The Epic Failure of the Government Gas Can

Geez can I identify with this. I fill up a couple of 5 gallon cans in the spring before hurricane season starts. I also get a gallon can for my lawnmower. Add some stabilizer and hope I don't have to use the big cans. When the season is over I used it all in one of my my cars. The old days no problem screw off the nozzle cap, pop the vent plug and pour in. Now 5 gallons of gas weights 31.5 pounds. Not a lot but in my older age.......well. Now we have these new mouse-trap "environmental friendly" some idiots sitting around a table in Washington DC came up with that you have push down hard to bet a spring vent open and then it gurgles and splashes because there is not vent on the other side that can freely allow air INTO the can. Gas gets spilt and 10 times or more fumes released into the air.

The Epic Failure of the Government Gas Can
Good luck trying to pour gas out of one of these monstrous devices.

But back when I first tried to use these new gas cans a few months after purchase I was shocked at their new spring-loaded, Mousetrap game style Environmental Protection Agency-engineered spouts.



I quickly learned what many, particularly outraged boat and outdoor forum folks, already knew. You need three hands to operate today's gas can spouts.You'll start each project spilling more gas than you get into the mower, motorcycle, car or whichever. In other words, you will create more vapor emissions than you ever would have otherwise.

What the heck happened? The EPA banned normal gas cans in 2009, following the pioneers at the California Air Resources Board, which intones:

The Portable Fuel Container (PFC) regulations are an important concept in our efforts to improve California's air quality. PFCs, also known as gas cans…

“Also known as gas cans”: Wow, so you see the mentality just from the ridiculous government acronym and paternalistic, condescending language.....

More here...............https://fee.org/articles/the-epic-f...B19V2auiOEtSwibJESb1oBZkFiXiqSwLgEgiSOaDK3W_8

I ended up ripping the insides of the spouts and just using the cap on the end of it.

Why is it when government gets involved they just screw things up.

 

I found that the cheapest solution is to buy a five gallon water can. Use the water can spout and stopper on the gasoline can. You can buy a replacement spout and stopper, but it is cheaper just to buy the whole water can.

I would buy the water can initially, but I like having a red can for gasoline and a yellow can for Diesel fuel.

 

Bluesguy . What happened to your old gas cans ??? They should last a lifetime.

 

DC legislates general safety standards. They don't design gas caps. Such "features" are designed by automobile manufacturers. Go whine to them.

 

Then they need to take a look at the results of their standards. I spill more using their stupid requirements than I do with a simple spout.

 

Yes, modern day gas cans are a sloppy pain in the arse.

I saw something different last week in a motorcycle and 4 wheeler shop. Tall and slender with a more functional pouring spout, the salesman said many people were buying them because they are easier to use.

 

Government regulation almost always is triggered by societal problem that require regulation. In this case, it was triggered by accidents from gas can usage, and the societal cost caused by those accidents:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-116srpt235/html/CRPT-116srpt235.htm

If you want your old gas cans back, maybe tell people that they shouldn't be careless, causing gas can accidents. Without this carelessness, government wouldn't have a need to regulate.

Of course, conservative thinking always goes like this: Something is inconvenient to me at the current moment, so I blame government regulation for it. As if they are unable to see beyond their own sorry immediate life, to rather look at society as a whole. It is always me, me, me, me... with them.

 

In spite of how careful I am with the new design, I end up spilling some. The government mandated a set of requirements which the companies making the gas cans likely passed. For the government, problem solved.

Actual usage does not always match up with their mandated design. We do not all pour our gasoline into identical tanks which match the tank specified in the mandated design. The mandated containers tend to hang up on the edge of the filler hole and I spill gasoline trying to remove it.

I posted my problem on FB several months ago. I got numerous responses. None of them favorable for the government mandated design. I was told I could get an style replacement nozzle. When I went to the hardware to get one, they said they did not have any, but buying a water can was less expensive anyway.

So, yes I blame the government. They created a container which does not work as well for a higher price.

 

I tend to agree that the current design is not ideal. I have battled with it myself. Less in terms of accidental spillage, but rather getting the gasoline to actually flow. Maybe the solution would be to improve on the current design to make it easier, as well as safer? There may be some money for you to make if you come up with an idea. Or, you could keep complaining about big, bad government and do nothing.

 

I have heard this suggestion numerous times. I don't have time to correct all the government's mistakes caused by liberals.

I have designed to government specifications. You design to meet the specification. It is the old classic. GIGO.

 

There are several gasoline can pouring tutorials on YouTube.

 

Don't tell me. I'm not the government.

 

I appreciate that.

 

The US government takes a problem and makes it worse. The government solution is so bad, that it takes a U-Tube tutorial to use. Then liberals come to the defense of the US Government and blame it on conservatives.

And then the liberals suggests that conservatives should try to correct this massive bureaucracy created by the liberals to start with...

Reminds me of when I lived in the woods in the mountains just west of Denver. I was cleaning up the downed dead wood. A "Save the Whales" group came by and suggested I should leave it there to decay because it would help the soil. Then shortly after that, the Colorado government mandated that all downed deadwood within a hundred yards of a house should be picked up to stop fire hazards.

 

You’re describing a market failure and an opportunity albeit up in thread it appears someone beat you to the drawing board at least with a motorcycle centric design that meets regulatory standards.

Whining never resolves an issue. Regulations are implemented for a reason and the market’s crap responses to them are possible opportunities to put dollars in your pocket.

 

Really? You think it is the duty of every citizen to correct stupidity by our government? There is not enough time in the day. My government is supposed to be solving the problem, not requiring a private citizen to come in and solve it for them. You have just provided a damn good argument for less government.

 

No. You spout myths. Constitutionalists understand the need for necessary regulation, that it is limited to legitimate government purposes and must be the least intrusive means to accomplish a legitimate goal.

https://lfb.org/how-government-wrecked-the-gas-can/

And of course, they need to come in Red and Yellow

 

You better check to see if there are some kids on your front lawn to yell at. Geeesh.

 

That's the thing the whiners miss. It's true that some regs are onerous, but 95% of the time they come as a result of a failure of industry to regulate itself to keep the public safe.

 

Sorry I don't follow is the government going to come and put a gag on me or something?

 

The metal ones, they rusted in humidity long ago. Didn't need the 5 gallon ones until bought a generator after Ivan/Katrina.

Now do you actually have something to add the point that was being made?

 

This has nothing to do with automobile manufacturers, try reading the OP and follow the link this had nothing to do about safety it was about fumes and the "environment".

 

Exactly! Seems some are missing the point.

 

And these are MORE dangerous, read the OP. Put the cap on, it's REAL simple. The only danger I face is from using these new mouse trap spouts and the spillage they cause.

 

Yea something like this