More User Friendly Gas Can

This anti-spill gas can requires quite a bit of pressure to press against the internal spring enough to make the gasoline flow. That works on an automobile fill opening, but is likely to create a spill when putting a little gasoline into a measuring container like you see in the photo. This Instructable will show how to dismantle the anti-spill spout and adjust the strength of the internal spring.

Materials

• None

Tools

• Vise
• Needle nose pliers
• Side cutter

In the photo I am squeezing the black plastic safety lock and pushing the yellow body of the spout toward a vise open just far enough to let the body pass, but no more. Notice the finger on my other hand pointing up from the bottom of the photo. There is an "O" ring around the black plastic stopper mechanism. Remove the "O" ring and release the pressure from the spring.

The photo shows the parts of the spout. Notice the spring sticking out from the bottom of the yellow plastic portion. You may need to use a needle nose pliers to pull the spring out of its place.

In order to reduce the pressure on the spring so it is more in proportion to what is needed to fill a measuring can I stretched the spring and cut almost 3/8" from it.

Put the spring back into its place. I put the cut end in first, if it makes a difference. Use the vise to compress the spring again and put the "O" ring back into it place.

Another option is to find a suitable spring at your hardware store.

In steps 1 and 2 you can see the gasket on the yellow spout. That gasket tends to fail. I made a pair of gaskets from 1/16" rubber material from a builder's store. Original gaskets are available at eBay, too. Look for a set of gaskets 1.5 or 1.6 inches in outer diameter.