With the purchase of a Tesla, there’s sudden interest like a fuel nozzle understanding that the tank is full. And a couple of other interesting findings on the topic.
There used to be an awkward problem at gas stations. Customers didn’t know when their tank was full and gasoline often spilled over. Engineers came up with a genius solution.
Inside the fueling nozzle, there’s a thin tube that pulls air from the car’s tank into a special membrane chamber (if you look at the “nozzle,” there will be two holes) When you press the trigger, fuel flows until the tube is submerged in gasoline (which means a full tank) and the air flow stops.
This creates a vacuum, which pulls three little steel flaps into the center of the mechanism, instantly releasing the trigger and cutting off the fuel supply.
By the way, approaching the diaphragm valve in the channel there is a compartment with a small ball inside. If for some reason the fuel nozzle falls out of the tank, the ball will block the vacuum channel, provoking a sharp increase in vacuum – and triggering the process described above.
It also turned out that the diesel nozzle is larger in size so it cannot be mistakenly inserted into a gasoline tank. But the opposite mistake can happen. Although they could have invented a different design that would work both ways from the start.
When a tanker refills an underground reservoir, the valve automatically closes when the tank is nearly full, and the gasoline vapors are sucked back into the tanker through another hose, where it condenses back into liquid fuel.
And it also turned out that if you drive away with the hose still in your car, there will be no fireballs, spilled fuel, or toppled gas pump. The hose connecting the nozzle to the pump is designed to disconnect into two parts when a certain force is applied. Next time you are at the gas station, pay attention to the metal connector on the hose. That is the break point. When the hose disconnects and you drive away, the area of the hose breaks, built-in valves in the hose cut off the fuel, but, of course, the pump will not operate for some time until everything is put back to normal again. Interestingly, this risk is considered and damage is minimized.
Oh, and here’s something for those who haven’t driven in New Jersey. By law, it’s prohibited to refuel your own vehicle. At all gas stations, there are attendants who do it for you.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 