Some blogger I am. I neglected to take a picture of the lovely pork and potatoes breakfast I roasted early this morning in celebration of the really crappy weather.
Right on schedule the temperature fell, the wind rose and the snow blew by like bullets. Not very cold and hardly any snow so far. But windy enough to make 40o feel like 20o.
Forewarned, I took the precaution of pulling out one of the 1-pound billets of frozen pork roast Landlady brought up week before last and let it thaw overnight. That had the double advantage of warming the cabin without having to deal with the woodstove, and of being roast pork.
Meanwhile just to spoil the aroma I’m testing the gaskets on some fancy tire valves Big Brother sent me some time ago.
The valves obviously aren’t designed for submersion in gasoline, which is what I hope to use them for.
I said the next time the Jerry can vents started to leak I’d either replace them with tire valves – as numerous readers have suggested over the years – or retire the cans. Well, I brought two of them to town yesterday and they both leaked all over D&L’s truck. So here we go. If that gasket doesn’t dissolve in the cup of gas today, I’ll work on a method of pulling the tire valve up through the holes where the current vents are.
But not today. Whoa, I should have held off on taking that exterior pic because at this moment the snow is really shooting past. Still don’t think we’ll get any accumulation but I’m frequently wrong and the temp is still dropping. I’m gonna pour an irish coffee and open a good book now. In the propane-heated bedroom of my nice, snug and finally windproof cabin. 🙂
You’re not really leaving that open cup of gasoline indoors…are you?
Set it outside when the precip ended.
If the test fails there is another option that you could consider, a small tank Drain Valve of the type found on compressors. After purging the gas cans, one of these could be soldered or epoxied into place on each can. When you want to pour fuel simply open the valve, do the pour then close the valve.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Powermate-1-4-in-NPT-Tank-Drain-Valve-072-0001RP/202592885
Ben – Cleaning carburetor parts in gasoline on the dining room table…doesn’t everyone?!
not usually around open flame.
Judy, I will admit: I’m guilty of exactly that! (Just not recently.).
Joel, if those gaskets fail the test, check for appropriate nitrle O rings at Ace hardware.
To get the valve into hole, grab a foot or so of 1/4”-ish (thin wall) tubing, shove the business end of the tire valve into the hose, then work the tubing through the valve hole from the filler hole.
There’s been quite a few comments on the negative interaction between tire valves & gas; I know rubber & gas don’t play together well, but mine have held up for ~4 years, now. They’re probably not actually rubber anymore…
O-ring material compatibility under the “About O-rings” at the top of this page:
https://www.mcmaster.com/#o-rings/=1c10jx6
You’ll need Viton orings. Viton is tolerant of gasoline and most harsh chemicals. You should be able to find direct replacements online if you can measure the ones that came on the tire valve stems.
Here’s a comment not about O-rings:
I figured the first picture in “Apocalypse Chow” would be of cattle at Joel’s gunpoint.
Joel, the small rubber seal inside the schrader valve is probably natural rubber and will not stand up to gasoline. As to the valve itself, you could make small washers out of lead, then clamp them together as washers below and above with a steel washer above then the nut, but that only solves the hole-in-the-can not leaking. The schraders will fail eventually. What is the diameter of the holes in the can?
I will look into my BIL’s surplus warehouse and see if there is anything small that will work, Maybe some sort of petcock that threads to the schrader part (minus the inside seal).
The schrader valves don’t matter, I’m going to take them right out. I’ll seal the holes with the caps. I just need something to seal the valve housings in the gas can holes.