Comments on: Is it bad to store an empty gasoline container in my car?

Question: Is it bad to store an empty gasoline container in my car?

keli — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 13:46:51 -0800

An empty gasoline container stored on the carpeted floor of a vehicle: good idea or forthcoming explosive disaster?

By: majick

majick — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 13:50:37 -0800

Empty as in "containing no vapor," or empty as in "containing no fluid, but plenty of vapor?" It's the vapor, not the fluid, which is explosive. It's probably safer to fill the container with gas.

By: vorfeed

vorfeed — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 13:53:14 -0800

Chances are very good that it won't actually explode, but I wouldn't take the chance, if I were you. If you have another, uncarpeted place to store it, or you can buy a cheap new container that hasn't had gas in it yet, that might be better.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 13:53:16 -0800

and don't use it as an ashtray...I'd say put it in the trunk or trash it.

By: keli

keli — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 13:58:34 -0800

Containing no fluid, but plenty of vapor.

I think I'll just trash it. Thanks!

By: trharlan

trharlan — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 14:20:47 -0800

majick is (as usual) absolutely correct.

For effect, my grandfather once threw a lit match into an open container full of gasoline. Nothing happened. That whole fire triangle...

By: scarabic

scarabic — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 14:30:38 -0800

The only reason gasoline explodes in your engine is because its vaporized, then compressed, then treated to an electric arc. You can literally douse a match in bucket of gas, as tharlan says, and a container full of fumes isn't going to hurt you much more than a lit fart at worst.

If you want to keep it there for out-of-gas situations (many gas stations will no longer lend you a container, for liability reasons) just open the cap and let it dry out. It should be absolutely no problem.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 14:34:32 -0800

Usually leave the cap off the container after using it, prior to storing. It may be wrong, yet throwing the container out seems worse.

By: adamrice

adamrice — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 15:19:02 -0800

"a container full of fumes isn't going to hurt you much more than a lit fart at worst."

Wrong. Gasoline has a flashpoint of about 95 Farenheit. That's the temperature at which any spark will ignite the fumes, and that's a temperature easily reached inside a car in the summer. If a gas-can full of fumes flashed over, it would be more like a grenade than a lit fart.

If the fumes have a chance to dissipate, then you're fine.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 16:55:17 -0800

Come on, flammable is flammable, yes, but explosive is something different. A lit fart (if you've never gotten that drunk) is definitely a fair bit of fire. Don't get me wrong. But toilet paper is flammable fer gad's sake. I think "grenade" is quite an overstatement, however attainable the flashpoint is.

By: TimeFactor

TimeFactor — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 17:33:47 -0800

The vapor produced by about 1/5 of a teaspoon of gasoline (1 ml) has enough energy to propel my 4300 lb truck about 14 feet (this based on, ugh, 10 miles per gallon).

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 17:55:45 -0800

If you feel the need to carry the container in the car in case of emergency, fill it with water. This keeps it safe (no gasoline vapors) and you can use the water if the car's engine overheats.

By: adamrice

adamrice — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 20:09:08 -0800

I work with fire and fuel routinely. The accepted wisdom is that the fumes in a gallon tank of gas can explode with the force of a stick of dynamite. I admit I'm not sure who worked that out or how, but I'm not going to mess with it.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 22:28:21 -0800

Oh, okay. Not a grenade but a stick of dynamite. Cool. Well, from what you said it still needs ignition. Anyway, letting the fumes dry out sounds like the best idea. I think there's enough material here to get said can out of the back seat completely anyway.

I'll admit, I don't work with fuel at all, and the worst back seat explosion I've heard of personally is a friend of mine who left an Odwalla in his back seat during the warm months.

/bows and exits

By: bonehead

bonehead — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 07:57:15 -0800

I'm a fuel chemist (among other things). Adam is spot on. Either leave the can to evaporate outside (until you cannot smell gas at the mouth), or chuck the can (with the lid off). You can reuse the can without trouble, but you should store them full with a minimum of free space (headspace) at the top, OR empty, with both caps loose/undone. Mostly empty cans are an accident waiting to happen.

Gasoline fumes are very dangerous. People get worked up about "explosive" hydrogen, but gas is worse: higher energy content (about 2x) and much easier to ignite.

Static electricity discharge is the way most of these things get set off, incidentally. We use special shoes and lots of grounding wire when we handle fuels.

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:01:28 -0800

Random fact: When you go to your local hardware store to get your propane filled, it is technically illegal to put the tank inside your car because law mandates its illegal to have a propane tank in an enclosed area.