mross]

 

A tad more expensive than my fuel syphon - 99p including postage!

true, but yours does not cut off atomatically. and it must dribble?

[gazza]

A tad more expensive than my fuel syphon - 99p including postage!

 

fuel syphon.jpg

They split easily.

 

These are a little deaer but loads better.

 

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/laser-jiggle-siphon-hose-20mm-x-1-75m/23447?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=GoogleLocal-_-Datafeed-_-Auto%20and%20Cleaning&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=CNqt_O_e-M4CFY0V0wodg-YFYQ

[Johny London]

Handy to spare jerry cans in winter in case you get frozen in. Always keep water and fuel tanks regularly topped up plus two Jerry's starting first week of December. Long life milk ,tin food, and part bake bread are other little precautions. Wake up to ice two mornings running and it's time to get within a reasonable let walking distance of a water tap so you can use trolley to fetch 25 litres at a time.

Thank you for such good advice.

 

Oh - actually that's the thing, I don't have a fuel gauge, so rather than conveniently keeping an eye on things it involves having to dip the tank to see what's going on. I'm sure I'll get into the habit, but why do boats often not have fuel gauges? And can one be retro fitted easily?

[Mac of Cygnet]

true, but yours does not cut off atomatically. and it must dribble?

 

Why would I want it to cut off automatically, if there's space for 20 litres in the tank? And no more than I do.

[ditchcrawler]

Thank you for such good advice.

 

Oh - actually that's the thing, I don't have a fuel gauge, so rather than conveniently keeping an eye on things it involves having to dip the tank to see what's going on. I'm sure I'll get into the habit, but why do boats often not have fuel gauges? And can one be retro fitted easily?

The float type through the back deck seem to stick and its somewhere else to get water in the tank. I don't know how good these are, the water one works well. I have a dip stick and only use it if we are out for a month or more, our tank holds 350 lt.

Edit because I forgot the link. Blame it on the Ros'e but we are tied up and not doing locks. http://mcsboatproducts.co.uk/portfolio/diesel-fuel-gauges/

Edited September 5, 2016 by ditchcrawler

[DHutch]

Cant really see the need to have one on the canal, certainly not for a deisal boat.

 

There are rules on what you can store at a house, I think 2x10l in metal and 2x5l in plastic, or something like. This does not apply to transporting it in a car.

 

I think all new metal cans are much of a muchness.

 

 

 

Daniel

[Cheshire cat]

The ex army store in Burton on Trent sells new ones and ones that have seen action. I bought a couple but haven't used them in three years.

[Chewbacka]

Cant really see the need to have one on the canal, certainly not for a deisal boat.

 

There are rules on what you can store at a house, I think 2x10l in metal and 2x5l in plastic, or something like. This does not apply to transporting it in a car.

 

I think all new metal cans are much of a muchness.

 

 

 

Daniel

There are limits for petrol about which are about what you put above, but surprisingly for diesel there is no legal limit, though if you had lots and the house caught fire I'm not sure the insurance company would be happy........

[Gareth E]

Slightly off topic but is it safe/ acceptable to keep a 5 litre plastic container of petrol for the generator next to the gas bottles in the locker?

[Chewbacka]

This is my understanding, but I am happy to be corrected.

 

The BSS for private boats does not specifically preclude this. However there must be no risk of the petrol container damaging the lpg regulator and pipe work.

So either the regulator and pipe work are well above the container or there is a robust barrier between the two.

If I had a gennie I would keep my petrol in the LPG locker.

[DHutch]

There are limits for petrol about which are about what you put above, but surprisingly for diesel there is no legal limit, though if you had lots and the house caught fire I'm not sure the insurance company would be happy........

Sorry, forgot to detail that I was talking about petrol. Thanks for adding that.