Gas Can Modification | Part 2: Explosive Details!

new gas cans have design flaws that hamper how they work in my previous gas can video i showed you how to fix it this video shows you two more gas can mods and explains why these containers are made with such difficult design features in the first place i do not like this spout well here's some of the problems with it and then i'm going to show you how to make your life a little bit easier in my previous video i highlighted three major design issues on these midwest gas can containers that i felt made them difficult to use and showed you simple modifications to make these cans more user-friendly in this video i'll show you two more mods and let you know why i think these cans have design features that make them difficult to use in the previous video we removed the locking collar that makes the nozzle hard to take off to fill the tank just a little snip right there and a little snip right there we overrode the hard to push nozzle return spring that you have to compress to dispense the fuel if you're familiar with this kind of spout then you know to operate it you have to press this red latch in here it click and once that red latch is pressed in you need to depress the plunger and you're supposed to do it by putting that on the rim of the car and if you have it there it presses in under considerable force if i let go it snaps back so it's spring-loaded in order to get the gas to come out and we removed the plastic mesh filter which i later found out is a flame arrester that interferes with the gas container being filled at the gas station pump as you can see this little sucker is really in there so why are these containers engineered in a way that makes them awkward and difficult to use i'm going to give you my interpretation based on the information provided on the midwest can website midwestcan.com the mesh can insert which they call an internal flame mitigation device and the spout which they've trademarked as the vapor locking quick flow spout combined to create what midwest describes as their exclusive flame shield safety system the website centers their marketing message around safety stating that their design is a safer way to store transport and handle flammable liquids and that their safety features are a priority of consumers let's talk about their vapor locking quick flow spout it seals tightly and due to the spring and locking latch cannot be left in the open position so gas vapors will not escape when the containers are in storage or in transit i appreciate these efforts and i'm in favor of taking precautions to keep myself and others safe but the spring mechanism in the locking spout is difficult to operate this could lead to spilling fuel and awkward handling possibly leading to physical injury why at 6.3 pounds per gallon 5 gallons of gasoline weighs in at 31.5 pounds at this weight fueling a car mower or gas-powered tool takes strength and good form so you don't injure yourself supporting the can's weight the inconvenience of having to line up the spout just so depress the nozzle release lever and push in the spring-loaded nozzle to release the fuel flow while supporting and balancing a heavy container is not a natural motion leading to the possibility of spilling fuel and moving in a way that could stress your back or other body parts the way the spout is designed it doubles as an air vent to let air in to displace the fuel that's it's letting out this design is inefficient making the can take longer to dispense the fuel which is inconvenient and could possibly compound injury from having to hold a heavy container in place longer i actually believe that midwest would agree that their design limits the flow of fuel based on the release of a new design they call their high flow racing can which they are positioning as being able to dispense five gallons in one minute or a gallon every 12 seconds i wonder if they're going to rename their current quick flow spout simply to spout the mesh can insert which i called a filter and removed because it prevented the tank from easily being filled at the gas station they describe as a flame mitigation device if you browse their website you'll see a video demonstration of a gas container without their flame shield safety system pouring fuel into an open fire can you guess what happens the flame travels up the stream into the container and the gas can spits out a fireball the video states independent testing confirms that portable plastic fuel containers equipped with a flame mitigation device reduces the chance of personal injury when improperly used around an open flame or spark it's my personal opinion that you should not pour fuel into an open flame in the first place and i'll bet that you knew that too i appreciate making things safer but don't make them hard to use for the majority to compensate for the stupidity of a very small minority are kitchen knives made of rubber to protect accidental stabbing are cars limited to 20 miles an hour to protect from injury by reckless drivers you get the point i appreciate safety features but not when they substantially limit the usability of a product midwest's website has references to what they describe as national consumer research or research they conducted themselves here are some examples when the dangers of improper storage and or handling of flammable liquids are explained and clearly demonstrated container safety quickly becomes the number one consumer purchase decision eight in 10 consumers find the flame shield safety system a very appealing way to obtain added protection from accidental fires and injuries that can occur with improper use in storage of combustible fuels and fire prevention and safety are the number one most important attribute to consumers in the selection of a portable fuel container this is all great information that i'm sure comes as no surprise to anyone but how many of the people surveyed regularly use gas cans and how many of them have used a can with midwest's flame shield safety system and still say they want it conveniently there is no published research on their website saying what percentage of people want a gas can that's easy to fill or stats on people that think a gas cans design should make it easy to dispense fuel and while we're at it why not ask the question how often do you dispense gas into an open fire the bottom line is that marketing or even government safety regulations are great but not when they come at the price of compromising the performance of the products that they are trying to make safe in the first place that's my opinion what's yours let me know in the comments below okay i promised you two more video gas can mods in this video so here they are i hope they're helpful i promised you some additional gas can hacks to make these easier to live with every day well here's the spring that i showed you how to remove in the last video but maybe some of you want that spring-loaded feature but you just don't want the overwhelming force that's required to depress the nozzle i'm going to show you how to modify this spring so you get some of the spring-loaded advantage but you don't have to wrestle with the brute-like force that this spring exerts here's what we're going to do the spring in these containers is about three and a half inches or about 90 millimeters i'm going to stretch the spring to about twice that distance about 180 millimeters and then we're going to cut it down so it is still three and a half inches i think i need more grip there we go a little more a little bit more i don't want to distort it too much final pull oh yeah i need a gatorade well close enough i'm going to use my original mark and let's cut that right about there now all i need to do is just wind and flatten this end and we can try inserting it into the nozzle to see if this does what i'm hoping it does and that is give us the spring action but also make the nozzle easier to operate i guess i kind of expected it would be hard to form this end because after all it is a spring here let's see if we can just tip that in down a little bit all right hey close enough we're going to give that a try it's still plenty springy hopefully this eases up once we put it in the nozzle so here's my adjusted spring here's how much spring we removed to free the nozzle and get to the spring if you remember you roll off this o-ring and that allows this assembly to slide out of the nozzle there it is now there's a place for the spring we're going to put the spring back in place right there and it looks like we wound it just enough that it fits correctly in that barrel and now we'll reinsert the nozzle lining the pin right there that controls the spout we're going to line that up press it down and then while we are depressing the nozzle we'll hold that down and we will slip the o-ring back on and just check and it looks like it seals very well and so now we have a nozzle that's spring loaded and i can tell you right now it requires much less force than the original spring not exactly completely easy but maybe it's better than it was before if keeping that spring in place is important to you now you all know that if you're going to let fuel or any liquid out of a sealed container you need a vent to let air in so it flows smoothly when you don't have good venting you get that glug glug glug sound and you can see the sides of the gas container breathing in and out as it tries to let liquid out while also letting air in well another one of my criticisms with this spout design is that the only place that this tank can get air in is through this little nozzle that runs above the spout so as liquid is going out through the spout it's also trying to drink in the air from here well it used to be that all gas cans had a vent that you can open it was somewhere back here that wouldn't interfere with where the liquid was you'd pop it open and the gas would pour out smoothly not so with these new cans so what are we going to do i'm going to show you how to add your own fat here they are let me give you a closer look this is the yellow fuel gas can jug vent cap chilton briggs jsp manufacturing oh it doesn't matter what they're called these are little add on vent lids and we're going to put one of these on the back of that gas can so we can just pop that cap open and vent it at any time the instructions say this fits both plastic and metal fuel jugs you will have to drill a 31 64 inch one size below half inch hole into the can and then push the vent into the hole well i'm not so sure i have a 31 64th drill bit so we're just going to have to come as close as we can well this is a happy surprise it turns out that i do have a 31 64th drill bit in this gigantic set of drill bits that i bought from amazon i didn't even know that it went that big but there you go i will put a link to this inexpensive and very versatile drill bit kit down below you're probably not going to fill this gas can higher than this level assuming that you're filling it while it's laying flat on this midwest can there's a nice flat spot right here on the back i don't want to put it right on the seam i don't want to compromise the strength of the two shells that makes up this gas container but we are going to put it up nice and high on that flat area right there so i'm just going to make a mark i'm going to start by doing a 3 16 pilot hole [Music] i want to make sure that i don't get little plastic bits inside the tank i'm going to remove the nozzle so i'm able to put that right up against the back of the bench so i can exert enough force on here to get a clean hole oh that bit in nicely tell you what let's back that out because i don't want these curls going into the can let's just see if we can clean that up a little bit just to make this neater and there we go that actually came out pretty darn nice hopefully drilling the hole was the hard part let's see if we have luck putting in the valve and it wants to go but there's that little rim that's going to lock it in place once it's there now i just happen to have this little soldering air gun and so i'm just going to set it to a low temperature and see if we can warm up the plastic a little bit to make it pliable and then we'll see if we can pop in this uh this cap a little bit easier sorry let me jump in here the video clip for some reason didn't come out of me heating up the can and then inserting the valve but heating it up did work let me show you we have our vent we have our modified nozzle i'm mike the channel is mike fixed it if you haven't subscribed please consider it and give this video a thumbs up if it was helpful now that you have a better understanding of why these gas containers are made the way they are i'll leave it up to you to decide if a gas can mod is appropriate for your needs as always i look forward to your comments leave them in the place below be good be well and be safe and i'll talk to you real soon thanks for watching bye bye so here's a bonus mod maybe it's more of an accessory than a mod this is actually a cap that was 3d printed out of pla and it's got a little hole for a lanyard there and if you're concerned about anything splashing out of here just get yourself a cap like this and you can stick it on there i think what i'll do is i'll get a little piece of string and just connect it between that loop and the handle just so i don't lose it and if you want to come up with a cap of your own i'll just let you know that this one is 13 16 that is 20.6 millimeters so if you want safety features that actually make sense and are easy to use you might just want to fashion yourself some kind of cap just to keep things from splashing around especially in transit i fixed it you

Channel: Mike Fyxdt

Views: 58,257

Rating: 4.8985667 out of 5

Keywords: new gas can fix, gas can modification, gas can modifications, gas can spout modification, midwest can gas can instructions, midwest fuel can spout, midwest quick flow spout, fuel can, safety nozzle, gas can hack, safety gas can modification, Gas can, jerry can, 5 gallon gas can, gas container, scepter gas can, gas can spout, no spill gas can, gas cans for sale, gasoline can, best gas can, fuel containers, gas can nozzle, plastic gas cans

Id: XoYxdrhB6Ls

Length: 19min 24sec (1164 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 07 2021