Grounding jerry cans without removing from truck

I use two 5 gal Wavian steel jerry cans. I store them in the bed directly behind the cab on the driver side (edit: in a plywood crate). This is convenient for transferring to the OB fuel tank (edit: with a siphon), and because I don’t have to take the cans out to access other gear etc., and, if I can safely ground them without removing them from the bed, it also makes it easy to fill them as they’re on the same side as the truck’s fuel filler.

Can I ground them somehow with my jumper cables or?

When I took a few flight lessons, we grounded the wing with a clip but not sure if there’s a way to do this in my application.

 

When filling metal tanks you should keep the fuel filler nozzle in contact with the tank to guard against static sparks. It's a really low probability that you generate enough static charge by filling two five gallon Jerry cans.

 

So, is there a higher probably with plastic?

 

I have found that at places like Costco with attendants all Jerry cans/fuel cans must be removed from vehicle and placed on the ground before filling. Now I am sure most "gas stations" will never call out someone for not doing this. They may not even have a clue weather it should be done or not. Does Wavian have recommendations? I think the question could be is if you ground the cans to what should they be grounded to? Grounding it to the vehicle is that the correct thing to do? Perhaps we should consider do we ourselves need to be grounded. If Static electricity is the concern what is the source of that Static electricity. I believe that source is us or perhaps if there is an ungrounded pump. So before operating pump touching the nozzle to your vehicle and check for a discharge may be a good practice. But that shows how much we take for granted in the safety of the pumps we use daily. In more remote areas that may not get inspections as often should we be more cautious? So for the rambling. I just have not thought about this much myself until I read the post and it got me thinking. Adding thoughts: Does grounding the cans actually do anything? What we want to avoid is the discharge of energy when there is a presence of fuel vapor. So maybe we should just touch the nozzle to something that is grounded before pumping. Just as been suggested that we should all touch the outside of our vehicle when pumping and not to be getting back into our vehicle sliding our buts across the seat possibly generating more static electricity.

 

I dont have an answer but I find this question interesting. Also explains further why I was raised to always fill them up on the ground.

edit: talk to my aviation friend, he says the ground from the air planes exhaust to the tanker thats on the ground. So maybe a simple ground strap from the truck to the filler tank.

 

Ground from the truck to the Cans. Simple as that.
It's the plastic bed that's the issue.

I think @Bishop84 is trying to say the same thing.

 

Shit, never mind. I just picked up that you were asking about filling them.

Put them on the ground.

 

Better to be safe than sorry, just put them on the ground

 

^So ground cans to frame?

^ There is a way to ground them without taking them out, I just need confirmation on how to do it. Like I said, I’m pretty sure that I can do it the way they do it in aviation, just looking for positive confirmation.

By tanker do you mean permanent storage fuel tank at the pump, or the fuel delivery truck?

 

That sounds like bonding; tanker still needs to be grounded.

 

Pretty sure it has to do with spilling and fuel possibly running down over the catalytic converters or exhaust pipe through the drain holes in the front of the bed.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-111/pdfs/98-111.pdf?id=10.26616/NIOSHPUB98111

 

There is a minute I mean smaller than a micron risk with plastic which is much less than with metal. The static electricity is not generated by you or the vehicle but instead the fuel flowing through the pump into the container i.e friction and the charge equates to typically less than .0004 volts discharge rate at .000005 amps. This the same physics that are involved with metal ships such as carries moving through the ocean at high rate of speed albeit carries produce enough electricity moving through the water light multiple 45w incandescent bulbs.

 

This is a problem in AZ with our dry ass air. We're told to put all gas cans on the ground before filling them and to touch the body of the vehicle before opening our gas caps to discharge any static that our bodies carry. There are signs at all pumps regarding the cans but the other thing is just what you see on the news after someone lights their car on fire at the pump.

 

Consider tie-down points in bed?

 

So when I refill my truck from a metal can (or even plastic can) using a super siphon, what's the grounding procedure here? Thanks.

 

U.S. Forest Service pdf