Jerry cans

Haven't heard that before Mike. I'll check it out though.
Steve

I would like to know the answer to this, if anyone knows for sure.

Regards, Trevor.

Gotta bring electricity into it Mike don't you! :-)

My understanding is that it is just different colouring to avoid confusion of fuels.

Diesel is a very forgiving fuel, igniting it with static would be nigh impossible I'd reckon.

Tim

I could be wrong, but I think it's the other way around, diesel can go in just about anything, but petrol is a bit more 'picky' ( I think the red placky ones ar for all flammible liquids, wharas the yellow placky ones are diesel only....possibly just a pigment for identification though as mentioned above)

Cheers andrew

>Gotta bring electricity into it Mike don't you! :-)

Apart from goats... it's the only thing I know anything about! :)

Mike Harding

Looks like there is an issue of sorts particularly is the container has previous held petrol:

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Electricity in Petroleum Fuel Systems address special precautions and design requirements involving loading rates, grounding, bonding, filter installation, conductivity additives and especially the hazards associated with "switch loading." ["Switch Loading" is when a higher flash point product (such as diesel) is loaded into tanks previously containing a low flash point product (such as gasoline) and the electrical charge generated during loading of the diesel results in a static ignition of the vapor from the previous cargo (gasoline).]
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Would be worth leaving those jerry cans with the lid off for a couple of days before putting diesel into them Steve.

Apparently diesel and, particularly, low sulphur diesel, is not a good conductor of electricity so tends to accumulate static charge and can develop quite a high potential which, eventually, will spark across to earth.

More research needed - hopefully someone on here knows about this area?

Mike Harding

Load of theoretical rubish - sort of thing that might happen when you work it out on a black board with 1/2 a dozen boffins argining it out - but in theory it doesnt happen. Many places mix petrol and diesal without incident. A minesite i worked at had many jerries with diesal petrol mix for the purpose of starting fires for fire training- they do this week in week out year after year with no probs. Heck even i have done it
Dont scare the poor guy by trawling the net. You can find anything you want by doing that

>Load of theoretical rubish

Having no expertise in that area I couldn't (and wouldn't) say for sure.

>Dont scare the poor guy by trawling the net. You can find
>anything you want by doing that

And, just occasionally, some of it is correct. And, I'm sure, Steve is not a quivering wreck at the prospect of filling his jerry cans with diesel. It does no harm to investigate areas we have limited knowledge of unless, Davoe, you are giving us an absolute assurance it's a totally safe practice?

Mike Harding

I give you an absalute assurance it is far far safer than actually driving the vehicle

If it may be problem, why not just fill them with water, drain, dry & refill with diesel?

Also diesel actually ignites at a lower temperature than petrol, it is the fumes that make petrol more volatile.

Shaker, where did you work out that diesel ignites at a lower temperature to petrol. In all cases it is the fumes or vapours that burn, not the liquid itself. This includes diesel.
Draff

Do a Coxswain's or Master's course & you will find out, or if you don't have that much time, do a search on the web!

Read here: http://www.forensics.edu.au/downloads/tutorial1answers.pdf