Is it legal for a vendor to put kerosene in a plastic gasoline can? (I assume the opposite is illegal, but I don't know about this.)
Is there any other reason not to put in in one?
If after I've emptied all the kerosene and want to use it for gasoline, if there's a little bit of kerosene still in it, will that be a problem for a lawn mower or a car?
I have a spare platic can and no room for a kerosene can, and I would only need it for a few months anyhow.
I don't know if it is a law, but gas cans are red, kero cans are blue. This avoids potential problems from mix-ups. Putting gas in a kerosene heater can be a disaster. It is legal to use a plastic can. If a slight residue is left, it will easily mix with gas and you'll never see a problem in a mower or car once diluted.
When you say the opposite is illegal, surely you don't mean putting plastic gasoline cans in kerosene?
I don't see why it would be illegal, I think it would be a very dumb idea for a dealer to do this - the two are NOT interchangible.
I stenciled "kerosene" on a plastic gas can and have been using it for 20 years. I don't recommend it because it is too easy to make a mistake. I did it in an emergency, and now am too cheap to do otherwise.
Hmmm, They smell different.
mm wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
If you have no room for a kero can you just plain have too much shit.
Don't swap them
There are a bizillion different plastics/properties. Different liquids will eat or not eat away at plastics at a very fast or very slow rate. I'm sure you want gallons of fuel leaking out of a can that "I dunno wha happen. I've been using that can for months. Must be a can defect.".
But why are gas cans red and kero cans blue? Think fireman. So when they go to put out a fire they will know what's in the can from far away without having to go up and sniff your can (no pun intended) or pull out binoculars to read makeshift labels. Then they know what to put on it so they put it out and not spread the flammable.
Sell $10 worth of that useless shit you have on ebay and buy a can. Solves the space problem.
Don't be silly. If it holds gasoline it will hold kerosene. They're both just petroleum distillates, with gasoline the lighter, more solvent fraction.
Richard J Kinch wrote in news:Xns981F12675FD99someconundrum@216.196.97.131:
I'm confident it would. Just a general statement not to develop a bad habit that could be nasty.
I've seen xylene melt "plastic" on contact before my eyes. I've seen it clean other "plastics" like ammonia on glass. Obviously they were two very different plastics. Long ago but I think one may have been Lexan?
The main point was the firefighter issue.
Are you my long lost brother? I've been searching for you for 20 years!
Maybe I'll take a marker with me, and write kerosene if the guy insists. Later I can change it to skerosene, so as not to confuse anyone.
Know your solvents vs plastics:
mm wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Again, Red Green comes to the rescue...
Remember those things when you (me anyway) were a kid where you wrote on the film over the silver/grey backing? You pulled the film up and it erased the writing for a clean slate. Can't remember what it was called.
Just duct tape one of those to the can and change at will at the station.
I had that and I liked it. I don't remember the name.
Great idea. I should have though of that. When in college I had keys that were stamped on them Do Not Duplicate, I would put some paper tape around the head of the key and write "Back Door" on the paper.
Traces of kero won't hurt a gasoline engine. Half or a third kero might not start the mower.
Years ago, they used to use kerosene and gasoline for remote location pump houses. Start the engine on gas, and then switch over to kero. Because kero stores longer without going stale.
Gas and Kero are basically the same. The only difference in the cans is the color. Firemen don't care what is in the can. If it is red or blue they will be treating it as highly flammable.
I have three different gas cans. Regular, premium, chainsaw - all are identified with magic marker. I also have my decoy 5 gal. I pity the thief who grabs the first "gas" can he sees. He will get about 4 gallons of diesel, used paint thinner, gas that was used for cleaning parts and some other stuff I forgot. That is my brush pile fire starter.
Harry K
According to Harry K :
Firemen do care. I was one for a bit. ;-)
Gasoline is far more of a fire hazard than kerosene or diesel, and depending on the circumstances will be treated differently.
And I remember that during WWII one of the DIY magazines like Pop Science ran an article on how to adapt your car to start on gasoline and then switch it over to kero or even #2 fuel oil which was easier to come by during the war than rationed gasoline was.
IIRC they had you wrap a couple of feet of copper tubing loosely around the exhaust manifold and ran the alternate fuel through it before it got to the carb to make it easier to vaporize.
You had to switch back to gasoline for a short while before shutting down, so the carb bowl was filled with gasoline for the next start.
You prolly would have a hell of a time trying to do that with one of today's computerized fuel injected cars, but back then when all you needed to make a car engine run was "fire and gas" and you could play with thinkgs like ignition timing just by rotating the distributor, stuff was a lot easier to tinker with. Hell, I swear my 2004 Lincoln throws on its "Check Engine" light if I fart with the windows closed.
Jeff
Absolutely. Only one other thought. Kerosene is sold in plastic containers. Personally, I prefer to keep it a gallon glass bottle on the floor, but some may consider that dangerous.
Isn't that why in cowboy** movies, a guy on horseback can go into a cabin where no one has been for months, and light the kerosene lantern?
Did they have gasoline in the second half of the 19th century\\? If they did, I think it would be wicked up by the lantern wick and evaporate. Wouldn't be nearly as practical as kerosene for that reason, and I don't think one could safely burn it in a lantern.
**BTW, did you ever notice that there are no movies afaicr with both cowboys and Indians in the same movie. Maybe "cowboy and Indian movies" refers to two kinds.
Sounds very high tech, and I'm not kidding.
You couldn't do it yourself, but they could make the computer handle the switchover and the switch back. Would make it pretty easy.
Of course, this war isn't like WWII. No one is asking anyone to cut back on gasoline use. High prices may discourage some, but we were told to buy things, to spend money. This is supposed to be a painless war on the home front. Well, home is not a front, except for those with family members in the war.
Correct.
In the 19th century petroleum was distilled for kerosene lamp oil. They threw out the gasoline (!) from the process, as there was no use for it prior to the invention of the internal combustion engine.
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