Using An Air Pump Or Compressor For Siphoning Gas
Another factor to consider is that siphoning with this method can be even more convenient if you use an air pump. The pump can be any type of air pump because its meant to only help blow through the tube.
Using an air pump for siphoning gas can:
- Make siphoning significantly easier by doing the blowing for you
- Also potentially cause damage if the pressure is too great
- Require you to have another piece of equipment at hand
Depending on how prepared you want to be for this kind of emergency situation, you can decide how valuable it is to have an air pump to help you. The great thing about this method is that even if you dont have an air pump, its still very manageable and convenient to do.
Here is how it is done using an air compressor:
Push The Flap Aside Over The Filler Pipe
Many fuel pipes if not all come with a metal flap positioned over them. This flap lets you insert a hose inside. However, it will jam once you remove your siphon hose. You can use a screwdriver or any tool that is skinny and long to bypass this issue. Push the flap with your screwdriver and keep it open.
Drain Fuel By Disconnecting The Fuel Line
First, locate your fuel line and disconnect it. Attach the hose to the fuel lines end and place the other end into your gas can.
Turn on your car, and this will allow the gas to flow right into the canister through the tank. Keep turning the engine on and off to ensure a continuous flow of the gas.
But if you are unable to turn the car on, you may jump the relay terminals of the fuel pump. If you have a jumper, you can do this with the cars engine turned off.
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Fast And Effective Methods To Siphon Gas From A Car
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All preppers know the importance of resources, and its one of the things that define the prepper mindset.
Survivalists and bushcrafters often have very valuable and useful skills that can help in a SHTF scenario, but its the reserve and particular skill set of the prepper to be able to combine these skills with a mind for resource management, preservation and opportunism, which can make all the difference in a dire scenario.
One of the most important, common, and valuable resources in the modern world is fuel, and while there are more electric vehicles on the road than ever and there is continual pressure to become more sustainable and use alternative fuel sources, gas and fossil fuels remain the dominant method of powering our cars, generators and other essential energy sources.
In normal day to day society, this isnt a huge problem, at least from a logistical point of view.
Youre never more than a few miles away from a gas station, and you can always call a friend to bail you out or even call for roadside assistance should you run the tank dry.
In short, while fuel can get pretty expensive depending on global factors, its pretty much readily available and isnt that hard to come by, even in the most remote areas of the US and other areas of the modern world.
One of the best ways to find and scavenge fuel is to siphon it from the tanks of abandoned or unused vehicles.
Three Place The Other End Of The Hose In A Container To Transfer Fuel
When youve sucked the gas into the tube, youll be able to see it. Place the other end of the tube in a gas receptacle. Depending on the air pressure inside the tank, the gas flow may be quick. Be careful of swallowing gasoline, inhaling gasoline fumes, or gasoline poisoning when sucking air through the clear tubing to get the remaining gas.
Now, siphoning gas through this small tube by gravity is slow and can take up to eight minutes for a gallon of gas. If you can find a small hose with a hand pump like this one, it can go much faster.
- Safely and easily transfer gasoline and other fluids through a siphon intake and discharge system
- Eliminates need for risky mouth siphoning of dangerous chemicals
- Included attachment for adapting to an air pump function for inflation
- Great for home, industrial, marine and farm use
- fit type: Universal Fit
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Lets Talk Ethics For A Moment
Before talking about how to siphon gas, lets talk about whether or not we should. The dictionary defines looting as stealing goods , typically during times of war or riot. While the dictionary doesnt specifically include disasters in its definition of looting, it is commonly understood and used that way as well. Scavenging, on the other hand, is defined as searching for and collecting anything usable from discarded waste.
Those two definitions dont exactly line up with each other, but I think we can extrapolate our own definition from them. The situations talked about for looting really are immaterial, as we wouldnt be trying to siphon gas if the situation wasnt pretty bad.
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What were really talking about is whether we would be stealing or collecting discarded waste. Based on that, siphoning gasoline from the car parked next to you would be stealing, while siphoning it from a car that went off the road and was abandoned by the owner would be scavenging. Likewise, siphoning gas from a car parked at a neighbors home, when that neighbor had bugged out could be fairly called scavenging.
How To Siphon Gas Out From One Car To Another
For this method to work you have to make sure that the gas tank from which you are siphoning out the gas is on a higher elevation than the gas tank which you are feeding. Notice I did say gas tank and not the actual car should be on a higher elevation, as some cars have a higher center of gravity and their gas tanks are also on a higher elevation. SUVs, in general, have one of the highest elevated gas tanks, so if you come across an SUV and you have a smaller car you should not have any problems siphoning gas from one car to another provided that the SUV has either no anti-siphon filter or you have the knowledge on you to open it.
In case you own an SUV and try to siphon gas out from a smaller car then it is very important that you actually position your SUV on a lower elevation, this way gravity will work for you and not against you. The anti-siphon device on the gas tank of some cars will make this extremely difficult. If you want to know how to protect yourself from solar flares then check out my recent article How to protect yourself from solar flares .
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Siphoning Gas From A Car How It Works
Siphoning gas from a car without any machinery is possible, thanks to gravity. The science of siphoning is fairly straightforward. To siphon gas from a car you will need a long hose or flexible piece of tubing. To remove the gas from the tank you will need to insert the hose into the tank, via the gas cap on the side of the car.
Once the siphon is inserted you now need to place the other end into a gas can, this must be positioned lower than the height of the car gas tank. This is where gravity and the nature of liquids come into play. Air pressure inside the gas tank will begin to force the fuel into the hose. Once the fuel enters into the hose, gravity will pull it out of the tank and into your waiting gas can or container. The gas will now continuously flow from the tank due to the cohesive nature of liquids.
If you want to speed up the process, you will need to create suction to change the air pressure in the fuel tank. To do this you can either use your mouth, your finger, or a specifically designed siphoning pump.
Youve probably seen people in movies siphoning gas with their mouths. Whilst this is a quick way to create suction, swallowing gasoline can be dangerous. A safer alternative is to place your finger over the exiting end of the hose and lift your finger up and down like your foot on a pump.
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Use Fuel Pressure Tester With Bypass Valve
You can use the fuel tank Schrader valve to bypass the anti-siphon valve. The fuel Schrader valve is used for testing pressure. Not many cars have fuel line Schrader valves though, so this might not be an option.
If there is a Schrader valve, you will need to get a fuel pressure test kit with a bypass valve . Hook this up, put the bypass valve hose in a canister, start the car and then turn the bypass on. The fuel will flow into the canister.
You have to be able to turn the car on for this method to work. So, unless you also know how to jumpstart a modern car, this is only an option for siphoning fuel from your own vehicle.
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How Do I Bypass An Anti
Siphoning gas from a car with an anti-siphon device can be difficult, especially if you are trying to use the more traditional siphoning methods. To bypass the rollover valve when siphoning gas you just need to follow the steps we have shared in this article. You can bypass an anti-siphon device, but you will need a much narrower hose and a little more patience.
Knowing When To Drain The Tank
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Siphon Gas The Concept
As a kid, I learned the art and value of siphoning with a hose as a way to empty out our boats ice chest. Siphoning means you pull out the fluid from a container with your mouth by sucking it in. Once you feel it reaches your mouth, you need to expel it from your mouth and hope that you infused the hose with enough energy to begin a pumping situation. If you did it correctly, the fluid will pump from the source until air can intercept in between the fluid and the pump and the source of the fluid. It isnt a difficult concept to understand, but doing it is an entirely different story. Additionally, when it comes to siphoning gasoline, one must be aware of the safety risk involved with getting gasoline into your mouth.
Siphoning gasoline manually via your mouth is something that should only be done if you are desperate and unprepared. Below we will explain some easy ways to be prepped by adding things to your bug out bag essentials list, but you should still learn to do it manually.
Should You Siphon Gas From A Car
Weve just discussed a few situations that would call for siphoning fuel from a car. Are these reasons enough to do it? Is it safe to siphon gas from the gas tank? Actually, no, it is not safe. Especially if you do not know what youre doing. There are a couple of methods used to remove gas from the gas tank however, these methods are dangerous. Here is why siphoning gas from a car is a dangerous endeavor:
Important:
Distance Typically, when someone is siphoning gas from a gas tank, it is done in a state of emergency in an area where better help is not available. Thus, if anyone gets sick from trying to siphon gas from a gas tank, there is no immediate medical help available. If the process is not done right, there will be two emergencies instead of one.
Gas fumes The greatest danger comes from excessive inhalation of gas fumes. Whenever you deal with fuel, fumes are constantly emitting from the fuel. These fumes are harmful, even explosive, and can cause sickness and permanent damage to certain body organs. The inhalation of the fumes will cause dizziness or you may even faint. If enough of the fumes are inhaled, you could die from carbon monoxide poison.
Fire Gas is flammable and will ignite with a slight amount of flame or heat. Depending on the environment, the gas fumes could cause a fire. Since the fuel is highly flammable, cigarette smoke or other forms of open flame could ignite the fumes and cause a fatal fire.
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Using Two Tubes To Siphon Gas
In this method, two lengths of flexible rubber tubing are used to siphon gas into a fuel-safe container. A gas can works well as a fuel-safe container because it can be closed and wont allow the fuel vapors to escape.
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Warning: Gasoline vapors are explosive and hazardous to breathe.
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Tip: Use clear tubing to make it easier to monitor the flow of gas.
Materials Needed
- Air pump or small air compressor
- 6 to 12 feet of rubber tubing
- Rag or soft cloth material
Once you have the required materials, heres how its done:
Step 1: Connect the longer tube. Take two lengths of tubing – one longer than the other. Take the longer tube and connect one end to the gas tank and the other to the fuel container.
Step 2: Connect the shorter tube. Hold one end of the shorter tube in your hand while putting the other end in the fuel tank beside the longer tube.
Step 3: Seal the fuel filler neck. Find a rag or any other soft material to fill in the space around the tubes in the fuel filler neck and create a seal. This will help keep the pressure that was created by blowing air into the tank from escaping around the tubes.
Step 4: Blow air into the shorter hose. Force air into the free end of the shorter hose, either with a low pressure air pump, or by blowing air in with your mouth.
- Warning: Do not use a high pressure pump or the fuel may come out of the tank in large amounts and cause fuel tank and system damage.
The low pressure should push gas out of the other tube and into the container.
Out Of Gas In The Middle Of Nowhere
This is the most common reason people siphon gas out of another vehicle.
Maybe youre driving through a remote desert, hundreds of miles from any gas station.
Or perhaps youre rock crawling in the backcountry, and you run dry, sputtering to a stop on the side of the road.
What do you do? Well, wait
Wait for another car to come along, flag them down, and then politely ask to siphon.
Someone will be OK if you siphon off a small bit of their gas. Were talking just enough to get you to the next gas pump.
I know Id be OK with it in a survival circumstance like this. Id give them one hell of a hard time for not planning properly.
But I wouldnt leave them stranded.
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Siphoning Gas Using A Siphon Pump
The last method were going to discuss is using a siphon pump. Now, this is very different from the air pump we mentioned in the previous section a siphon pump is a special type of pump that is entirely dedicated to siphoning gas from a car.
As the saying goes, its better to have and not need it, and a siphon pump, like this one, should definitely be in your car emergency toolkit.
You can imagine that this method is definitely the easiest out of all the techniques weve discussed so far because the pump basically does all the work for you. However, this also makes it pretty shocking that very few people have one prepared in case of emergencies. So again, it relates back to the idea that most people never anticipate that theyre going to be in that kind of situation.
