Rubber Seals for Jerry Cans

Submitted: Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 18:51
ThreadID: 144963 Views:4316 Replies:8 FollowUps:17
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Where would I get seals for the spout of jerry cans?. I have 3 jerry's, all need seals. 2 are ex- army, one is generic and the seals look the same. They have dried out, but I have a need now to keep fuel at home for emergency reasons.
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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 19:04

Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 19:04
I would not own a steel jerry can, especially for long storage times. They leak and rust.
Chuck 'em out and get some "Fuel Safe" Australian made plastic ones. They will last forever. $40 each.
Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 09:16

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 09:16
Here is a good use for steel jerry cans :)
I built these bar stools at Lorella Springs in 2007.

Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: OzzieCruiser - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 14:54

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 14:54
Never had an issue with metal jerry cans but quite a few with plastic ones with caps splitting or popping off when internal pressures build up.
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:32

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:32
Buy "Fuel Safe" made in Australia by Rheem and you won't have a problem. I have some that are 30 years old and still good.
Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Member - Jack - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 17:20

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 17:20
Plastic cans are not able to handle a Tanami Pump, which I use to decant fuel when needed.
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Follow Up By: Member - LeighW - Saturday, Oct 22, 2022 at 08:58

Saturday, Oct 22, 2022 at 08:58
Also for some reason they decided to make plastic cans bigger than metal probably for strength but they still blow up. I was going to use plastic jerries but could not find any that would fit into the jerry holders on my van. ended up buying pro quip metal jerries and have had no issues with them, the coated metal they use seems to be pretty rust proof.
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Reply By: Rob A1 (SA) - Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 19:12

Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 19:12
You can find metal JC seal kits in the Big Green Shed along with Super Cheap amongst others. We carry them plus a spare filler.

Rob
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Reply By: terryt - Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 19:14

Thursday, Oct 20, 2022 at 19:14
I bought some a few years ago. Somewhere like supercheap auto or repco. They worked fine. Note to Peter I've had a steel jerrycan for 30 plus years. It wasn't new when I got it and it hasn't rusted or leaked
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 14:21

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 14:21
But they need new seals?
The plastic ones don't have separate seals. The screw cap geometry takes care of the sealing.
Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:26

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:26
Not always Peter, I have a couple of plastic ones with the spout that sits inside the cap, they have an “O” ring seal.

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Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 22:05

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 22:05
My fuel safe have an o ring in the cap and a smaller section o ring in the pour spout. Yes agree Peter, Fuel Safe are the best, I have six that are 20 years old and use them for the ride on at home when not travelling and take at least 2 when away. So they still get knocked around and hold up well.
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Reply By: PeterInSa - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 07:08

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 07:08
Yes I had a WW2 steel jerry can, looked ok gave it away ( painted up, when I sold our pop top caravan 5 years ago. Sold the other more recent ones on Gumtree.

Recently daughter purchased a $50? steel JC from Bunnings had her return it and I purchased a Plastic can with the funnel inside the spout from Supercheap for her. The separate funnel for my diesel plastic JC, I keep in a plastic bag to stop dust getting into the screw on funnel.
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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 07:25

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 07:25
Supercheap Auto, Repco and Autobarn all list availability of Rubber Jerry Can Seals.
Snowys Outdoors and Tentworld also list them for sale.
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Reply By: Happy Explorer - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 07:58

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 07:58
Hi All
I am expecting Richard M29 might have the wide mouth ones like mine. Seals for the wide mouth WW2 ones are not on the shelves in the local cheap shops as far as I can see.
Am I right Richard, is this the reason you are asking?
I too would love to get seals from somewhere as making them myself does not appear successful at this point.
And just saying, after 70+ years in storage mine are not rusty inside or out.
Maybe if enough people have these and want seals we might be able to get a batch custom cut somewhere.
May not be economic though.
Regards
Roy
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Follow Up By: Rob A1 (SA) - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 09:46

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 09:46
If it's a special design then go to Clarke Rubber they will more than likely have a sheet of suitable material somewhere in their range

Rob
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Follow Up By: GarryR - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 09:59

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 09:59
if they are old ww2 wide seals, have you thought of contacting some in the Defence supplies division and asking. I was able to obtain bits and pieces from an old supply stock in Melbourne man years ago. They sell off old new supplies to outside warehouses, and they may be able to give you a couple of follow ups.
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Follow Up By: Happy Explorer - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 10:10

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 10:10
Thanks Rob for your cheap shot.
Clearly you are not at all familiar with the issue here.
As I pointed out above, making my own seals has not been successful. Probably Richard has found the same.
I have not looked at them lately but for memory the seal needs to be, lets say 4mm thick but in places are only about 3mm wide. To cut that neatly and accurately by hand from something tough like insertion rubber or neoprene is difficult to say the least.
Before you jump in saying that those products are not suitable for fuel anyway, I will say I tried them because I had the stuff here and was merely testing the process.
I might be the odd one out here but I find uninformed comment generally unhelpful at best.
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Follow Up By: Happy Explorer - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 10:16

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 10:16
Thanks Garry
I hadn't thought of that but probably worth doing. These cans are unused war surplus and just seem too good to dump or repurpose.
It is not high priority right now for me but sort of came to mind when Richard asked the question.
He might not be even talking about those anyway.
Thanks again
Roy
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Follow Up By: Member - Warren H - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:59

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:59
I can see how cutting 4mm thick x 3mm wide would be difficult, it would tend to twist and roll. How about temporarily gluing the rubber sheet to a backing board, then cutting. The other possibility would be to then use a sharp chisel instead of a box cutter? Sort of how you use a wad punch. Presumably you don't need perfect round corners and if they are for use at home where you can be sure of storing them upright. Again because you are using them at home do you even need to cut, could you just clamp a sheet of rubber? It's years since I have used these types of jerry can so that might be entirely off beam.
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Reply By: tonysmc - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 13:47

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 13:47
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious but Ebay? For under $6 you can get 5 seals delivered to your door. Not worth driving from store to store for that price but of course its hard to know if its an exact fit from the photos on ebay. I remember my old Jerry cans had cork seals so you could cut some out of a sheet of cork fuel gasket. Its easier to cut than insertion rubber.
If searching Ebay you can spell it Gerry as well for more hits.
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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:37

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 16:37
Hi tonysmc,

Whilst you are correct, it can be known by both spelling, if you look up the origins of the name, the fuel can is thought to have been a redesign of a German Fuel container called an “Einheitskanister”. As the word “Jerry” was a slang term for a German, the name Jerry Can or Jerrycan was applied to what we now know as a Jerry Can.

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Follow Up By: Happy Explorer - Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 20:28

Friday, Oct 21, 2022 at 20:28
Just as a matter of interest in reply to Macca:
I have a half dozen of them but they are in storage now and not readily accessible. I am fairly certain though that a couple have/had stickers on them with German writing which suggest they were of direct German origin. Hard to imagine and not totally sure about that. I don't know much about them as I got them from a second hand shop in a small country town years ago. They had a couple pallets of them at the time.
Hopefully I will get a look at them in the next few weeks and if I find a sticker I will post a photo (if I can figure out how). I do know they are the wide mouthed ones which I understand was a German design as Macca said.
The ones generally available here now in the new offerings are a much smaller opening.
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Follow Up By: Richard M29 - Saturday, Oct 22, 2022 at 15:27

Saturday, Oct 22, 2022 at 15:27
Thanks everyone, I will do my best to hunt some up. The army versions I have were from my time, in the army, not ww2 era. No I did not knock them off. Their a little battered, and wouldn't fit in the holders on the trucks.
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Follow Up By: wozzie (WA) - Tuesday, Nov 01, 2022 at 23:35

Tuesday, Nov 01, 2022 at 23:35
Richard, haven't been on for a while and just saw your post re Jery can seals.

In the past I used to just get an old tube (free) from a tyre repair place and cut roughly the complete shape of the top + say an extra 10 ~ 15mm all around and either just fit one or two on the top and clamp it shut.

I used to carry a supply of these in the toolbox and replace as necessary. they used to last a good while.

If stored upright usually no problem, but I used to also seal it, tip it sideways and check if leaking and then I was also able to store them laid flat on their sides or edges.
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