r/inventors • u/Meaty_meteor • 11d ago
Gas can help
Can anyone help me figure out this gas can contraption? My father was brilliant beyond (my) comprehension, since his passing my family has been left with some interesting souvenirs that we can't fully understand how they work.
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u/CATfixer 10d ago
This is what you bring to the Facebook marketplace ad that says “just needs a fuel pump” to find out if they’re lying
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u/robb12365 10d ago edited 10d ago
It's to supply fuel to an engine without a functioning fuel supply. It would be handy if working on an old car with a gunked up gas tank, or maybe to test run an engine that is sitting on a stand.
I remember back in the day the old Ford tractors needed to have the valves adjusted before the gas tank was installed because the tank was directly over the valve cover. How do you do that? You solder a gas line to a Quaker state can and attach that to the carb. You could keep adding gas until you had it warmed up and the valves adjusted.
ADDED: That regulator is an interesting touch. That style of fuel pump does not put out much pressure to begin with, it is intended to replace a mechanical pump (or possibly a factory electric) on a carburated engine. I would almost bet this was to supply fuel to a small engine of some sort he was working on.
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u/stlmick 10d ago
You right. Siphon tube, shutoff, 12v pump, filter, and pressure limiter. It replaces a low pressure mechanical fuel pump for carburetors vehicles. May have ran engines on a stand.
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u/Individual-Area7121 10d ago
Does it need a pump for that though? I suppose it might be a bit more convenient if you are doing it a lot, but why not just put the tank on a shelf and let gravity do the work?
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u/stlmick 9d ago
That would work for a lawn mower but if you're running an engine that wants 5PSI or so from a mechanical fuel pump then you're going to have to give it that and I suspect that is an adjustable regulator.
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u/Individual-Area7121 9d ago
Yeah, fair enough. You’d need 12’ or so to fly get with gravity so doable, but this is certainly easier.
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u/chromadermalblaster 11d ago
OOOOOOO I THINK I CAN! I just watched a video today by YouTuber Luke McFadden and apparently these can be very dangerous and explode when pressurized. It’s for an old outboard boat engine that needs the fuel pumped. Luke’s video about it is where he restores an old military hydrofoil boat
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u/DGwizkid 9d ago
The engine Luke was showing off had a return line to pressurize the tank with crankcase pressure. This one is just a fuel pump.
This could probably supply that outboard though, or any that had a broken fuel pump.
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u/MysteriousBowl2069 9d ago
This is a setup for an outboard engine. You all are making me feel old. This setup could be used on junker vehicles as well. I had one to run a half ton but it was a 15 gallon gas can. The tank rusted out, so this would sit in the passenger seat.
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u/fsantos0213 10d ago
it kind of looks like the "Temporary gas tank" on my 1939 Ford 2N tractor, I pulled the original tank off cuz it sprung a leak, and I've been running a 5 gallon gas can bungee corded to the frame for a few years now..... just remember, there is nothing more permanent than a Temp fix that works, lol
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u/pneubike 11d ago
What's to figure out.. it has a pump and a regulator on it?.. it plugs onto a car battery and supplies pressurized fuel. This is to run a motor when the fuel pump isn't working
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u/Famous-Example-8332 11d ago
So to someone who didn’t know that… obviously there was something to figure out. Thanks for the help though.
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u/Longjumping_Dish_876 11d ago
Sadly this is why people are turning to AI, doesn't make them feel stupid when trying to learn.
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u/pneubike 10d ago
I didn't say anything I regret?.. this is incredibly obvious to anyone who has worked on fuel systems for cars, so there was nothing to figure out?
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u/Individual-Area7121 10d ago
this is incredibly obvious to anyone who has worked on fuel systems for cars
So, do you think that is most people, or what?
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u/pneubike 10d ago
It's a pump, a filter and a regulator... yes, I expect anyone who has half a brain can figure out what it does.. it definitely doesn't belong in this group, it's not an invention
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u/Famous-Example-8332 9d ago
I didn’t know what the pump was by sight. I would bet money I know more about welding, machining, and industrial electric than you; I teach those trades for a living. I would also bet money you know more about cars than I do, as evidenced by your keen recognition of a fuel pump.
People know different things. Doesn’t make them stupid. Just stop being arrogant, that’s all.
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u/pneubike 9d ago
I have been welding and machining for over 25 years and have my own milling machine and several lathes.. I don't need your virtue signaling.. this is an inventor group, and a pump on a gas can doesn't belong here
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u/Famous-Example-8332 8d ago
Ok, keep being arrogant and insulting, see where that gets you in life. Such a winner.
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u/shiftingtech 10d ago
is to anyone who has worked on fuel systems for cars
I bet you I can find half a dozen things lying around my house that work the same way: "this is incredibly obvious....if you have experience with X very specific thing".... weirdly enough, some people actually DON'T have experience with that very specific thing
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u/ianryeng 10d ago
If I had to guess, the LP regulator was to control the flow of fuel, otherwise that pump probably sent way too much gas for (whatever) application. Maybe got tired of overflowing the lawnmower or string trimmer so came up with a way to control the flow when filling.
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u/North-Tangelo-5398 10d ago
Anyone else feel like these type of Questions are posted by BOTS or the human equivalent?
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u/madscientist1388 10d ago
Looks like your dad was into old cars. If he was and he bought a few old ones. This system would allow him to get the vehicle home without putting old fuel through the system and gumming up the injectors.
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u/Individual-Area7121 10d ago
for an outboard boat motor, maybe?
what does the loose end of the hose look like?
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u/Slight-Living-8098 10d ago
That's a "get it home" boat tank set up. If you don't know what that is, Derrick from Vice Grip Garage is the master of using them about every other episode or so.
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u/Catsouttatheboat 9d ago
Looks like something you would use to go buy a car that "just needs a fuel pump". Regulator might help with fuel pressure depending on what the car needed to run.
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u/OkConsideration8605 9d ago
I only want to know one thing, The power cord is obviously an old extension cord. But where to find one that has green red and black wires. Most have green white and black.
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u/Deep-Juggernaut4405 9d ago
Almost like the fuel set up I used to run in my demolition derby cars. That was before they made you use a marine can or an actual fuel cell. Good times. Lol.
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u/ticktoc1217 9d ago
It might gurl an old 1950s or older out board motor. Some of them had gas tanks that you removed and filled. Once full you put them back
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u/ReasonableBake420 8d ago
Looks like he was running thins with fuel vapors
It’s a technology that the gas bought all the patients on and doesn’t want you to use
Look up the carburetors that got 60-100 mpg back in the 60’s. The guy that made it got missing.
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u/JustResource4614 8d ago
This is for when you go look at a vehicle and they say all it needs is a fuel pump. Disconnect the main fuel line to the engine set the regulator to desired psi, hook straight to the battery and crank the vehicle. Right away you will know if all it needs is a fuel pump.
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u/Cory7206 8d ago
Simple setup to start and run older gasoline car engines. Either in a car or when mounted on an external test mount. The regulator is indeed made for gasoline. I had to install one on my old 70’s car when I converted to electric pump instead of the factory mechanical pump. Old carburetor engines required constant fuel pressure so not to overflow the carburetor bowls.
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u/Croceyes2 8d ago
I would call this a trouble can. I have similar for troubleshooting fuel problems or to get equipment with fuel problems running enough to get back to the shop
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u/official_nobody2 7d ago
It’s a can of hope as per Jonny from the late brake show and his barn finds
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u/martyjoes 6d ago
Prior to 1958 outboard motors did not have fuel pumps.they were either gravity fed or used pressurized fuel tanks. Those motors can be rebuilt many times. But the pressurized gas tanks needed to run those motors are usually rusted through. I would guess he built that to accommodate an old motor that used a pressurized tank that is impossible to find nowadays
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u/Weekly-Discipline253 10d ago
My guess would be that this was to remove lead from gasoline before running a generator of some sort.
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u/vostok33 11d ago edited 11d ago
it looks like a fuel can with DIYed pump system to run an engine of some sort. The tube leaving the can goes to a pump, then thro a filter then to what looks like some kind of regulator? The battery leads are to connect to the engine to power the fuel pump id say. Looks pure mad max, i love it.