How can I minimize the risk of static when removing gasoline from a poly drum? The drum is outdoors, half buried in dirt.

-- BOOM (I@hope.not!), June 29, 1999

Answers

I think the question should be:

"How can I minimize the BOOM when Pollys are trying to remove my gasoline drum half buried in dirt(after 1/1/00)?"

-- (boom@I hope.so), June 29, 1999.

It never ceases to AMAZE me how people can be "penny wise and pound foolish". The ONLY way to GUARANTEE that you'll live to see another day is to use a 55-gal STEEL drum. Oh, and DON'T bury it. These are available LOCALLY to you (and everyone) for about $28-$30 NEW. Look in the yellow pages under "barrels".

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), June 29, 1999.

How much money do you have? If you have tons lying around there are plenty of anitstatic control systems you can purchase - these ain't cheap - from conveyer belt retailers.

Cheap method, purchase a handy dandy source of radiation, this will ionize the air and bleed off static. Best source a really good camera store, these are used to de-static lens prior to cleaning. Attach this to the drum at the same spot you attach a conductor that is grounded. Then drain the gasoline into a nice metal barrel that you've attached a ground strap to.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@erthlink.net), June 29, 1999.

Boom,

If it's half buried in dirt it is already grounded. Don't worry about it.

-- Gordon (gpconnolly@aol.com), June 29, 1999.

Ahem... Last time I checked, that blue polypropylene-plastic was an EXCELLENT INSULATOR. So, static charge can build up on the INSIDE of the container and NOT be transmitted to the OUTSIDE for discharge to ground.

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), June 30, 1999.

The static electricty problem arise primarily when you attempt to fill a poly container with gasoline that is in the bed of your truck.

The container has been rubbing the bed of the truck and static electricty is built up.

You should never fill up a poly container that is in the bed of your truck. This causes explosions.

ALWAYS PLACED THE CONTAINER ON THE GROUND. Then fill it up.

Placing the poly container on the ground "grounds" the container and difuses the static electricity.

-- Walt (longyear@shentel.net), June 30, 1999.

And NEVER, EVER use a pump connected to an ELECTRIC DRILL, unless you have a DEATH WISH. The sparks from the drill motor will ignite the gas vapors. "See ya on cloud 9..."

Best bet is a rotary "hand-crank" style pump.

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), July 01, 1999.