Gas Can for Generator?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

I remember the $.25 a gallon of gasoline days. That was in the early 1970’s. DW and I were just married, living in San Francisco. I had lots of hair on my head.

Now I have a wonderous salt and pepper beard, a little hair on my head still, and we’ve been married 49 years as of this month, 4 kids and 9 grands later. I’m gobsmacked about how all this happened!

My, how time has flown by!

I'm .09 cheeper at the ESSO Station in '60, with a Lyman Lap Strake and 75 3cyl Chrysler...50yrs last Tuesday.

As Frank noted...
When I was seventeen
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for small town girls
And soft summer nights
We'd hide from the lights
On the village green
When I was seventeen

When I was twenty-one
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for city girls
Who lived up the stair
With all that perfumed hair
And it came undone
When I was twenty-one

When I was thirty-five
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for blue-blooded girls
Of independent means
We'd ride in limousines
Their chauffeurs would drive
When I was thirty-five

But now the days are short
I'm in the autumn of the year
And now I think of my life as vintage wine
From fine old kegs
From the brim to the dregs
And it poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year
It was a massive good year

OF's unite!!

Bob
🇺🇸

[Cmjmoore]

I purchased 2 - 5 gal plastic cans from Walmart after Hurricane Ike , September 2008. To run my generator so we could reopen our medical ministry in Beaumont, Tx. I am still using them and they are in good shape. Keep them in the back of the truck under a folding cover no problems so far. Good luck with what ever you buy but I would spend over $20.00 for any gas can. Think I paid 5.95 each for these.

[Wolf girl]

We have two Rotopax containers. Slim, easy to load, no leaks, no smell. Rotopax.com

[akarakos]

I have 2 Honda 2000s and secure them in my truck bed. They can run 9 hours on 9/10s of a gallon and you rarely use them for any significant amount of time. I take an empty gas can with the intent of using it only if I do have to refill a generator. I keep the gas can in the truck bed too.

[richarus]

If you only use your generator occasionally, buy engineered fuel (Tru-Fuel) from Lowe’s. It is a bit pricier but much better for your generator because there is no Ethanol and with added stabilizers it is good for up to two years. It also solves the problem of needing a special container.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/TRUFUEL-32-...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

[ALNVAL]

Personally I have grown tired of the new cans available. I now use NATO style cans from Wavian. Can purchase in 1g, 2.5g and 5 g size. Relatively expensive but they don’t leak or drip when using and absolutely no vapors when stored so can carry anywhere. They even have nice military grade holders for them so no flying around in the bed of the truck.

[jamieb1086]

Metal Eagle gas cans. I have one for gas for my generator and a yellow one for diesel. Fantastic! Won’t ever get a plastic can again.

[Steven62]

I use a NATO rated Jerry fuel can. The benefit is it absolutely will not leak and there is a steel bracket made to hold it in place.

[4taxabel]

Originally Posted by JunkYard

Rotopax. Even if you don’t need the mount the slim design is nice.

$100 for a gas can, no thanks

[ffwilliston]

Gas generators are more dangerous (fuel type/container), often harder to start, and it can be unsafe to carry gas cans in autos/trucks (particularly in an accident scenario). Even refueling the cans is riskier than LP bottles (static spark, especially when refueling in/on the carrying vehicle vrs on-ground).
Have you considered converting your generator to propane? You already have a source of fuel (your trailer's LP) and you can connect to the bottle(s) via an adapter (or via a trailer-mounted outlet, a.k.a., the Classic. You can eliminate risk(s) and save the space/weight of gas for something else while running your generator with a source of fuel already on hand. Conversion kits are available on line; if you can handle a drill and wrenches (simple tools), it is an easy conversion process. Overall, it is much safer, easier and space-saving.

[kzimarik]

No matter what gas can you get I recommend throwing away the spout it came with and replacing it with one of the EZ-POUR spouts from ezpourspout.com They have several kinds and they fit all cans. I hated the safety latches that never work and make me spill all of my fuel. Worth every penny.

[Rustmouse]

I went with a propane / gas one.

Because generators see use so infrequently, the fuel kept going bad while the generator was being stored.

With the propane, I never had fuel in the tanks to decay, and I had a quick connection added to the trailers propane system so I ran strictly off the house tank.

[Rloftinbiz]

The No-Spill is the best plastic can I have ever had. the spout feature is perfect, and works perfectly for my Honda EU2000i. Just stick it in up to the hook notch on the nozzle and push the button until it stops. Only once has it not stopped itself at full, probably operator error.

I would not use anything else. It is plastic but even in the back of the pickup, where it sits upright, I have not had any leakage, spills, from sea level to 8000ft, not it one day however.

Brad1's jerry can is my backup. I always think it is going to leak but it never has in 3+ years. The spout is not perfect as it's valve gets stuck sometimes after it sits unused, (blame shore power), and needs coaxing to un-stick, then it works OK. Its a big can and I would never try a direct fill to my generators. I strap it in the back of the pickup, usually on its long side with the opening at the top. 5 gal backup and 2.5 gal filler can keeps my going.

I will sometimes run both the Honda's when conditions demand but the gas seems to go for days before heading off the a gas station. I suppose this all depends upon how hard you run.

I haven't seen anything here that would change my mind. Hope this helps!

[AirMagic]

We converted our Honda 2200 to LPG and run it off the the tanks in front. If you are above 5500 feet or so you will need to swap out the orifice

[Julie-Bob]

I have two generators in the bed of my truck I have installed a wooden shelf to hold light things. On this shelf I have installed a two gal gas can that is tied down, I have modified the gas caps of the generator with a on off valve to these valves I have ran a fuel hose from the gas can to the generators. I have ran the generators all day and all night with no problems. The Honda generators have a engine driven fuel pump that will suck the fuel from the can to keep the tank on the generators full. So if I need fuel I only fill the can on the shelf.

[JacKim]

Originally Posted by drbrick

The best thing we did was switch to LP with a dual fuel Champion 3400 - no longer carry gas.

" x2

[davidrrand]

Gotta laugh! We got the full spectrum here from folks who spend over a hundred bucks for a can to someone who will won’t pay over 20. We got folks who pay hundreds for propane conversions and a guy who pays $6.00 for a quart of canned gas when gas is Two bucks a gallon! Ain’t America great! If we can just keep the real nuts from burning it
down. ��

[rmkrum]

TETO....

Just imagine how boring it would be if we agreed on everything? Or anything, for that matter...[emoji3]

Me, I’m on the side of ‘burn propane only’ because I hate cleaning gasoline varnish and ethanol jelly residues out of tiny carburetor jets. Ruined a perfectly good gas-only generator set that way. It wasn’t designed for ‘corn gas’.

Besides, DW does not like the smell of gasoline anywhere around the rig, and last I checked, we’ve been married for 49 years so far and I tend to listen to her opinions on aesthetics like aroma, and color choices.

[Cmjmoore]

Originally Posted by Julie-Bob

I have two generators in the bed of my truck I have installed a wooden shelf to hold light things. On this shelf I have installed a two gal gas can that is tied down, I have modified the gas caps of the generator with a on off valve to these valves I have ran a fuel hose from the gas can to the generators. I have ran the generators all day and all night with no problems. The Honda generators have a engine driven fuel pump that will suck the fuel from the can to keep the tank on the generators full. So if I need fuel I only fill the can on the shelf.

Love to see a picture of that set up. Sounds great.

[Cmjmoore]

Well said! ��