55 gal drum: What transfer pump to use?

[Johnymia Racing]

Interesting stuff here. I also am using the plastic pump and although I was leery at first, the thing works like a charm. I am concerned about vapors building up in the drum as the weather gets hotter. I have been going out and opening the cap on the drum to release the pressure on a regular basis.
I keep the pump hanging an only put it in the drum when I need fuel. Am I still OK here?
Thoughts?

[Rich Biebel]

Say a prayer for me......

I cut the tops off metal drums with a plasma cutter on a regular basis. Been doing this for years.
Most of the drums contained waste oil and other fluids....anti freeze, water.
I use them to put crushed oil filters in and than put the drums in a metal scrap dumpster.
I always remove the bungs before I cut the tops and check what was in them before firing up the plasma torch.....

A few pounds of pressure in an open tank is not going to blow up unless you add a spark....

Gasoline is dangerous as a vapor for sure and needs to be treated with some respect....

If you work on cars/machines your entire life you always know of someone who did something stupid and started a fire or worse.

I worked as a line mechanic for some time in a dealership.
The guy working next to me was so dangerous, I demanded he get moved away from me.
He was changing the fuel gauge sender in a full tank of a Jeep Wagoneer. He had fuel below him in a coolant catch pan.....He was working with a drop light and it dropped to the ground near the pan.......I yelled at him to get away from under there. He looked at me with a dumb look and said why as he bent down to pick up the drop light.....Nothing happened.....I left the area till he was done....
2 friends were working on a car in a garage that was part of a bigger group of garages and there was a bar/building in front. They had a fuel line off in the rear of the car....gas was leaking on the floor.... a drop light hit the floor, started a fire and burned down everything.....the garages and the bar.building.

Gas in the open or in a pan or on the floor......and a drop light is plenty dangerous....

[Rich Biebel]

Originally Posted by Johnymia Racing

Interesting stuff here. I also am using the plastic pump and although I was leery at first, the thing works like a charm. I am concerned about vapors building up in the drum as the weather gets hotter. I have been going out and opening the cap on the drum to release the pressure on a regular basis.
I keep the pump hanging an only put it in the drum when I need fuel. Am I still OK here?
Thoughts?

When you open the drum and release the pressure your in more danger of blowing up than if you just leave it alone.....
Your releasing vapors that can easily ignite from just static.......If it did ignite it would likey ignite the entire container.
These containers expand and contract with the temp. change....
Leave it alone and keep it out of the sun or away from a heat source.

[Mike Croley]

Originally Posted by Johnymia Racing

Interesting stuff here. I also am using the plastic pump and although I was leery at first, the thing works like a charm. I am concerned about vapors building up in the drum as the weather gets hotter. I have been going out and opening the cap on the drum to release the pressure on a regular basis.
I keep the pump hanging an only put it in the drum when I need fuel. Am I still OK here?
Thoughts?

The pressure build up in the drum is caused by big swings in temperature . The very last thing you ever want to do is let that pressure out of the drum . First , because of the explosion hazard . Second , because the vapors you're releasing are the light ends and those have a big effect on how well your race fuel performs . Keep any container of race gas in a cool , shaded area that sees as little temperature swing as possible . Inside your shop is good , inside the race trailer is bad . The temps in a closed race trailer are very high and then cool off at night .
You're correct about the pump , only install it in the drum when you need fuel , then take it out and re-seal the container tightly .

[Johnymia Racing]

Originally Posted by Mike Croley

The pressure build up in the drum is caused by big swings in temperature . The very last thing you ever want to do is let that pressure out of the drum . First , because of the explosion hazard . Second , because the vapors you're releasing are the light ends and those have a big effect on how well your race fuel performs . Keep any container of race gas in a cool , shaded area that sees as little temperature swing as possible . Inside your shop is good , inside the race trailer is bad . The temps in a closed race trailer are very high and then cool off at night .
You're correct about the pump , only install it in the drum when you need fuel , then take it out and re-seal the container tightly .

Good info
Makes sense
Thanks,

[Ken Haase]

Icu 812

[63corvette]

Originally Posted by Ken Haase

Well, I didn't go to middle school (there were none back then that I was aware of) but I believe the actual formula for the area of a circle is just pi times the radius squared. If the diameter is 22", then the radius squared would also be 22".

3.1416 X 22=69.1152 inches of area. Air pressure is your choice.

I'm not advocating any method of removing combustible fuels from a drum, except for the safest one.

Liquid gasoline is not flammable, but the vapors that come off of it certainly are. the dicey part is, it changes from a liquid to a vapor really, really fast. So, please be safe. A burn victim is likely the absolutely worst way to suffer.

Ken, to square the radius is not add it. You must multiply. 11 X 11 = 121 not 22 as you propose.
I again say it is not a good idea to pressurize a barrel which is not rated as a pressure vessel.
If using air pressure to move gas out of a vessel/tank is such a good idea why don't gas stations and truck stops use that method?
To the best of my knowledge all gas stations and truck stops use pumps.
My 2 Cents
Rick Cates

[Ken Haase]

be careful out there.

[Phillip marvetz]

I'm probably using the wrong pump, I've got one of those big metal hand crank jobs from the local hardware store. It has a steel pipe that goes into the barrel and a few few of clear plastic hose going to the cans I fill.
Good info about venting the the swollen cans in the summer, I sometimes get a little worried when I go into the shop and see a drum all billowed out like that. It seems like the right thing to do is the vent it, From now on I'll let be. Thanks guy's.

[Greg Hill]

Originally Posted by Phillip marvetz

I'm probably using the wrong pump, I've got one of those big metal hand crank jobs from the local hardware store. It has a steel pipe that goes into the barrel and a few few of clear plastic hose going to the cans I fill.
Good info about venting the the swollen cans in the summer, I sometimes get a little worried when I go into the shop and see a drum all billowed out like that. It seems like the right thing to do is the vent it, From now on I'll let be. Thanks guy's.

I use the same kind of pump. It works great will fill a jug in less than a minute.