I have been assigned the project of updating my department's emergency plan. It will be quite a bit of work, but should be fun. But one problem I have encountered already: How do we keep our cars running in a power failure? We have an emergency gas supply at a nearby fire station, and it can be hand pumped if necessary, but our station is on the other side of a major freeway from the fire house. If we loose a couple of overpasses, our jurisdiction is cut in half. And this is earthquake country. Does anyone here know of a pump that can be put down into the underground tanks at a gas station to keep our fleet moving?

You could always look into an emergency generator that's dedicated to keeping the pumps running in the case of a power outage I suppose. The fuel supply for the generator is right there on hand. If you run out of fuel to pump, then it won't matter if the generator can't be refueled. It's kinda cyclical and all (pardon the pun). <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I might be misunderstanding the problem.

I thought of that, but it would require pre-wiring or someone knowledgable to make it work at the time. Their talents might be needed elsewhere. What I would really like is a pump and long hose that could work off of a car battery. Pull up to any gas station, pull the tank cover, cut the lock, drop in the hose, and fuel the vehicle.

And I liked your pun. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Oh... Wait... I was thinking "Station" in terms of a gas station... Duh... Ignore my last post.

Do a Google search for +“Rotary Hand Pump” +Gasoline (use the quotation marks and plus signs).

You can fit any length of hose into the inlet, just make sure you get a filter for it so it doesn’t suck the sludge out of the bottom of the fuel tanks you’re pumping the gas from.

And if you’re going to drop the inlet hose into an open fuel tank, make sure you can get far enough away while you’re cranking so that you’re not sucking the fumes into your lungs at the same time.

They also have electric pumps that will work off of the juice from car batteries…

+"Rotary hand Pump" +Chemical

or

"Piston hand pump"

Any of those should get you a good number to look at.

I wish I could remember the brand we had at the machine shop my father ran. It worked well, and even had a meter. LOL

And don't forget the wrench to get into the tank's inlet.
I'm assuming they still use them... Ours had one... I don't know... LOL

I think accessing underground gasoline tanks with a portable pump is a dangerous game. If it's diesel, things would be safer.

I think what you'd want is something like this but 12v. I'm not sure you're going to find it.

Northern Tool has a few 12v pumps, mostly for diesel, but some for gasoline as well. They're all meant for above ground tanks or drums, but they might have enough lift for an underground tank if you could extend the inlet tubes. There was a news story months ago about some thieves using a truck with a cutout bottom to pump gasoline out of tanks.

f you're only really interested in one (or three) particular fuel stations, it's probably easiest to find some funds and install a transfer switch and fittings at the stations and have a portable generator stashed.

For something like that, try an agricultural supply house. When I used to work on a farm in high school, we had one that you clamped it onto the tractors' battery to pump, but it was a fixed install. You might be able to find one that is mobile.

Other than that, a siphon pump with a hand crank. :P

Anyone know how long your inlet hose will need to be to reach the gas? Is there a minimum burial depth? I ask because if I remember correctly the height a hand-powered pump can draw up a liquid is somewhat limited. You might want to try it out in real life before basing your plans on this process. A gas-powered pump would work to much deeper depths but then you have other potential problems (boom).

I think I once saw a water-powered pump (don't laugh). You hooked a garden hose to it and this powered the main pump rotor. That might be an option.

-Blast

Next time you're driving by a construction site, stop and ask the foreman if they've got a pick-up with a fuel tank on back... most contractors have at least one truck set up with a tank behind the cab to refuel the heavy machinery, some carry double tanks, both gas and diesel. The pump wires direct to the battery using 'gator clips on the end of a 12 ft lead... attach the clips, hit the switch, squeeze the handle, and you're refueling. I've done this hundreds of times, dut never looked for a name on the pump... I'm sure that a contractor would be more than willing to take five minutes out of his day to help a firefighter get a name off a label off a piece of his equipment. Good luck <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Troy

Thank you all! I am off to investigate. I will post my eventual findings and results, as others may benefit here.

I'm not laughing, I'm designing. (Yes, I have too much free time on my hands.) Running water is one of the most powerful things known to man.

Heck, if it can be run off water, the basic design could be modified so that it uses high pressure air. Like you'd get on an air bottle refill station.

Update: Found some air powered ones.
http://www.barnant.com/products.php?product=18
http://www.techsavvy.com/industry/file/n...p;base_region=* (scroll to the end)

And Northern Tool has everthing under the sun. Electical and air, and I didn't look far enough, but I wouldn't be suprised if they had hand pumped.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/s...matchallpartial

How about fixing up your vehicle with a built in pump, 12v wired with switch & suction hose? You could stop at any source of gas, put in the hose & suck up all that your tank will hold!

My original idea was something portable, since we would need to keep a fleet of about a dozen vehicles running in an emergency (which might just be a long-term power failure). We might also be providing fuel for our local ambulances, generators, chain saws, etc. But you all have given me lots of information to research. Thank you. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Blast most convenience store/gas station tanks in SC are somewhere in the neighbor hood of 10 feet in diameter. They are usually designed to hold between 10,000 and 15,000 depending on available space.

Then add in that most tanks are buried at least 6 to 10 feet underground in SC due to environmental regulation.

If you add this up you may need a hose or pipe in the range of 20 to 30 feet long. Plus you will need a pump that can pull the fuel, don't know of anyone that could mouth-siphon from that deep. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

So you need both gas and deisel? Or are your trucks on unleaded?

When I went looking, as you've probaby already seen, there are a lot of options for deisel that aren't there for gas. Like the 70 gallon bladders that go in a false bottom of a pickup bed. Now that is enough to get out of dodge a few times.