Jack Lawson Sends: Alternative Power – Gasoline and Fuels Part Two
Here is the latest from Jack Lawson, author of the Civil Defense Manual. This comes directly from Chapter 21. You can grab a copy of his book here. Jack is a strong supporter of American Partisan, and even had NC Scout write the chapter on Radio Communications (Chapter 17 in Volume I). I bought my copy the day it become available and I highly recommend you do as well.
Part One can be found here:
After some Extraordinary Catastrophic Events, many of the people who would normally be your competition for fuels… will be dead. Most will die there of disease, from the weather, lack of life sustaining medicines, dehydration, starvation, suicide and violence. There will be huge amounts of fuel in these people’s vehicles and in fuel station underground storage tanks for the taking… or maybe I should say… for the siphoning.
Getting fuel When A Collapse Of Society
When A Collapse Of Society occurs, there will be vehicles and underground storage tanks with gasoline and diesel that can be drawn from. You should have two items…
One, a simple plastic and rubber hand siphon pump like in the photo to get fuel out of vehicles, and…
Fill-Rite rotary hand fuel
Two, a heavy-duty rotary hand pump and hose to get fuel from underground storage tanks and to transfer fuel between barrels and containers. A special type of hand pump is needed for gasoline. Just because the pump is advertised as a ‘fuel transfer pump,’ dig deeply into that.
Most ‘fuel transfer pumps’ are not made for gasoline pumping long-term and the seals will go out rendering them useless. My NPP has a Fill-Rite heavy-duty rotary hand pump that is for gasoline and diesel. This unit is made to screw into one of the bung holes of a 55-gallon barrel. We also have a separate stand if drawing fuel from an underground tank.
Know that if a pump is cheap… you get what you pay for and it’s probably not for gasoline. Go to www.fillrite.com for quality rotary hand gasoline and diesel pumps. On our NPP pump unit, the 25-foot-long tank hose has a strainer on the drop down the tank end and a filter at the hand crank or ‘siphon’ pump. The filter removes water, rust, mold growth and other contaminants that will be in tanks after fuel sets for long periods of time.
NOTE: Color code paint your pumps ‘White’ for human consumables and ‘Red’ for fuels, so you don’t cross contaminate fuel with items you eat and drink.
There are two configurations of fill pipes going to underground tanks at fuel stations. Most all these are 4 inch diameter ‘fill dump pipes’ going down to the top of the buried tanks.
One… a ‘straight drop’ into the tank. Two… a ‘curbside fill pipe,’ mostly installed at truck stops where the fuel truck can park away from the underground tanks, not interrupting their use. The curbside drop will have about 20 foot of pipe with two 90-degree bends not big enough to easily push your siphon hose through to the underground storage tank. If you could, you would need a very flexible 40-foot length siphon hose.
We are putting together a complete unit with pump and hoses for our NPP, long enough to get to the bottom of a barrel or to siphon from ‘straight drop’ buried fuel tanks at my neighborhood gas station. The hose is 25 foot in length with a filter on the pump and a strainer on the hose end that goes down into the tank. We have about $400 invested in this, but like I said, you get what you pay for.
We’ve had minor discussions about this, but if our NPP Council feels charitable and says yes to providing fuel to those outside our NPP, we’ll get the value back many times over in barter or trade. This unit is functional now, but a work in progress, as we’ve bought an aluminum military medical supply case that we are retrofitting to store it in and transport it. It will have wheels and a backpack harness on it. It will contain the whole enchilada… siphon hose, the pump, fuel filters and a stand for the pump and is not much over 40 pounds in weight.
Fuel for your Engine Powered Electric Generator
Because diesel fuel stores better for longer periods of time, I recommend only diesel fuel engines in Engine Powered Electric Generators for long-term usage. However, that being said, if you live in a metropolitan area, and don’t have at least 200 gallons of diesel fuel stored, you have to make a decision if gasoline should be the fuel for your Engine Powered Electric Generator. This will only permit you intermittent use of your generator.
Gasoline eventually ‘goes off’ and is not a reliable long-term as fuel for your generator. So, just because there’s a huge supply around, unless you have huge stocks of gasoline rejuvenator like PRI, gasoline will eventually be useless to you.
Gasoline is much more common in most metropolitan and suburban areas and easier than for the average person to deal with in regards to a generator engine. I am not talking down to you about this, as I was raised on a farm, so unlike most of you, I have been brought up around diesel fuel and diesel engines and understand their operation, which is more problematic and complex than gasoline engines.
Avoid Ethanol Blended gasoline
Try to obtain gasoline with the lowest amount of Ethanol, which is basically ‘corn alcohol.’ Ethanol, in over 15% of the gasoline by volume, creates a horror show you don’t want to see. Ethanol-blended gasoline degrades faster and more completely than pure gasoline.
Zone Tech 3-in-1 Hand Siphon Pump for Gas
Ethanol eats holes in fuel lines, corrodes the fuel tank and engine intake parts, makes small engines run so hot that they melt rubber and plastic components that destroys the engine. That is if you can get it started. If you didn’t take every last drop of Ethanol blended gasoline out of your engine after using it last year you’ll have a clogged carburetor, gummed up injectors and plugged filters.
If you do get the engine started, know that Ethanol absorbs water from the air like a sponge and then separates from the gasoline, sinking to the bottom of the gas tank where it quickly degrades and creates gums, varnish and other insoluble debris that will plug fuel flow passages. You may as well try to use Aunt Jemima’s maple syrup as a fuel. It costs three times the value of a gallon of gas… to produce a gallon of Ethanol. Another program foisted on Americans for campaign contributions that is a farce. But hey, it’s only your tax dollars that pays for this loss.
How do you know how much Ethanol is in the gas? Again, I suppose if you had enough chemicals, a chemistry whiz kid, the ‘Kosmos Beginners Chemistry Set’ and an up-to-date secret decoder ring you could do it. Other than that, it’s usually stated on a label on the pump housing. But be aware, that if Ethanol gas sits for very long in underground tanks, you don’t want your siphon hose right on the bottom when you draw out fuel, because that will be pure water that will overcome and plug your hand pump’s filter capacity. Drop your siphon hose to the bottom, then pull it up about a foot before pumping gas out.
Properly storing fuel
Store your fuel outdoors for fire safety. Keep it stored in shade and in as temperature stable area as possible away from wooden fences, trees, bushes, your house and other structures. One of the issues that causes fuel to become contaminated, is the up and down fluctuations of temperatures that condenses moisture inside the fuel container. This also puts unnecessary stresses on the container by expansion and contraction.
I DO NOT suggest storing Flammables in larger than 5-gallon containers unless the storage is underground in a specific tank system set up for Flammables. The possibility of a leak from a large container is a time bomb waiting to go off. Understand that one gallon of fuel weighs roughly 8 pounds. So, a 55-gallon drum of gasoline weights over 400 pounds, which is way too much for even four people to handle if it leaks and has to be moved out of danger.
A rule of thumb to use… IN GROUND will keep your fuel from the ups and downs of outside 24-hour cyclic temperature changes. Temperature changes will make your fuel containers “breathe in and breathe out” …like your lungs, over the day and night temperature differences. The more consistent and cool the temperature… the less stress you put on your containers and the less moisture will be drawn into the containers when the “breathe in.”
Keep your containers away from your home and DO NOT store in your garage or basement. The best storage method is to have an in-ground storage area away from trees, your home and buildings. Think… dig down and line the sides with concrete block or timbers and put a cover over it that will support human weight.
On 55-gallon drums there are ‘bungs’ to fill and empty the drum on the top. These are usually screw in type caps, one about 2 1/2 inches and another about 1 inch in diameter. For diesel fuel, I tighten the large one finger tight, but loosen the small one to where it will let air in and out from expansion. Do this only for low flash point Combustibles… not on Flammables.
5-gallon HDPE fuel storage container
Fuel stabilizers can absorb and prevent some of this condensation, but eventually it absorbs all the water it can and loses its effectiveness. So, the fuel preservation solution needs to be added to the container every couple of years. The ideal storage for fuel is a dry underground area if you can keep moisture drained away from the area.
Make your choice between ‘plastic containers’ and ‘metal containers.’ HDPE,’ High Density PolyEthylene, also known as PEHD for PolyEthylene High Density, are essentially plastic containers. Both plastic and metal containers have advantages and disadvantages. Plastic containers are prone to penetration by sharp or heated objects and are difficult, if not impossible, to repair… but they don’t corrode.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene high-density (PEHD) is a thermoplastic polymer with a high strength-to-density ratio. It’s used in plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant piping, geomembranes and plastic lumber. Midwest Can for HDPE containers.
NOTE: Do not completely enclose metal cans with plastic. You’ll think this is what to do, but then like me, you’ll discover that the condensation from temperature changes will run to the bottom of the plastic bag causing the outer bottoms of the container to corrode.
Metal containers are more penetration resistant and repairable, but corrode and rust. I hedge my bets and have both. Any HDPE food container can be used to store fuel… but don’t do the reverse. If food or water is stored in containers formerly used for fuels or other toxic substances, the container will contaminate your food no matter how thoroughly you clean and reclean it. Mark it FOR FUEL ONLY.
All metal storage containers should be covered and kept off the ground, sitting on something like composite deck dimension lumber. Cover containers with plastic, but leave the bottom of the plastic open and set them up off the ground or concrete on composite material.
Jerry Can recessed groove welded-Buy only this type
Whichever you choose, metal or plastic, I highly recommend Lexington Container Company or Midwest Can for all fuel, water and food grade storage containers. All my HDPE containers are from Midwest Can Company.
Lexington sells about everything under the sun in container storage, including blue barrels and larger pallet mounted storage containers and I find their prices hard to beat. Shipping is a large part of the cost. Go to… LexingtonContainerCompany.com or MidwestCan.com
Buy only recessed groove welded Jerry Cans as in the photo. There is a cheap knock-off Chinese manufactured Jerry Can with the edges welded protruding outside the can, which makes a ridge that projects around the can and is prone to damage, thus leaking-Do not buy. The welded edge of a properly manufactured can is protected by the recessed groove.
Jerry type can and container pouring spouts. The EPA and whacko freakish State regulations like in California, have created a total clusterfock in container spouts. Their attempts at limiting fuel spillage and vapor emissions with spout check valves and push to activate valves has created complex spout systems that actually cause more spillage than they prevent.
These ‘environmentally safe’ (in reality a diametrically opposed meaning) spouts make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pour fuel into a vehicle and other fuel tanks from Jerry Cans without fuel running all over. There are alternative simple spouts around and or you can install pouring vent caps as below to help alleviate this problem. ‘Wavian’ made NATO Jerry cans have a bulit in vent system to keep the mess of splilled fuel down when pouring it. These are the best of metal fuel cans. WavianUSA.com
Look out for Part Three coming in the next few days.
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GUNS N GEAR
My 10k generator engine runs on propane. This is stabile forever, none of the issues that otherwise must be dealt with for diesel or gasoline. And, engines like it long term, oil stays cleaner, no fouling of plugs, etc…
Kits to convert engines to use propane are available.
I was looking to get a dual fuel generator just to have the options. Good to know that propane runs cleaner (I guess intuitively I knew that but hadn’t explicitly acknowledged it in my brain).
The downsides to propane is that it will usually run a little hotter, have a little less power, and engines won’t usually last quite as long due to lower lubricity of the fuel, as compared to gasoline. It’s still a great fuel for a generator, especially if those things are compensated for.
If you ever get a gas generator and get a conversion kit to run propane, just make sure it is one with a demand regulator- without it, if the engine stops, the fuel can keep flowing and build up, creating an ideal condition for an explosion if it is in an enclosed area.
Ah okay. Thanks for that. If I get a dual fuel generator that comes with hook-ups for both, is the demand regulator included (I would imagine so)?
I think it would be, it may be built into a propane carburetor too. Basically a demand regulator is just a valve that opens when the engine creates vacuum on the intake stroke to pull the fuel in, but stays closed otherwise. Any modern duel fuel genset or conversion should have it, since it can be pretty dangerous without it.
Overall, my personal opinion is that propane or diesel are both better fuels for a generator than gasoline is, but I’m far from an expert.
If you want to read up on fueling small engines with propane, smokstak has a pretty good subforum on it:
https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forums/propane-and-natural-gas-fuel-delivery-and-tuning.198/
It’s mostly geared towards antique engines, but there is a lot of good info there.
One of the handiest way to manage store fuel is an electric fuel pump. For less than $100 or so, an electric fuel pump will make transferring fuels a breeze, and can pump fuel from an in ground plastic drum…. Ask the parts store for their high volume unit for a carburated vehicle. I’ll be spilling my secrets for long term fuel storage in an article.
Just finished a 3,000+ word article I mentioned I would do early this morning, but can’t post any part of here due copy-write on another site. It covers many bases and goes into a few important aspects. The article discussed my research, fuels blends, the regeneration of degraded fuels, fuel extension techniques, and other useful information such as fuel requirements for chainsaws, and long term fuel storage techniques and strategy that lower costs. To spare the reader the wait and time, so they can skip the article, in a nutshell, all of this substantiates why I recommend the use of Avgas 100ll as a long term storage fuel for gasoline motors. However, do not use this in a modern vehicle with a oxygen sensor and catalytic converter. I started wrenching in 1976 and have several decades of experience.
Hmmmmm copyright on another site. Survivalblog? lol
Yea, I do not understand the many possible reasons it why it is run that way over there, but the intent and spirit is good, and it is a platform for all, especially my age group that is comprised of old codgers like myself. It is the grand daddy of many of the blogs now out there, and at one time, it was one of the few even in existence. For those who are new to topic, it is a good starting place and resource. It is where I cut my teeth 15 years ago when so few where even talking about this stuff at that early time.
The prizes are that little thing that makes it just a little bit interesting, but I do not do it for any reward, but if I win third place, I git something useful. Most important, the information gets out there. Readership, last I knew, was only 160,000. Rigged search engine algorithms have probably lowered that number, and now there is more to choose from. On that platform one can condenses many years of research and experience into an article, and I write many articles, thereby give those interested in that topic, a hand up. And that is how we get them on board, get them started, squared away, and build a movement, one at a time. Sound familiar? It works. Survivalblog was at one time the vanguard, and is still important. It is all important. I’ve linked to this and brushbeater.org many many times.
Contributing there, elsewhere or where ever, collectively, we are apart of a brain trust that supports the greater Patriot movement. I know AJ once read Survivalblog fairly regularly. The man is one heck of a research animal. A true manic, and given a sword, he would define the term berserker. Han er isaer, en meget stakt og intensiv beserker! In the viking lingo that I still speak, that is a special kind of warrior,. To say the least, AJ is an especially fierce and effective warrior. We might be surprised at who could be reading American Partizan today, or tomorrow.
To build an online community,, and then a real community, we must participate. A few people in my community do read Survivalblog, and know who I am. I post on preppernet.com too, any where that would have me. I do not do it for the money, or glory, that is for sure. If we, as patriots, are not willing to give of ourselves freely, even our lives at some point, then there will be no freedom. This community knows that better than any other group.
If the pen is mightier than the sworn, then our ideas could be the ammunition that should be passed forward. Remember that old historic tune? Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition? Even if I am outta ammo, I’ll keep on trying. The country has benefited. I know it does make a difference, and that one person can make a difference if they would just get involved. There is so little time left before we might loose access to the internet, that we best be working hard as possible, and I am. I’ve got 3 articles in the pipe to be posted on Survivalblog in a few weeks.
If my brother is made stronger, then we are all stronger. If all an old fart like myself can do is talk, then I talk. Those who can still talk and teach are indeed very dangerous, as we can arm with ideas, and equip with instruction, those who can do. What starts in the spirit, ends up in our fists. Pass along what you know, or anything you got.
Thanks for listening.
Hey, I wrote an article for them before I wrote here. They are still on my RSS feed.
Hope you win!
I’ve never sent anything to them myself, but I have read some of the stuff you have submitted Tunnel Rabbit, and I have gotten a lot of good information from you, and from SurvivalBlog in general. I do miss the comments section, as I used to get a lot of information from it as well, but I can understand why they decided to get rid of it. I still check SurvivalBlog daily, and I was glad to see you commenting on this site.
“Ethanol eats holes in fuel lines, corrodes the fuel tank and engine intake parts, makes small engines run so hot that they melt rubber and plastic components that destroys the engine. That is if you can get it started. If you didn’t take every last drop of Ethanol blended gasoline out of your engine after using it last year you’ll have a clogged carburetor, gummed up injectors and plugged filters.”
On top of all of this- if you’re running small engines, they usually have tiny rubber diaphragms in the carburetors to pump fuel. The diaphragms have to be soft and supple to work properly, and ethanol will harden them until they are like plastic, and they won’t work properly. It’s worth buying a few carb kits for any small engines you may have, in case someone else does or has run ethanol in them, or in case you ever have to run ethanol blended fuels out of necessity. The diaphragms can also harden and tear just with age and use, like any rubber part. Rebuilding small engine carburetors is cheap and easy.
And on the subject of Jerry can spouts- I don’t know about the new ones, but on the old USGI cans, the cap was the same threading as the bung on a steel 55 gallon drum. I have made spouts by taking a bung from an old 55 gallon drum, drilling a hole in it, and brazing a pipe nipple into the bung. You can also clamp a piece of hose onto the pipe nipple for a flexible spout. It’s a cheap and easy solution the the EPA crap.
A diagram of the $400 fuel recovery device would be helpful. Im curious about getting around the (2) 90* bends without crimping the line, as well as the distances, and why put the strainer in the tank vs straining the product after retrieval?
Many gensets are set up for dual fuel today but you can add a third with this product….
http://www.uscarburetion.com/learn_more.htm
The electric pump sounds good, and in theory will save time, but you need power and they can fail. Manual is usually more resilient but why not have both?
Also, sheet gasket materials are available and one should have many flavors for different liquids. Roll out, if possible, to keep the material flat as most gaskets are this shape.
R
To Rooster and all other Readers,
You all sound like an intelligent lot… unlike all the PhDs and Masters degrees of the educated idiots in my family.
You make a good point, Rooster.
I will post photos, a diagram and a parts list for the Underground Fuel Recovery Device in a future Newsletter/Posting and that information is also going into the next edition revision of the Civil Defense Manual. UFRD (Underground Fuel Recovery Device) …how is that for following military tradition and putting an acronym to it?
Right now, our group is on a mission to get as many people as possible in our area to stock up on water, food and medicines and we are further developing our communications network as we fear the cold weather months will bring trouble.
We have also invited former Iraq/Stan military and their families from a veterans group at the VA and a nearby university into our group who will stay at designated homes to bolster our knowledgeable ‘trigger fingers’ with younger people. We will provide their food and needs. They may have to sleep on the floor, but their stomachs won’t be empty and their partners and family will be safe.
Sign up for the Civil Defense Manual Newsletters at…
https://civildefensemanual.com/category/blog-news/…
it costs you nothing and will give you access to some of the items in the book.
I will post the Underground Fuel Recovery Device info there when I get some of this other stuff off my over flowing plate.
Regards to all, Merry Christmas and put some Faith in the Lord…
Jack Lawson
Associate Member, Sully H. deFontaine Special Forces Association Chapter 51, Las Vegas, Nevada
Author of “The Slaver’s Wheel”, “A Failure of Civility,” “And We Hide From The Devil,” “Civil Defense Manual” and “In Defense.”
As one member of our Commando wrote in later years: “That country (Rhodesia) has cast a long shadow over our lives, has it not?”
As one struggles to endure the daily mundane of life, I realize he is right. He wrote on…
“Rhodesia is a woman whose name is forever written upon our hearts – against whom no earthly flesh and blood of female can ever compete. We shed our blood, sweat, tears and the blood of others answering her siren call. Now that the winds and the rains have washed away the stench of the rotting corpses, we remember only the flair of our youth as we jousted lockstep with an opponent equally as determined to rid the world of us, as we him.”
“Anoma! Anoma! Anoma!” Swahili for “I am a poor man! I am a poor man! I am a poor man!”
“But I am a rich man and she (Rhodesia) has made me so. We loved her like no other. Oh, how I miss her and my friends so!”
What amazing words, from yet another one of the guys in my Commando who appeared so ignorant that I didn’t think he knew how to read, let alone capture the spirit of then with such eloquent words.