Tips On Pumping Gas
 

I received the following as an email and thought there might be useful information important enough to share here, see for yourself:

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon..

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some f the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

cheers

From someone that owned three gas stations I can tell you that some of your post is wives tales. Our tanks were all monitored by a system that tells you tank temperature, and I can tell you the temp does not change much (less than one degree on a summer day) here in So.Cal. The tanks are insulated and buried, and the amount of fuel usually kept in the tank would make it very hard to get a significant rise in temperature.

The fuel also is filtered before it reaches your vehicle so pumping while a truck is dropping fuel is no big deal.

The vapor recovery system used on the pumps in So.Cal. would not be able to recover liquid in any significant quantity (if at all) because it works off pressure. You would need some type of pump (like the one used to pump the fuel to your vehicle) to be able to pull liquid back up the hose.

But if it makes you feel better do all of the above...:)

86Sebring
 

That was very, very informative, thank you.

And even if there WAS a couple of degrees rise in the gas between the underground tank and the vehicle (through the piping, pumping heat, etc.), it amounts to about one teaspoon of increased volume per gallon...I suspect the pump can't be calibrated that close (<0.001% error). The splashing (from pumping at full tilt) might cause another 1/2-1 teaspoon of gas to go into vapor form and be pulled out of the tank, so we're talking about 1/2 tablespoon or 1/4 ounce of difference in lost volume.

86 Sebring...

Appreciate the note as I sure your intentions were honorable...there is more to this story if you want to read about it....some might go so far as to say the email is a hoax. At Snopes.com (the rumor/mythbuster site) they specifically talk about this email string..


http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/saudigas.asp


http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

Guys,

This has been posted at least three times in different Forums, including twice today counting this one and the one in the suggestions Forum. I did a search this morning and posted the link to the former postings in the thread in the Suggestion Forum.

Ron :)

Anybody want to buy some land in Florida? A corner lot perhaps.

Bob

Bob,

Is it next door to Turk?

Ron :)

sorry if it was a dupe, but thanks anyway for the input

from to the experts and also the wouldliketobeexperts

cheers

A few years ago, at a particular gas station I could (consistently)put 22 gallons of gas in a 21 gallon tank. I told the owner that I did not mind paying for the extra gas but I hated that it was stretching my tank out of shape.

If I had a dime everytime I heard that complaint when I had my stations. I can't speak for your particular station, but our pumps were tested for both flow rate and dispensing accuracy once a week. You have to take into account the fill tube on your tank and the accuracy of your fuel guage when you try and make that argument. The fine from Weights and Measures is hefty if your pumps are off, so we made sure if anything they dispensed a little more than the readout on the pump.

google gas station cheating
 

there are all kinds of "alleged cheating at the gas pump" going on, so there might be bad and good apples out there, just like everywhere else. What'cha gonna do, bring a measuring stick..
cheers

I still have the $500.00 calibrated 5 gallon can we used, and I have thought about using it at one station:)