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  #1  
Old 01-24-2004, 03:16 PM
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Question How To Safely Siphon Gas......

Can anyone help me with this? I need to remove a bit more than a 1/4 of a tank of gas from my car safely. I'm thinking of just transfering it into my wifes Honda. Can anyone describe how to do this safely?

The car needs to have 1/8 of a tank of gas in it's tank when I'm done. The car is going to be in an indoors show and Fire regulations demand this.

Thanks in advance for the help.

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Old 01-24-2004, 03:45 PM
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How about a hand-pump operated suction pump such as a topsider, liquivac, or mityvac?
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Old 01-24-2004, 04:39 PM
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Most places that work on cars have a device called a "gas caddy." It is a tank on wheels with a hand pump and a long flexible snout to get to the bottom of the tank.

You should be able to pay someplace that has one a couple of bucks to transfer the gas for you.
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Old 01-24-2004, 05:17 PM
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Thank you Chuck, I'll call a few garages in town and find out who has one!


Bribenz, no doubt you are right but I don't have enough time to put a over one hundred miles on the car and then re-clean it so I'm stuck doing this.
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Old 01-24-2004, 06:25 PM
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Hi placo1,

I don't want to claim my syphoning method as particularly safe, but I have used clear plastic fuel lines to insert into the tank and with the other end close to the ground give it a good suck. The clear hose lets you see the gas.
If you have a lot of hose, sometimes it works to insert it into the tank, then close the outside end and pull the hose out quickly and under the level of the tank.

You need to have gas containers ready to put the hose into. A funnel also helps.

I have 3 of those emergency gas containers for the lawn mover etc. and while No 2 fills, I can empty No 1 into another car.

A hand-operated pump, of course, would be your first choice.

Good luck at the exhibition

Reinhard Kreutzer
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Old 01-25-2004, 08:02 AM
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Reinhard's method seems to be the old reliable one--based on the model provided by my college roomie in 1970. I could smell when he'd "refueled" his vehicle because he kept the hose in his closet.......
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Old 01-25-2004, 09:56 AM
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I like Reinhard's method except, insert the hose and hold your hand around the hose and filler neck or use a rag to seal around the hose, then BLOW instead of SUCK. Try to pressurize the tank slightly and when you quit blowing, the pressure will push enough gas out to start the frow of gas. It can be very harmfull if you get gas in your mouth.
I have been using this method for many years and it works almost every time.
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Old 01-25-2004, 12:05 PM
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Cheap siphon...

can be had at Menard's or other of that ilk - just two rubber hoses with a rubber bulb in the middle. Squeeze the bulb until it fills and let 'er rip. I use it to take off coolant that needs have adjustment to dilution. Should be 5-8$.
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Old 01-25-2004, 07:14 PM
Q Q is offline
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If you use the sucking method, do so only with your mouth. Do not involve your lungs for obvious reasons. I've done it hundreds of time I've done it hundreds of time I've done it hundreds of times with no noticable ill effects.
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Old 01-25-2004, 07:27 PM
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Sounds like the old "Oklahoma Credit Card" trick to me.....
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  #11  
Old 01-25-2004, 07:43 PM
1992300e
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HI,

I am a proponent of the sucking method as long as it's someone else doing the sucking, it's always a whole lot funnier when the gas is squirting out of someone else's nose.

My technique.

Good length of hose:
Push hose into tank.
Cover hose with thumb
Pull hose out
Quickly release thumb while pushing hose quickly back into tank
Then quickly reaply thumb.
After a couple of times you'll see the fuel in the hose and then let gravity take over.

I empty my neighbor's tank uhm I mean my fish tank this way all the time.

Good luck,
PS> I wouldn't smoke during any of the operations mentioned, car and or you could go boom.
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Old 01-25-2004, 09:13 PM
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Ah..I love the taste of gas in the morning!
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  #13  
Old 01-26-2004, 02:30 AM
glmoy
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In my teen years, I used to liberate gas from my parents tank with an aquarium syphon pump. Vinyl hose with rubber squeeze pump. I wonder if they ever noticed their gas milage going down?
Heh, heh.
Get one at your local pet store.
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  #14  
Old 01-26-2004, 08:13 AM
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I don't know if you want to re-use the old gas you siphon off, but if you don't, an old trick from my beer brewing days is to hold the hose straight up, fill the bottom half with water, then move that part below the level of the gas tank, sealing it with a finger. Then put the dry end into the tank, release your finger, and put that end into the disposal tank. The water should get the siphon going. FYI, the instructions that came with my Pela (similar to Topsider) specifically said to NOT use it on Gas, due to its volatile nature.
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Old 01-26-2004, 09:48 AM
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Get a little hand pump. They are like $5-10.

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