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Fuel can maintenance/PMs

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  • Fuel can maintenance/PMs



    Many of us have the Euro surplus jerry cans for fuel storage.

    They are relatively inexpensive and last for a really long time if a modicum of care is taken with them.

    That being said there are a couple things you can do to help longevity on them, as well as PMs to do from time to time.

    When I get new ones in I will buy some spray undercoating for trucks from the auto parts store and spray the bottoms of these and the seam heavily. The seams and the bottoms have been the biggest failure points I've seen in these and I've been using them since the early 90's.

    The coating will help when the cans are slide into truck, along floors, etc. as they often are. As well as helping keep rust down.

    The seals on the spouts can leak, often times this isn't noticed or a problem unless the can is on it's side. This happens to me sometimes when I get 7-8 filled and bring them back in my truck, often one will show a little leakage.

    Replacement gaskets can be found on Amazon and I saw a post recently where someone made on out of a spare bicycle inner tube- thought that was a neat idea!

    One thing to check on is the insides of the cans. Sometimes they will have this coating on the inside of the can that over time, will start to slough off. A big reason to have a use one of those filter funnel set ups. They have saved my bacon a time or two when all the sudden a piece of red coating comes out of the can.

    Here is a good pic of what I'm talking about inside the can-



    Here is what it looks like out of the can-





    I've had OK luck using acetone to clean cans every few years. I use a pump sprayer and spray acetone all over the inside of the can moving the wand around as best as I can inside the can. Then with the acetone still inside, I close up the cans and take them for a ride. Bouncing them around in the back of the truck over some bumpy country roads, spreading the acetone around the can. Then back home I tip them upside down leaving it to drain for a day or so. This is a good time to hit the check the bottoms of the cans for rust and re-apply spray undercoating also.

    When I rotate gas that was stored in the cans, I will usually take them and fill them with off road diesel first and fill up any heavy equipment that needs fuel. I like to have the lubricant of the diesel in the cans, thinking perhaps it helps protect the insides a bit. Can't prove that it helps, but we have gotten 10-15 years out of cans, so maybe it does, gas being a solvent and diesel being technically a lubricant.

    Check your cans every few years, especially for that coating that sloughs off.​
    www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

    www.survivalreportpodcast.com

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  • #2
    thanks.
    i keep seeing ads from vevo or vevor that metal cans are 63$ for 2
    my cans are mostly plastic and they are going bad.

    any comment on a good place to buy metal cans?

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    • #3
      Colemans surplus in PA I believe was the last place I got some from.
      www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

      www.survivalreportpodcast.com

      "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."

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      • #4
        I have found a few at yard sales and flea markets. Just check inside for rust and look at the bottoms. Some were missing gaskets but that is easily fixed. At yard sales the 'homeowner' usually doesn't want that 'dangerous can' so I have picked up a couple, one 5 gal and 1 2.5 gal, for $5.00 each. Usually they say "it was my dad's (or granddads) and there are safer ones out there today. Seems times have changed for the better". I just look and say, I'll give you $5.00 for that unsafe can...I have never paid more than $15 for a metal 5 gal can.
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