> I started nosing around the garage. The two gas containers I'd used to
> drain the tank where still sitting next to the car. One was one of
> those 5 gallon "GI" types and the other a plastic 2 1/2 gallon container
> I'd bought at a hardware specifically for the purpose of tank draining.
Does this plastic container have the flexible spout that reverses into the
opening (and thence the fuel contained), with a plastic disk that blocks
off the hole in the cap that the spout goes through when in use?
> Apparently the gasoline inside the container
> was somehow creeping up the sides, past the cap and down the outside to
> the floor.
My theory, if the container has the layout I have just mentioned, is
somewhat different from yours. It is possible for gasoline to creep
in the manner you describe, but it would be a gradual process involving
progressive vaporization and recondensation on its way up the sides.
I don't think that this effect could force the fuel past the gasketed
cap. However, I would point out that we have arrived at that point
in the season where the temperatures take fairly wide swings from
day to night and from day to day. If the temperature drops in your
garage by a significant amount, the pressure inside your fuel container
would also drop - by an amount that might suffice to draw air in past
the gasket, bringing the internal pressure closer to ambient. Then,
when the ambient temperature rises again, overpressure inside the container
could be causing the fuel to be forced up the spout to the cap, and thence
past the gasket. I have such a container, and one warm day just after
a cold night I observed it leaking in a manner identical to what you
described above. When I opened it, there was a rush of relieved pressure
and the leakage stopped. I was unable to confirm my theory regarding the
spout, which would have been cleared of incriminating evidence when the
pressure was relieved. At least, bulk quantities of evidence - the inside
of the spout was wet with fuel, but there is a screen at the cap end
which made it difficult to inspect the lumen of the spout.
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John R. Lupien
lupienj@wal.hp.com
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