O/T sort of question

[old]

I have a 40 gal. gas tank I use to haul my gas in for the tractors. Right now its black in color and I'm thinking about painting it white. Now for the question. If I paint it white will it maybe save me some gas since being black it gets pretty hot some times. I figure with it being black it probably makes a good bit of gas evaporate. So what do you guys think??
Thanks
Hobby farm

 

[glennster]

i think it would help to keep the fuel cooled down so it doesnt evaporate as quickly, especially in that missouri sun you get!! my fuel barrels are all painted white too.

 

[big fred]

When I was a teenager (some 30-40 years ago) I painted my dad's bulk tanks white, and they were noticeably cooler to the touch during sunny weather. Prior to that they were silver paint over red or black. For lack of anything better, I just used oil based house paint left over from painting the farmhouse. Lasted at least 8 years, until Dad retired and moved to town. Don't know if it saved any fuel or not.

 

[IaGary]

You bet it will help Old.

Park it in the shade also, whenever you can.

Gary

 

[Bob]

Also, do you have a pressure cap on it?

 

[old]

Yes it has a vent pressure cap. If the pressure builds up to a point the vent will close off. When I need gas out of it I just blow compressed air in to make it push the fuel out

 

[Janicholson]

A piece of shiny tin over the top anda old blanket between would do well and it will save gasoline JimN

 

[IaGary]

10 pds of pressure can make a square tank round.

I have seen it happen.

Gary

 

[Anonymous-0]

Shade helps, youy just don't get so much pressure built up, have often wondered, how volatile those vapors are when you take of the cap and you get the whsshhhh out the top, open that in the wrong place, not good.

We had an outer casing on a 3500'-0" long 20" dia. steel pipe job, that was made of some sort of plastic material, that was required to be air tight, every joint was insulated and wrapped with a heat shrink material by Kempii, connected it to a device and turned on the power, it sealed itself, had mastic strips under it too. This job was stopped, we took it over as an emergency const. mgt contract, the biggest problem was getting the outer casing to pass the specified tests to insure it was airtight. The previous people on the job could not figure it out, we did, the sun expanded the main sections of outercasing too much and it violated casing at the joints, solution..... painted it white, joints held and the job was rolling again, completed just in time for the heating season, was the heat and cooling lines for 5 23 story buildings from a central co generation plant, had to be sealed, water table contained salt water.

 

[Rusty wheel]

In Ohio it"s illegal to put gas in a can that isn"t red. I got chewed out at the gas station cause my cans were blue, so I painted them red. Don"t know whether that applies to farm tanks or not. We had a storage tank on the farm for gas for the tractors and it was red too. rw

 

[old]

I only use enough to start the siphon working. Most times I just blow real hard and don't used the compressor

 

[old]

The tank I use is an aux fuel tank off an old truck so as far as looks it looks like an aux tank for my truck, just strapped down to the bed instead of being under the bed
Hobby farm

 

[kyhayman]

The tanks I carry in the back of my truck (52 gallon Delta brand) came factory while (normally one gas and one diesel though both have diesel in them now). Tanks at both farms are silver (aluminum paint). The more sunlight you reflect the better off you are. As to how much Im not sure but I read a paper somewhere when I was in highschool and seems to me it was 4 gallons of gas and a gallon of diesel a month that reflective paint saved. I know that rarely if ever do either of my truck bed tanks get hot enough to vent vapor. Both are rated 50 psi and have 15 psi vent caps.

 

[guido]

Hello old

Storage tanks in the refinery are paited white!
Propane tanks are paited white!
Any other stored fuel that vaporizes at a very low temperature is store in a white container!
Do you see the pattern?
Guido.

 

[IaGary]

That will work.

Unless you burp when you are blowing. I don't know what kind of pressure that creates?~})

Gary

 

[Anonymous-0]

i think all portable tanks, gas cans,pails,jugs, are supposed to be red, are they not:~)