Product Manual

Special Safety Information on Static Electricity

Accidents Involving Static Electricity

Static electricity and filling gasoline containers. Static electricity can initiate from ungrounded gasoline tanks or

containers, from flowing gasoline, and from persons carrying a static electric charge.

Static electricity on numerous occasions has explosively ignited gasoline vapors that were present during fueling

processes, resulting in serious burns to nearby persons. To avoid static electricity while fueling, certain steps

must be followed before and during the fueling process in order to minimize and safely dissipate static charge

build-up.

Filling Portable Containers at Service Stations:

Use a portable container to fill Hydraulic Power Pack tank. Never fill the Hydraulic Power Pack’s gasoline tank

directly from the service station’s fuel dispenser pump – the Hydraulic Power Pack’s tank is not grounded and

the high velocity flow of gasoline from a fuel pump can cause static electric build-up. Use an approved portable

container to transfer gasoline to the Hydraulic Power Pack’s tank.

Use a portable container made of metal or conductive plastic. It will dissipate charge to ground more readily.

Fill container on the ground. Never fill the portable gasoline container while it is sitting inside a vehicle, trailer, trunk,

or pick-up truck bed. ALWAYS place container on the ground to be filled.

Touch a grounded metal object before starting. Always dissipate static charge from your body before beginning the

fueling process by touching a grounded metal object that is a safe distance away from fuel sources.

Keep nozzle in contact with container. Keep fuel dispenser nozzle in contact with the portable container at all times

while filling at a service station. Do not use the nozzle lock-open device on the dispenser hose.

About static electricity and fueling

Many common objects can accumulate and retain a static electric charge. Objects made of non-conductive materials

(e.g., plastics) easily accumulate and retain static electric charge, as can objects made of conductive material

(e.g., metal, water) if they are not electrically grounded. The static electric charge on an object, such as a human

body or plastic fuel tank/container, can reach as high as several thousand volts!

A static electric spark can be generated if the static electric charge stored on an object “jumps” to another, less charged

object. Such a spark can ignite invisible gasoline vapors that are present during fueling situations.

Typical sources of static electric hazards during fueling

The following objects can accumulate a static electric charge and cause an ignition spark in typical fueling situations:

Ungrounded tanks/containers. Any ungrounded fuel tank or container can accumulate a static electric charge as a

result of contact with other objects or friction during transportation. This static electricity can discharge as a

spark to the grounded gasoline dispenser nozzle, as the nozzle is first brought close to the tank/container at the

beginning of the fueling process.

Flowing gasoline. Most people are not aware that gasoline accumulates static electric charge while flowing through a

hose or pipe. This charge then transfers to and accumulates in the gasoline tank or container that is being filled.

The total amount of charge accumulation depends on the amount of gasoline pumped into the container, the

speed with which it is pumped, and whether or not the tank/container is grounded. If sufficient static electric

charge accumulates in the fuel tank or container during the fueling process, the tank/container may discharge a

spark to the grounded gasoline dispenser nozzle.

Persons. A person dispensing the gasoline can carry a static electric charge on their body, typically resulting from

contact with their car seat or electronics. The static electricity can discharge as a spark between that person’s

hand and either the grounded dispenser nozzle or the fuel tank opening.