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Mon 28 Jun, 2004 07:21 pm
I let my fuel run down to about the last 1/8 tank so I filled it up to the top this morning.
So I swiped my card and set the little catch on the nozzle and sat in my van for an excruciating wait while the fuel drizzled in (OK, so I'm impatient and it just seems like an eternity).
Well, the pump clicked off before the needle reached the top--hmm, that's weird. So I went out to squeeze the handle again.
It wouldn't pump any more. The LCD on the pump told me to replace the nozzle. The funny thing was that the pump shut off at exactly $50.
I had to swipe my card again to finish fueling the van.
For the first time in my life, I put in more than $50 on a fillup. Gas here is $1.81 regular today.
Now I'm wondering if they've always had that $50 cut-off, or if that's a new function initiated since gas went sky-high.
Also, considering that I'd swiped my credit card, why do they care about a $50 limit?
General Tsao
50 bucks? Yikes! Maybe you should have asked someone if there was a cutoff. But you're a guy, right?!
I read recently that you shouldn't "top it off" either, because the gas just flows back into storage, not your tank, so you're paying for gas you're not even getting!
the reincarnation of suzy wrote:I read recently that you shouldn't "top it off" either, because the gas just flows back into storage, not your tank, so you're paying for gas you're not even getting!
:O Nah! If you "top it off" you are likely to get liquid gasoline in the rebreather line from the engine to the gas tank and it'll screw up your emmission controls and on some cars, it'll run like crapola.
You get the gas but ya prolly don't really wantthe hassles.
But umm.. yeah, $50 eh? Mine doesn't take that much. Never gotten up that high.
No, but I did hear that on the news. I didn't get it either, but I wasn't paying close attention! I am always paranoid about spilling gasoline on myself or my car though.
One of our crews ran into a service station in Utah with a $75.00 limit. After that, you start over. After that you start over again. After that, it won't accept your card for the rest of the day. We really do have equipment with tanks that size, by the way.
I did a little search but I didn't find anything on limits. But I did find just one reference to what I had heard (or read, who remembers?). There were a lot of references citing exactly what Fishin did, as well as a couple of other interesting things.
"Topping off the gas tank can result in your paying for gasoline that is fed back into the station's tanks because your gas tank is full. The gas nozzle automatically clicks off when your gas tank is full. In areas of ozone nonattainment, gas station pumps are equipped with vapor recovery systems that feed back gas vapors into their tanks to prevent vapors from escaping into the air and contributing to air pollution. Any additional gas you try to pump into your tank may be drawn into the vapor line and fed back into the station's storage tanks".
http://www.epa.gov/donttopoff/
Do you live in Arizona?
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/gaspump/21365.php
This will crack you guys up!
http://www.zaxjax.com/filling_your_gas_tank.htm
Given what I've read on the side of a gas pump with a card reader, I think what happens is that when you swipe the card you are debitted 50$. If you don't have the 50$ they don't let your card work. Then when you are finished the pump calls back with the correct amount.
That's my theory, anyway...
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