Jerry Cans (Metal or Plastic)

[ljfirstaid]

Hi Folks,

I'm looking to buy a few jerry cans to keep a bit of extra fuel for the car at hand this winter.

are there any pros or cons to metal or plastic.

I know storing fuel is dodgy at best and shouldn't be done inside the house. I'm just thinking of 1 or 2 25L cans for diesel to keep the landy ticking over. I like to go to some nice remote spots in Scotland but i've always risked it and kept the tank topped up and had a 5L can as a last resort. As its a thirst beast i'm starting to think thats not enough if i get stuck in the snow.

[handyandy]

much of a muchness tbh.ive an ex military jerry can made of metal and several 25litre containers kept in my transit van.
Just price difference really,the metal ones go for about 20-30 quid whereas all the plastic ones I have were just containers used for either heating oil
or building plasticiser etc.
Just be aware that if you are taking your vehicle onto a ferry these days they may make you empty the container into your vehicles fuel tank as containers of fuel
seem to be a big no no on ferries

[Hoipoloi]

Ferries allow maximum of two 5L approved plastic containers or two 10L approved metal containers.
I keep one 10L jerry can in the van and one 10L jerry can plus two 20L jerry cans for reserve down the garden in my trailer. Problem is with the cold weather there is a liklihood of condensation. Although diesel will keep far longer than petrol I've just rotated stock after about 9 months.
It's also a good time to fill up my reserves as fuel companies will include an additive for cold weather at the moment.

[Wulfshead]

I'd be rotating lead free petrol a lot sooner than diesel.
I read an article which said lead free degrades after a short time whereby it can be detrimental to ally engines.

I do remember a while back three of us visited a petrol station near me.
I filled my pretty much standard classic Vespa with lead free petrol and was fine. My two other friends filled their modified engine scooters at the same pump and both blew pistons within a few miles.
Story posted on Facebook and replies came back saying degraded fuel seems to be playing havoc with many ally heads and such.
there was another link posted saying that high revving engines like motorcycles and petrol 2 stroke lawnmowers/strimers have had the same problems.

I've been totally off the road for near 3 years now and lost contact with the fuel problems that seemed to be around, just take this post as a reason to look deeper at lead free fuel and its viability.

Wulfshead

[unsure]

if your running an old skool diesel , as in not common rail . then what not store veg oil .theres n limit on that and it comes in 20ltr drums for ,i think i paid 12.99 each in macro last week . in winter mix it with diesel in summer just run it as is , you`ll figure what ratio your vehicle will run on as you go along .that a good slug of 2stroke mineral oil .

[Devonian]

I use metal Nato Jerry Cans.

On a separate issue, does anyone know how long 'Diesel' can be safely stored and used in a Nato Jerry Can before it goes off??

[poppypiesdad]

Depends on storage conditions , storage containers .

If kept in a stable temperature with good seals , in good containers , a year

Good containers are in my opinion steel jerry cans , with an intact painted /coated interior

Ex Mod jerry cans are ex for a reason , usually internal corrosion.

I get mine from machine mart £23 , oh and buy a spout as well helps with pouring

j

[90.]

Hi there,
Agree with what has been said above, however if you settle on a can type & colour then stick with it, as I've found the machine mart spout don't fit MOD cans but the mod flexi spout fits the machine mart cans

I also had a few plastic 5ltr cans of different shapes as well as both 10 & 20ltr machine mart cans, as I'm a bit fussy I wanted to stick to 1 type of can for both diesel and petrol this would allow me to keep 1 set of lid seals and the standard spout fits all.

I've now managed to get unused mod can's from a landy autojumble that I'm much happier with, the 10ltr machine mart cans I use for petrol for the bike and the smaller cans I've doled out to the family

a good tip is to sit the cans on a wood plinth rather than a concrete floor.

regards
90.

[Fozzie]

I use a metal 20 Litre Jerry can. Had it for years, think I got mine from Halfords before the tanker blockades

Regular 95RON unleaded does go off fast, losing it's "oomph" from 6 weeks onwards. For this reason I only fill the jerry can up with Tesco Momentum or Shell VPower as it's 99RON and will work fine, even on fussy engines and stores a while longer.

Motul do an additive you can put into stored petrol to make it last longer.

I can't comment on longevity of Diesel as my vehicle is petrol, however I do know Diesel can go gloopy in cold weather and so something is added to them when it gets cold. A neighbour makes his own "diesel" from cooking oil etc. He's got a nice little processor he bough online, filters it, heats it and tells you when to add what stuff to make it work, He uses it on a 2009 BMW Turbo diesel and in the 80K miles he's done on it, he's only had to replace the fuel pump once but does find he has to replace the fuel filters more regularly on veg oil diesel vs pump stuff

[Rearfang]

A mechanic told me diesel sweats in metal cans recons better to store in plastic