Buying petrol in a plastic bottle?

Tobias Greeshman

I went to a petrol station this morning to get some petrol for the lawnmower. The only container I had was an empty 7-up bottle. I needed to fill up my car so filled that up and then went to fill up the bottle and the attendant seen me doing this and turned off the pump. When I went inside she said it was illegal to fill a bottle with petrol, even though I said it was for a lawnmover.

She then tried to sell me an overpriced petrol can, which I refused.

I couldn't find any threads here on boards or anything in the statute book discussing it. So is it illegal to fill up a plastic bottle with petrol rather than a can?

robbie_998

Probably is illegal but on the other hand you have to look at the safety issues surrounding it too.

a proper container will be much safer to carry petrol than a 7-up or bottle of that kind.

buy one from a car shop anyway as you mind need it in the future if you find yourself on the side of the road with no petrol.

bongi69

There's stickers on the pumps in my local Topaz stating that petrol can only be pumped into an approved petrol container. I'm almost sure they refer to a specific law, and next time I fill up i'll get the specifics.

Halfords or any other car accessory/parts place should have them for about a fiver

jor el

Not sure if it's actually illegal, but it's certainly against every petrol station's policy to serve petrol in a non-approved cannister. It is also somewhat dangerous, so there could be a legal requirement.

You need to buy a proper 5l petrol can.

Tefral

S.I. No. 311/1979 — Dangerous Substances (Retail and Private Petroleum Stores) Regulations, 1979.

17. (1) Except where otherwise approved in writing by a licensing authority, petroleum Class I shall not be kept at a retail store or private store other than—

( a ) in a suitable underground storage tank,

( b ) in a dispensing pump or suction pipeline connected to such a pump for the purpose of delivery,

( c ) in a container in a container store or container compound except when the container is being conveyed, handled or in use in connection with any operation or process at the store, or

( d ) in the fuel tanks of vehicles (other than vehicles present for fuelling purposes) but subject to such maximum aggregate quantity as may be specified in any condition attached to the licence for that store.

(2) Except where a container has been adequately purged or otherwise rendered free of all traces of petroleum Class I (or any residue or vapour of such petroleum), it shall be maintained in a leak-proof condition and securely closed by means of a suitable stopper so as not to allow any leakage or escape of petroleum except when petroleum is being placed in or being transferred from the container.

(3) The materials constituting a container shall not be liable to suffer deterioration resulting from any reaction (whether chemical or otherwise) with petroleum Class I nor be liable to form harmful or dangerous compounds with such petroleum, and no container other than a metal container shall be used for the keeping of petroleum Class I unless approved of by the licensing authority.

(4) A stopper provided on a container in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall be so secured that it will not loosen and it (together with the container as a whole) shall be capable of safely withstanding the stresses or strains of any handling or pressure likely to be incurred during its normal use.

(5) A container shall not be filled beyond 95 per cent of its capacity.

All approved petrol containers in ireland have a UN symbol

dunleakelleher

Tobias Greeshman wrote: »

I went to a petrol station this morning to get some petrol for the lawnmower. The only container I had was an empty 7-up bottle. I needed to fill up my car so filled that up and then went to fill up the bottle and the attendant seen me doing this and turned off the pump. When I went inside she said it was illegal to fill a bottle with petrol, even though I said it was for a lawnmover.

She then tried to sell me an overpriced petrol can, which I refused.

I couldn't find any threads here on boards or anything in the statute book discussing it. So is it illegal to fill up a plastic bottle with petrol rather than a can?

Is this the first time you needed to fill your lawnmower?

busman

Tobias Greeshman wrote: »

I went to a petrol station this morning to get some petrol for the lawnmower. The only container I had was an empty 7-up bottle.

Don't know about the legalities of it, but petrol can dissolve some plastics!
I used to fix lawnmowers and every week or so I would get one with the carb and fuel tank gummed up with the resulting junk.

Do your lawnmower and wallet a favour and buy a proper can :-)

Tobias Greeshman

dunleakelleher wrote: »

Is this the first time you needed to fill your lawnmower?

We'd an electric mower that gave up, so just after buying a petrol one.

cronin_j wrote:

All approved petrol containers in ireland have a UN symbol

Thanks for that, just wanted to be sure what the legal status actually was.

dudara

Don't know about the law, but petrol can degrade/dissolve some lighter plastics - so it's just not a good idea.

Guy:Incognito

The nozzle on a petrol pump is also bigger than on a 7up bottle. wouldnt have liked to see what i would have cost you by the time you actually got 2 litres in to it.

Bob the Builder

I work in a petrol station. And I trust that as long as there are no naked flames, or mobile phones then there is not an issue. However, a petrol nozzle will not fit into a 7up container and would have just created a big flammable mess.

Guy:Incognito

Bob the Builder wrote: »

I work in a petrol station. And I trust that as long as there are no naked flames, or mobile phones then there is not an issue. However, a petrol nozzle will not fit into a 7up container and would have just created a big flammable mess.

I was in the Texaco garage on the Tallaght bypass (Dublin ) last week and a guy was waiting for his Supermacs. He walked outside the door of the shop and had a smoke :eek:. Staff were mooching around and there was one on a break outside but no one said a word to him.

I got my food and left briskly.

BnB

Stekelly wrote: »

I was in the Texaco garage on the Tallaght bypass (Dublin ) last week and a guy was waiting for his Supermacs. He walked outside the door of the shop and had a smoke :eek:. Staff were mooching around and there was one on a break outside but no one said a word to him.

I got my food and left briskly.

I saw a fella sitting on a Petrol pump in Cosgraves Petrol station in Castletroy in Limerick smoking a fag. He was quite obviously drunk. The staff was a bit jittery to say the least and were afraid to go near him. I think they had the cops called.

Don't know what happened in the end. I sodded off.

To the OP, I know it's a pain, but if anything was to happen while you were filling petrol into your 7-up bottle, then there is a good chance the Station would be held responsible in some way.

looksee

I don't know if its an urban legend, but I remember reading somewhere that pouring petrol out of a plastic container can create static that could cause the fuel/gas to go on fire.

enda1

Stekelly wrote: »

I was in the Texaco garage on the Tallaght bypass (Dublin ) last week and a guy was waiting for his Supermacs. He walked outside the door of the shop and had a smoke :eek:. Staff were mooching around and there was one on a break outside but no one said a word to him.

I got my food and left briskly.

A cigarette can't light petrol as far as I know. It burns at too low a temperature. However the lighter sure could!

Tobias Greeshman

Stekelly wrote: »

The nozzle on a petrol pump is also bigger than on a 7up bottle. wouldnt have liked to see what i would have cost you by the time you actually got 2 litres in to it.

It was a 2 litre 7-up bottle not a small 500 ml one, so the nozzle would of fitted, as I filled up one before.

Ok thanks everyone for the responses, I'm aware of the law on this now and the general consensus is to go buy a proper petrol container, which I'll be doing soon.

ejmaztec

Tobias Greeshman wrote: »

It was a 2 litre 7-up bottle not a small 500 ml one, so the nozzle would of fitted, as I filled up one before.

Ok thanks everyone for the responses, I'm aware of the law on this now and the general consensus is to go buy a proper petrol container, which I'll be doing soon.

I'd advise you to do that immediately, as we don't want any Boardsies getting a posthumous Darwin Award.

I saw a Roma guy in the Czech Republic walking away from a petrol station, carrying a plastic washing-up bowl, with the petrol slopping over the sides. He could have made it to his destination, but then again he might not have done.:eek:

monkeypants

looksee wrote: »

I don't know if its an urban legend, but I remember reading somewhere that pouring petrol out of a plastic container can create static that could cause the fuel/gas to go on fire.

I've heard that too. Having said that, I used a 1.5 litre Lilt bottle for buying petrol in my early teens.

astrofool

A 2l bottle and a 500ml bottle share the same top. I don't see how it would have fitted (unless you cut the top off) without spilling everywhere. Sounds like a pretty stupid thing to try and do, and the attendant was correct.

As detailed above, petrol should only be stored in the correct type of container for safety, and for the good of your lawnmower.

(I worked in a petrol station years ago), I've stopped idiots from lighting up and smoking on the forecourt before. One intelligent chap decided to light up over the storage tanks.

witnessmenow

enda1 wrote: »

A cigarette can't light petrol as far as I know. It burns at too low a temperature. However the lighter sure could!

Cigarrette def cant, out 1st year science teacher lit one up in the lab to show us, we were all freaked the **** out :P

Lando Griffin

I was using a lawnmower years back and got petrol in a 7 Up bottle, but I also bought a bottle of 7 Up to drink to quinch the thirst and yes you guessed it I took a healthy swig of petrol.

the_syco

enda1 wrote: »

A cigarette can't light petrol as far as I know. It burns at too low a temperature. However the lighter sure could!

Agreed. Tried it once, in a controlled setting. Heck, throwing matches sometimes failed, as the match would have gone out and be too cool to light the fire most of the time.

I'm led to believe that someone shooting a bullet off ground that has petrol on it doesn't always light it either...

MarkJD

Didnt they do the whole myth on mobile phones being able to ignite petrol on Myth Busters. At one point i thik they had about 50 phones all ringing at once and nothing...

astrofool

MarkJD wrote: »

Didnt they do the whole myth on mobile phones being able to ignite petrol on Myth Busters. At one point i thik they had about 50 phones all ringing at once and nothing...

I think the only way a phone could ignite petrol is if the battery sparked somehow.

sunnysoutheast

the_syco wrote: »

Agreed. Tried it once, in a controlled setting. Heck, throwing matches sometimes failed, as the match would have gone out and be too cool to light the fire most of the time.

I'm led to believe that someone shooting a bullet off ground that has petrol on it doesn't always light it either...

I remember from school demos if you put petrol in a narrow tube then you can drop matches etc. into it as there isn't enough vapour/air mix to ignite, the matches just go out. If you spread the same amount of petrol on a tray then you don't want to be dropping matches into it....NEEDLESS TO SAY DON'T TRY THIS!!

I think the issue with mobile phones is not that the phones themselves spark, it's that people were getting out of the car to talk on them and the static was sparking when they leaned on the car.....I seem to remember reading that somewhere.

SSE

Guy:Incognito

Tobias Greeshman wrote: »

It was a 2 litre 7-up bottle not a small 500 ml one, so the nozzle would of fitted, as I filled up one before.
.

As astrofool says, a 2ltr bottle and a 500ml bottle have the same top.

Youd probably have more luck with a can tbh.

Xcellor

Putting a highly flammable liquid in a 7 up bottle is stupid. Thank god they have regulations/laws and at least some petrol stations enforce them. Apart from spilling petrol everywhere filling up the obvious safety concerns about accidently drinking it, leaking, someone using a flame around it, not realising it was full of petrol.

OP did you ever watch Zoolander and the petrol fight?

T-Maxx

Enforcing people to use a specific type of cantainer is an excessive and money making racket. Unfortunately it's also necessary to protect idiots from themselves since petrol can dissolve lesser plastics.

7up, Coke, etc. bottles are actually very safe for petrol, just use a funnel to fill it.

Run_to_da_hills

T-Maxx wrote: »

7up, Coke, etc. bottles are actually very safe for petrol, just use a funnel to fill it.

That certainly means a lot, Coke contains phosphoric acid, we shouldn't be drinking the stuff in the first place.

Try putting a coin into a glass of Coke overnight.

the_syco

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Try putting a coin into a glass of Coke overnight.

One side will be white next morning? :pac:

Smcgie

It amazes me that some people post on a thread 'knowing' something because they heard it somewhere.

I have a flammable chemical training cert and the idea of a mobile phone starting a fire is that if you drop the phone the battery may fall out and spark.

Nothing about the phone ringing.