If you’ve bought a portable gas can at some point in the last two decades, you’ve probably found that it doesn’t necessarily pour as well as older cans from the past. The EPA had a hand in that, but now it’s trying to change things. It’s reaching out to manufacturers to ask them to make better, more usable gas cans that still meet environmental standards.
“Make Gas Cans Great Again by Improving Flow” was the cheery title the agency used to announce this new push. “Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued letters to portable fuel container (PFC) manufacturers encouraging them to add vents to gas cans to ensure safe and effective refueling,” reads the release. “This announcement comes in response to years of complaints about slow, frustrating fuel flow from modern gas cans.”
There is some feeling that the EPA caused this problem with the introduction of various gas can regulations over the years. However, the agency is adamant that gas cans don’t have to suck, and that good flow is still possible if manufacturers step up to the plate.
These ridiculous gas cans with “Safety spouts”…
byu/Pinchaser71 inmildlyinfuriating
Some have taken to modifying their post-2009 gas cans with vent kits to make them flow better.
It all comes down to venting. In 2007, the EPA mandated that manufacturers of fuel containers had to reduce evaporative emissions by ensuring gas vapors weren’t freely vented to the atmosphere. This rule came into effect in 2009. The agency notes that the widespread interpretation from manufacturers was that any sort of venting was banned. Thus, gas cans were made without vents, which made pouring fuel difficult. Without a vent, there is no easy way for air to enter the can to take the place of the fuel flowing out.
Since EPA’s evaporative emissions standards for PFCs went into effect in 2009, we have heard concerns from consumers, retailers, and elected officials about the performance of newer gas cans. One of the most common complaints is about slow fuel flow. Some of these concerns appear to stem from confusion about the intent and scope of EPA’s regulations. In reviewing the range of PFCs on the market today, EPA notes that only a small number include a separate vent to support smooth and fast delivery of fuel. Without a vent, PFCs must self-vent through the spout which we believe may explain consumer complaints related to slow dispensing of fuels from modern gas cans.
We further understand that some manufacturers may inaccurately believe that EPA’s 2009 evaporative emissions standards for PFCs preclude the use of vents. To be clear, EPA’s regulations do not prohibit the inclusion of vents in PFCs. The Agency’s rules explicitly allow vented containers, provided that the vents are designed to automatically close when not in use, without requiring any action from the user. For example, a manufacturer may have a push button operated vent with spring closure that will meet EPA’s evaporative standards and provide active venting to improve fuel flow when dispensing gasoline.
The EPA also notes that other rules have had a further impact on the usability of modern gas cans. It specifically cites a 2008 measure passed by Congress that required gas cans be child-resistant, under the Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act.
“These child resistance rules led to many of the spring-loaded, hard-to-use nozzles,” stated the EPA. Congress passed a further measure requiring cans to feature measures to prevent flashback ignition, which “further complicated nozzle and spout designs,” according to the agency.
Ultimately, meeting all these requirements and still providing good functionality isn’t easy, and the agency acknowledges that. However, it still believes that the product on the market can be better by incorporating legal venting mechanisms. “We recognize the technical challenges of designing a product that satisfies all applicable standards while remaining user-friendly,” reads the letter to manufacturers. “We believe incorporating vents is a practical step toward enhancing consumer usability.”
Will the EPA’s letter have an impact? It’s entirely possible. One or more gas can manufacturers may be inspired to start fitting their products with compliant vent systems, marketing them for their better flow and ease of use. In the meantime, the market remains flooded with gas cans sporting all sorts of weird and confusing spout systems, some of which probably flow well, and many which don’t. In any case, the EPA isn’t going back on evaporative emissions regulations, so time will tell whether manufacturers will step up and prove better gas cans are possible.
Top graphic image: depositphotos.com
It took me all of 5 minutes to figure out that these newer gas cans aren’t as bad as people were making them out to be. I just have to turn the little lock-out mechanism about 1/4 inch and mine pours into my lawnmower just fine if you push down on the can to keep the mechanism engaged.
And a couple of added bonuses are that I do not have to worry about overfilling the lawnmower as the gas stops flowing once the level in the tank rises to the point where it blocks the air intake vent that’s in the spout. Also, if the can is in the back of my pickup truck and it tips over, no gas leaks out.
I will admit that no venting means that you have to keep an eye on the can when there’s temperature changes. This probably goes against the original EPA intentions, but if I’m going to store the can in my shed during the summer and it’s not completely full, I usually loosen the spout just a little so the can does not pressurize when it gets hot or contract when it cools down. But the shed is locked and we do not have any children to worry about coming in contact with the gas can.
I will say, these latest round of cans are far better than many of the early ones. It’s taken them almost 15 years to find a decent design.
I actually cut part of the locking mechanism off a gas can I recently bought. To pour gas out of the can required two hands to operate the safety mechanisms, with no real provision to actually lift the can and pour. Those of us who are older and have some pain in their hands simply can’t use such mechanisms. They are counter productive.
I remember watching my father light a gas fireplace in his house using a long match because the built-in lighting mechanism frequently failed due to its “safety” controls.
Really is Autopian going so far back to Jalopnik that they can’t honestly admit modern gas cans suck and Trump forced a correction? I am losing my admiration of Autopian as they regress to Jalopnik territory.
I’m not sure that’s fair. This reads to me like a pretty apolitical take that mostly just quotes the EPA letter.
I’ve got a crappy cheap one of these style cans and I don’t ever spill it. I don’t understand everyone’s issue is using them.
My issue:
Lining up the spout correctly when tightening the cap one. Always takes me at least two attempts.
This is exciting. Now I just need better matches for my night hobby.
Cynically one wonders if those gas can manufacturers were perhaps colluding on malicious compliance so as to rile up consumers in the hopes that they would complain where their voices would be heard so the EPA would backtrack.
Not unlike the way it always seemed like among the reasons American cars in the 70s were so singularly crappy (hence the term Malaise Era) was that Detroit was deliberately dragging their feet on compliance with emissions standards and flubbing some of the implementation of emissions control in the hopes that the EPA would be forced to back down. Those darn Japanese and European manufacturers had to go and spoil things by making decent products that actually met emissions standards (& then some!) so the Americans were forced to catch up, lol.
Normally I would be all over getting mad at “big gas can” but if we assume a manufacturer would advertise to the moon if they had a better spout because $$$? Yea they probably didn’t.
Yeah, one would think so, that a manufacturer would want to make bank by coming out with a better spout and advertising it as such but the fact that nobody seems to have done so here in the U.S., at least at readily affordable prices, would seem to indeed suggest malicious compliance for the reason outlined, especially since this country is ostensibly blessed with good ol’ ‘Murican ingenuity.
Never underestimate the desire of corporations in the U.S. to eliminate pesky regulations…
Do you not have “self-venting” gas cans available in the U.S.? We have them in Canada – the nozzle has a smaller vent section that allows air in as you are pouring the fuel. When you replace the nozzle in the can there is no second vent that can accidentally be left open.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/scepter-flexible-pour-spout-for-self-vented-fuel-cans-0283060p.html?rq=gas+can
The Scepter cans and self-venting spouts are sold in the US — at least where I’ve lived in the upper Midwest and New England. It seems like they suck the least of all of them, and they have the advantage of being a lot less likely to spill.
Still, I’m old and long ago I got good at controlling the flow with a thumb over the vent to regulate how much air gets in or not; it’s still easier that way.
My focus is on not spilling the gas anywhere. The current ones do a great job.
I did notice that my smaller can could not be filled up at the pump (so small that the pump sensor turns off the flow).
So, I bought a bigger can, filled the bigger one at the pump, filled the smaller one with the bigger one, then filled the bigger one up.
This is for my backup generator, which holds 7.5 gallons. The two gas cans are 5 and 2.5 gallons.
This is why I only store my gasoline in Hefty bags.
You spend money on bags? I just use the free ones from the grocery store.
Yeah, I use the ones from the produce section!
As long as you double-bag.
Wine skins are reusable. No venting needed. Just squeeze. But make sure you label them well.
My neighbor has started storing his surplus gasoline in a milk jug next to his garage. (I’m assuming it’s gas since it’s often sitting next to a red gas can…)
I ran out of gas a couple years ago (the gauge in the Cougar was still showing a quarter tank!) but was fortunately within walking distance of a gas station. I bought a gas can and then had to watch a YouTube video to figure out how to actually use it.
Similar thing happened to me, Nissan Sentra though. The gas can was such a strange thing, with a spring mechanism in the spout, but required the spring to be pushed in and a twist. It was like playing bop-it just to pour fuel.
I just take the neck off and use a funnel.
The Current Pinhead In Charge of the EPA Wants to Distract Americans with Minutiae That We All Agree On But Is Ultimately Not Important.
There. I fixed it for you.
He’s finally standing up against anti-ICE discrimination.
Yet. It’s only Thursday.
I have a 15 yr old spring load nozzle can for my mower. It works fine, actally the low flow is a boon filling a small engine. That said, trying to fill a car from it is a PITA. Mostly due to me having to use other method (pencil) to open the vapor flap due to the short nozzle.
“The EPA
Wantswas recruited to help make The Epstein thing go away by way of distractionGas Cans That Flow Better”Can we all agree at the end of the day that all of this “you get no emissions, and you get no emissions and you get no emissions!” push is just another attempt to distract from the thing the president is most afraid of?
That aside, I embrace the idea of a better flowing gas can, but there are already decent solutions to this so I don’t really care that much. My Rotopax 20l already have high flow nozzles and they weren’t hard to get.
https://www.amazon.com/rotopax-nozzle/s?k=rotopax+nozzle
$90 for a 2 gallon gas container, and it doesn’t come with a good flowing nozzle.
That make the complaint easier to understand?
I can’t comprehend spending more on a gas can than I would spend on a whole tank of gas. But I see a million of those Rotopax things everywhere (usually empty) so maybe I’m just a cheapskate.
I bought factory seconds if that helps. Even then they were great with a warranty claim. I bought 2 of the 4 gallon and 1 of the 2 gallon for about $90. The main benefits are: they lie flat, so for wagons like mine I can rest them on the roof without a huge can sticking up and they are very durable and handle the abuse of off-roading very well.
They are pricey, but I didn’t pay that amount. I bought about 3 cans (2x 4 gallon and 1x 2 gallon) for about that price. When it comes to toughness and low profile, they are hard to beat though. If you don’t need those things, then yeah…there are better choices.
https://plasticproductformers.com/products/3-gallon-motorsport-container%C2%AE
You can still buy good gas cans, they’re just now called motorsport containers 🙂
One of these with a 1″ FPT shipping coupling welded in works just peachy.
https://www.autozone.com/tools-boxes-storage-and-organization/storage-container/p/crown-automotive-jeep-replacement-5-4-gallon-red-free-standing-steel-jerry-can/1359900_0_0?cmpid=OSA:US&gPromoCode=merchantpromo152&gQT=1
Let us not forget about the litigation death of Blitz due to ‘exploding’ (a.k.a. improperly used) gas cans that led to these stupid rules and struck fear of demise upon other manufacturers.
https://www.wltx.com/article/news/local/onyourside/millions-paid-in-exploding-gas-can-settlements/101-298296260
Drilling a golf tee sized hole and plugging with a golf tee solves the vent problem for me.
I splurged for a set of vent caps. $3.99 well spent.
Currently stuck with the mental image from Mad Max of Immortan Joe releasing the waterfall.
Except it’s gas instead of water.
This is just… Stupid.
When the vents first disappeared, gas cans sucked, but they’re much better now. The EZ Spout or whatever they call it works just fine without installing a vent.
It’s the same thing as all of the administration’s bitching about the “new” toilets that “don’t work.” They work just fine, it’s all bullshit.
Yeah, try eating some fiber you constipated morons!
Sorry, it’s nothing but well-done steaks with ketchup and Diet Coke for me.
Like a *real* man.
Had a hate on for all the new improved designs. I bought a battery operated siphon hand pump which works great and prevents spills. Got mine at Canadian tire but I’m sure HF, Amazon or even Temu would have them.
This will help people get gas to the broken-down cars they are stuck with because of tariffs.
When I got divorced, I left my old plastic red gas can with the ex and planned to just buy a new one. Then I started reading all the reviews on Amazon and decided to avoid them. I ended up using an old metal one my father gave me, so old it is actually painted blue with gasoline emblazoned on the side in yellow. I used it for years until transitioning to an electric mower about 4 years ago.
My main can is an older one with a pour/store switch and spring loaded valve. Works well enough. All my older cans with the tethered vent caps all lost their caps over time. Use them for storing used motor oil now. My old jerry can was the biggest leaker of them all so I stopped using it. Maybe it was a cheap one.
I spill more pouring diesel into my tractor with a funnel, due to splashing
Thanks for letting me know I really should show my ancient gas container some serious love next time I fill up my ancient, beloved Craftsman 3.5hp push mower.