Rubber Seals for Jerry Cans

Here is a good use for steel jerry cans :)
I built these bar stools at Lorella Springs in 2007.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Never had an issue with metal jerry cans but quite a few with plastic ones with caps splitting or popping off when internal pressures build up.

Buy "Fuel Safe" made in Australia by Rheem and you won't have a problem. I have some that are 30 years old and still good.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Plastic cans are not able to handle a Tanami Pump, which I use to decant fuel when needed.
Jack

Also for some reason they decided to make plastic cans bigger than metal probably for strength but they still blow up. I was going to use plastic jerries but could not find any that would fit into the jerry holders on my van. ended up buying pro quip metal jerries and have had no issues with them, the coated metal they use seems to be pretty rust proof.

But they need new seals?
The plastic ones don't have separate seals. The screw cap geometry takes care of the sealing.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Not always Peter, I have a couple of plastic ones with the spout that sits inside the cap, they have an “O” ring seal.

Macca.

My fuel safe have an o ring in the cap and a smaller section o ring in the pour spout. Yes agree Peter, Fuel Safe are the best, I have six that are 20 years old and use them for the ride on at home when not travelling and take at least 2 when away. So they still get knocked around and hold up well.

If it's a special design then go to Clarke Rubber they will more than likely have a sheet of suitable material somewhere in their range

Rob

if they are old ww2 wide seals, have you thought of contacting some in the Defence supplies division and asking. I was able to obtain bits and pieces from an old supply stock in Melbourne man years ago. They sell off old new supplies to outside warehouses, and they may be able to give you a couple of follow ups.

Thanks Rob for your cheap shot.
Clearly you are not at all familiar with the issue here.
As I pointed out above, making my own seals has not been successful. Probably Richard has found the same.
I have not looked at them lately but for memory the seal needs to be, lets say 4mm thick but in places are only about 3mm wide. To cut that neatly and accurately by hand from something tough like insertion rubber or neoprene is difficult to say the least.
Before you jump in saying that those products are not suitable for fuel anyway, I will say I tried them because I had the stuff here and was merely testing the process.
I might be the odd one out here but I find uninformed comment generally unhelpful at best.

Thanks Garry
I hadn't thought of that but probably worth doing. These cans are unused war surplus and just seem too good to dump or repurpose.
It is not high priority right now for me but sort of came to mind when Richard asked the question.
He might not be even talking about those anyway.
Thanks again
Roy

I can see how cutting 4mm thick x 3mm wide would be difficult, it would tend to twist and roll. How about temporarily gluing the rubber sheet to a backing board, then cutting. The other possibility would be to then use a sharp chisel instead of a box cutter? Sort of how you use a wad punch. Presumably you don't need perfect round corners and if they are for use at home where you can be sure of storing them upright. Again because you are using them at home do you even need to cut, could you just clamp a sheet of rubber? It's years since I have used these types of jerry can so that might be entirely off beam.

Hi tonysmc,

Whilst you are correct, it can be known by both spelling, if you look up the origins of the name, the fuel can is thought to have been a redesign of a German Fuel container called an “Einheitskanister”. As the word “Jerry” was a slang term for a German, the name Jerry Can or Jerrycan was applied to what we now know as a Jerry Can.

Macca.

Just as a matter of interest in reply to Macca:
I have a half dozen of them but they are in storage now and not readily accessible. I am fairly certain though that a couple have/had stickers on them with German writing which suggest they were of direct German origin. Hard to imagine and not totally sure about that. I don't know much about them as I got them from a second hand shop in a small country town years ago. They had a couple pallets of them at the time.
Hopefully I will get a look at them in the next few weeks and if I find a sticker I will post a photo (if I can figure out how). I do know they are the wide mouthed ones which I understand was a German design as Macca said.
The ones generally available here now in the new offerings are a much smaller opening.

Thanks everyone, I will do my best to hunt some up. The army versions I have were from my time, in the army, not ww2 era. No I did not knock them off. Their a little battered, and wouldn't fit in the holders on the trucks.

Richard, haven't been on for a while and just saw your post re Jery can seals.

In the past I used to just get an old tube (free) from a tyre repair place and cut roughly the complete shape of the top + say an extra 10 ~ 15mm all around and either just fit one or two on the top and clamp it shut.

I used to carry a supply of these in the toolbox and replace as necessary. they used to last a good while.

If stored upright usually no problem, but I used to also seal it, tip it sideways and check if leaking and then I was also able to store them laid flat on their sides or edges.