Brimming the tank

DaveyDave

I recently started doing this when filling up the last few times and was wondering how many people do it. Once the pump clicks I take it out slightly and let it fill up slowly, let the diesel go down and repeat. It's a bit of a slow process though. It's a 53 litre tank and I put just over 53 in today, previously doing 51 and 52. I fill up once the fuel light comes on.

I've read that in the Summer the heat causes fuel to expand, not sure if it applies to both diesel and petrol, but it's getting a lot cooler now so I don't think this should be an issue?

I've never seen diesel at the top of the tank mainly because I run out of patience. Is it safe to keep going until you can see the diesel but still be safe to close the fuel cap?

I've also been reading about an expansion tank and something to do with pressing a valve, I'm not going to do this though.

I'm slightly annoyed because putting more fuel in means my previous fill ups have been inaccurate :P

Effects

What's the point of wasting time doing this?

DaveyDave

DaveyDave wrote: »

................ Once the pump clicks..................

I'm slightly annoyed because putting more fuel in means my previous fill ups have been inaccurate :P

The pump would have clicked at approximately the same level.
Over a number of fills any inaccuracy averages out.

DaveyDave

Effects wrote: »

What's the point of wasting time doing this?

I wouldn't really consider it wasting time as diesel is going in the tank, it means I get to drive around a bit more with the extra two litres or so. I spent more time waiting for the guy who wasn't getting fuel to move away from the pump as they were all occupied...

Also if you're getting a deal like a fuel card with 4 cent off per litre, it's best to get as much as possible

C0N0R

On any Volkswagen I've had there is a small pipe to the left hand side of the filler neck, if you push it you will hear air escape then you can throw a few more litres in.

omagh776

DaveyDave wrote: »

I wouldn't really consider it wasting time as diesel is going in the tank, it means I get to drive around a bit more with the extra two litres or so. I spent more time waiting for the guy who wasn't getting fuel to move away from the pump as they were all occupied...

Also if you're getting a deal like a fuel card with 4 cent off per litre, it's best to get as much as possible

Seems a bit stupid to risk fuel splashing out onto you or the ground for the sake of 8 cents

You could just put it in the car next time without the risk.

DaveyDave

omagh776 wrote: »

Seems a bit stupid to risk fuel splashing out onto you or the ground for the sake of 8 cents

You could just put it in the car next time without the risk.

I'm hardly going to have it spilling out all over the ground and wasting it. There's no risk either, it's not like I'm lighting a fag while doing it.

I thought this was the motors forum and we could discuss brimming the tank. Apparently 2-3 litres of diesel is a waste of time and filling it past the click is a stupid risk...

mloc123

DaveyDave wrote: »

I'm hardly going to have it spilling out all over the ground and wasting it. There's no risk either, it's not like I'm lighting a fag while doing it.

I thought this was the motors forum and we could discuss brimming the tank. Apparently 2-3 litres of diesel is a waste of time and filling it past the click is a stupid risk...

I guess people don't see the point... I don't. So you get 2-3 litres extra in, means you get another 30 miles before needing to refill.

Lets say you fill your tank every 2 weeks, 26 times a year... you will save one visit to the petrol station over 12 months by brimming it every time. I dunno, I doubt I will look back on my life in 30 years and think "I wish I saved that one 10 minute trip to the petrol station once a year".

DaveyDave

mloc123 wrote: »

I guess people don't see the point... I don't. So you get 2-3 litres extra in, means you get another 30 miles before needing to refill.

Lets say you fill your tank every 2 weeks, 26 times a year... you will save one visit to the petrol station over 12 months by brimming it every time. I dunno, I doubt I will look back on my life in 30 years and think "I wish I saved that one 10 minute trip to the petrol station once a year".

I get it's not for everyone I just like to make the most of my trip to the garage and wanted to know how far it could be filled.

It takes quite awhile to fill a tank anyway so I don't mind spending the extra minute whereas most people throwing in 20 or 50 quid in would be long gone.

If the station is busy I wouldn't spend the extra time and I'd get out as quick as possible. I normally fill up at 2am when nobody is around so no harm to anyone.

Dr_Kolossus

Wondering does it actually cost you time. If you are spending a extra minute or two doing this each visit,l. Would one extra visit per year be quicker ?

sKeith

Depending on what you are driving, you could probably fit about 8 20L Jerry cans in your boot, that'd give you and extra ~160L capacity and definitely make the most of each trip to the garage.

Gravelly

The best thing about boards is that it reassures me that, compared to many other people, I'm not wasting my life

bladespin

This kind of thinking explains a lot of the spills, great that you're figures are accurate, not so great risking someone's life for the sake of a decimal place.

omagh776

DaveyDave wrote: »

I'm hardly going to have it spilling out all over the ground and wasting it. There's no risk either, it's not like I'm lighting a fag while doing it.

I thought this was the motors forum and we could discuss brimming the tank. Apparently 2-3 litres of diesel is a waste of time and filling it past the click is a stupid risk...

No fire risk, I just don't like getting Diesel on my skin/clothes and getting it on the floor of the forecourt is just bad manners for the next person (also slipping on that sh*t in a pair of trainers is easy enough, some stations are so bad you end up with a stink of diesel in the car from your shoes)

+ for the sake of a few cents spending more time trying to fit more fuel in it doesn't seem worth it.

blackbird99

80 liters of diesel is close to carrying 3 bags of cement arround in the car.hardly the most economical way of driving.

SBPhoto

I would be more worried that you don't fill till the fuel light comes on.

mloc123

SBPhoto wrote: »

I would be more worried that you don't fill till the fuel light comes on.

Why? That is 50 mile range for most cars..

Doltanian

mloc123 wrote: »

Why? That is 50 mile range for most cars..

Yes and suck in all the ****e and gunge at the bottom of your tank, ideally you shouldn't let your tank go below quarter full.

mloc123

Doltanian wrote: »

Yes and suck in all the ****e and gunge at the bottom of your tank, ideally you shouldn't let your tank go below quarter full.

Hmm... Car manufacturers should come up with some solution to prevent this. A filter of some sort... A fuel filter if you will.

I know that fuel pumps are more likely to fail if driven on almost empty constantly but I can't see the issue with refilling when the light comes on.

Pac1Man

There really are all kinds out there.

Doltanian

mloc123 wrote: »

Hmm... Car manufacturers should come up with some solution to prevent this. A filter of some sort... A fuel filter if you will.

I know that fuel pumps are more likely to fail if driven on almost empty constantly but I can't see the issue with refilling when the light comes on.

And fuel filters get blocked

bladespin

Doltanian wrote:

And fuel filters get blocked

Rarely, but are a service item anyway

rameire

i do it because it then means i will definitely get 4 days of driving with a bit on the side. and i like to go to the same station, so it works perfectly for me.

Doltanian

Doltanian wrote: »

Yes and suck in all the ****e and gunge at the bottom of your tank, ideally you shouldn't let your tank go below quarter full.

My fuel light comes on with 50km left, I generally don't fill up until I'm at least down to 0km to next fuel stop on occasion ive driven as much as 30km past this as I know there is enough in the reserve for this. If I spend time filling the tank I will get the full use out of it, it's two days more driving to/from work from every fill by running it right down.

Never had a problem with anything fuel related in any car doing similar so I think there is a fair degree of myth about it being an issue.

joujoujou

Doltanian wrote: »

Yes and suck in all the ****e and gunge at the bottom of your tank, ideally you shouldn't let your tank go below quarter full.

Urban myth.

Fuel pump always gets fuel off the bottom of the tank, regardless of fuel level.

omagh776

joujoujou wrote: »

Urban myth.

Fuel pump always gets fuel off the bottom of the tank, regardless of fuel level.

The only risk really is if you have a Diesel and your car doesn't have a vacuum pump (manual or otherwise) you are completely screwed.

E.G. Volvo V50 and a few others, no effing way you'll be able to start it without a lot of farting around

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdoE6-QmAoo

Tommyboy40

I've an 80L tank and I always fill it with petrol when it's 3/4 empty. I never see the point of half filling it, I don't want to spend my life in filling stations. I fill until it clicks, no more.

Toyotafanboi

joujoujou wrote: »

Urban myth.

Fuel pump always gets fuel off the bottom of the tank, regardless of fuel level.

Indeed.

I also don't really know where the mythical gunge comes from. Petrol from a sealed ocean tanker, to a sealed storage unit, to a sealed road tanker, to a sealed underground tank, to your sealed fuel tank.

Whenever I'm buying petrol in smaller containers where it's possible to see the fuel, for DIY/ gardening purposes, I've never seen the petrol to be anything other than perfectly clear and gunge free.

For what it's worth I always brim my tank until I can see fuel coming up the filler neck, previously i'd often have to fill up 2-3 times a week so I'd want the potential to go as far as possible on one tank, even if the difference is negligible, that and I like to end it on an even €x.00 figure with no odd change.

Theboinkmaster

DaveyDave wrote: »

I recently started doing this when filling up the last few times and was wondering how many people do it. Once the pump clicks I take it out slightly and let it fill up slowly, let the diesel go down and repeat. It's a bit of a slow process though. It's a 53 litre tank and I put just over 53 in today, previously doing 51 and 52. I fill up once the fuel light comes on.

I've read that in the Summer the heat causes fuel to expand, not sure if it applies to both diesel and petrol, but it's getting a lot cooler now so I don't think this should be an issue?

I've never seen diesel at the top of the tank mainly because I run out of patience. Is it safe to keep going until you can see the diesel but still be safe to close the fuel cap?

I've also been reading about an expansion tank and something to do with pressing a valve, I'm not going to do this though.

I'm slightly annoyed because putting more fuel in means my previous fill ups have been inaccurate :P

What an absolute waste of time and poor efficiency. Let it fill up slowly?!

Plus you're spending more on fuel as the fuller tank you have the more fuel you'll use to move the car. I mean what the fvck

Mint Sauce

Fill her to the click from red. Then keep going (slowly to avoid the splash back) to the next rounded litre.

Toyotafanboi

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

What an absolute waste of time and poor efficiency. Let it fill up slowly?!

Plus you're spending more on fuel as the fuller tank you have the more fuel you'll use to move the car. I mean what the fvck

Brimming the tank is far more economical than throwing in €10's and €20's here and there.

sKeith

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Brimming the tank is far more economical than throwing in €10's and €20's here and there.

Can you explain how you got there? Thoughts to the contrary below.


Driving between red light and led light + €20 fuel is more economical, but you need to go to garage more often.

You burn fuel to transport fuel. The less fuel you have onboard, the less fuel you burn. even if that difference is just a tiny percentage, it is still additional burning.

sKeith

I generally fill to the first click and then top up to the next full euro. I can't stand buying 68.67 of petrol I have to get to 69. That's OCD for you.

sKeith wrote: »

Can you explain how you got there? Thoughts to the contrary below.


Driving between red light and led light + €20 fuel is more economical, but you need to go to garage more often.

You burn fuel to transport fuel. The less fuel you have onboard, the less fuel you burn. even if that difference is just a tiny percentage, it is still additional burning.

You also burn fuel driving to the station, burn fuel doing an additional accelerate out of the station, you probably buy a bar of chocolate and regardless of anything filling petrol is a pain in the hole and the aim should be to do it as little as possible. On top of that the addatioanl fuel burned from a full tank is very negligible.

bladespin

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Brimming the tank is far more economical than throwing in €10's and €20's here and there.

Not disagreeing but really struggling to work that one out, especially considering the weight of the fuel.

Toyotafanboi

sKeith wrote: »

You burn fuel to transport fuel. The less fuel you have onboard, the less fuel you burn. even if that difference is just a tiny percentage, it is still additional burning.

Because if a full tank holds say 50l and the light comes on with 5l remaining, I can do 45l worth of driving without pausing. And all I've had to do is carry the additional weight at initiation of say, a child in the car or an additional <5% of an average cars weight which will decrease as I go.

Whereas if I am putting €10's I will have to drive out of my way to a fuel station 7x times to do 45l worth of driving.

Now I genuinely havn't done the maths re: the economy's of it, but unless you have a petrol station next door to your house it will cost more in fuel to drive there 7 times to add a tenner of fuel than it will to carry figuratively a child(s equivelant weight) in the passenger seat for the duration of a tank of fuel.

bladespin

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Now I genuinely havn't done the maths re: the economy's of it, but unless you have a petrol station next door to your house it will cost more in fuel to drive there 7 times to add a tenner of fuel than it will to carry figuratively a child(s equivelant weight) in the passenger seat for the duration of a tank of fuel.

I doubt most specifically travel to a petrol station, so wouldn't really count the distance to one as part of the cost, I always stop at whatever one suits best.

Pussyhands

blackbird99 wrote: »

80 liters of diesel is close to carrying 3 bags of cement arround in the car.hardly the most economical way of driving.

Petrol has a density of .77 kg/l

That means you're carrying weight of 61kg.

A passat weighs around 1400kg.

So you're pulling 4% of the car extra.

Considering most people would fill probably 40 litres anyways, you're only pulling 2% extra.

joujoujou

bladespin wrote: »

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Brimming the tank is far more economical than throwing in €10's and €20's here and there.

Not disagreeing but really struggling to work that one out, especially considering the weight of the fuel.

Any visit in petrol station is a waste of time. And time is money.

Getting fuel is obviously inevitable, so some may consider it not a waste of time, but the fact is that topping up 50 litres in one go takes significantly less time than 5x10 litres!

alias no.9

DaveyDave wrote: »

I'm hardly going to have it spilling out all over the ground and wasting it. There's no risk either, it's not like I'm lighting a fag while doing it.

I thought this was the motors forum and we could discuss brimming the tank. Apparently 2-3 litres of diesel is a waste of time and filling it past the click is a stupid risk...

From experience as a forecourt attendant back when forecourts had attendants, diesel can foam a little when filling and if you're tank is not venting correctly, it can gurgle and blowback.

Tommyboy40

Around the city my car does 15L/100km, putting €20 in is a waste of time

tossy

Doltanian wrote: »

Yes and suck in all the ****e and gunge at the bottom of your tank, ideally you shouldn't let your tank go below quarter full.

Here 1988 called and want their motoring tips back, do you keep a matchbox in the glove box for sanding down the points ?

Mc Love

On my car fuel flap it says to only click twice and then wait 10 secs before lifting the hose out.

sKeith

Mc Love wrote: »

On my car fuel flap it says to only click twice and then wait 10 secs before lifting the hose out.

any more than twice would be considered playing with it.

NewApproach

DaveyDave wrote: »

I wouldn't really consider it wasting time as diesel is going in the tank, it means I get to drive around a bit more with the extra two litres or so. I spent more time waiting for the guy who wasn't getting fuel to move away from the pump as they were all occupied...

Also if you're getting a deal like a fuel card with 4 cent off per litre, it's best to get as much as possible

So you save 8 cent? You sound like fun.

DaveyDave

NewApproach wrote: »

So you save 8 cent? You sound like fun.

I make the most of a trip to the petrol station suddenly you know my life story. Why get personal about it? The amount of people on Boards who are like "oh wow you're fun" but are you really any different talking ****e and judging someone on a forum? :rolleyes:

Theboinkmaster

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Brimming the tank is far more economical than throwing in €10's and €20's here and there.

Who said anything about filling up €10 at a time

I fill up to max each time, about €80. What he is going is complete an utter waste of time IMO and he's losing money with the additional weight in the car versus if he's stopped at the first click.

DaveyDave

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

Who said anything about filling up €10 at a time

I fill up to max each time, about €80. What he is going is complete an utter waste of time IMO and he's losing money with the additional weight in the car versus if he's stopped at the first click.

How is spending an extra minute filling the tank a waste of time compared to the people who put €20 in every week, if I went every week or two it would be at least a 15 minute trip twice a month Vs once a month. Yet nobody has an issue with that. I don't understand why people on here care so much about someone brimming a tank. So what if they spend an extra minute or two, it's no skin off your back?

I'd be more annoyed by the people on their phone or the women messing around with their handbag's for ages before they leave the pump.

And if an extra litre of fuel is so bad weight wise you might want to hold off having any big dinners

mikeecho

DaveyDave wrote: »

How is spending an extra minute filling the tank a waste of time compared to the people who put €20 in every week, if I went every week or two it would be at least a 15 minute trip twice a month Vs once a month. Yet nobody has an issue with that. I don't understand why people on here care so much about someone brimming a tank. So what if they spend an extra minute or two, it's no skin off your back?

I'd be more annoyed by the people on their phone or the women messing around with their handbag's for ages before they leave the pump.

And if an extra litre of fuel is so bad weight wise you might want to hold off having any big dinners

Some of use fill (brim) on a weekly or two weekly basis.

If we were to just put in €20 or €30 at a time, we'd be going to the petrol station every day.

Having said that... I fill every 2 or 3 weeks. And I'll brinm it each time, no matter what car I'm driving.
Going to a petrol station, and having to wait for a free pump, then having to wait in line, is a waste of my time.

Brim it each and every time.

Its not like it's not going to be used.

conzy

I did this recently but against my will.. The petrol pumps in Applegreen in Paulstown are painfully slow. About 10 seconds per litre it seems... I typically fill the car when the light comes on and consistently get about 39 litres into it (45 litre tank) but on this occasion I got the full 45 litres into it. At first I actually thought they had fiddled with their pumps and they were under reading.
Ended up back there again a few weeks later and same thing. Got about 44 litres into it. I realised that during the painfully slow refuelling air has longer to escape the system and thats why I get more fuel in. It is absolutely painful though. I would rather get 39 litres in 60 seconds than 45 litres in 6 minutes

Truckermal

My truck takes 1400 litres of diesel and you still see a few dopes trying to squeeze in the last few litres while it spills out the tank on the far side destroying the yard with diesel...

tossy

Truckermal wrote: »

My truck takes 1400 litres of diesel and you still see a few dopes trying to squeeze in the last few litres while it spills out the tank on the far side destroying the yard with diesel...

I remember being a young lad working in a small little petrol station, we had 3 petrol pumps and one diesel pump, if you went to the diesel pump 3 times a day it was a busy day and mostly just 20 pound fills. I remember a truck pulled in one day looking to fill up, i had to dip the diesel tank in the ground to make sure we had enough - the actual pump only went to 99 pound before it needed to be reset - what an exciting day lol