Tired and unemotional I stuck £20 of fuel in the Picasso late on Sunday night. A few miles down the road I noticed the gauge had hardly gone up at all - Even less that I expected with fuel at these astronomical prices [before anyone says it].
Just how common is it that a pump delivers a short measure? Any clues.
The station was deleted - just in case anyone else has a similar experience and wonders if it was the same place.
Please don't name and shame, regardless of whether you're right or wrong. DD
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Pumps are calibrated and checked on a regular basis (by National Weights and Measures Laboratory, www.nwml.gov.uk I think). So pumps are usually accurate or the garage would get into trouble.
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More likely to be a faulty Citreon component than a faulty measuring system on a petrol pump. If there was a faulty pump I'd expect it to over deliver rather than under deliver.
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Could indeed be a faulty Citroen component - but it has fixed itself so credit to citroen for inventing the self fixing gauge.
Sorry - DD. If it had been my intention to name and shame I would have said which station - thought by stating only the city and brand I would be sufficiently vague to escape a 'name and shame' suggestion. I live and hopefully learn.
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Could indeed be a faulty Citroen component - but it has fixed itself so credit to citroen for inventing the self fixing gauge.
If it's anything like the Berlingo van I use on occasion, (and I don't see why it shouldn't be as it's also a Citroen), the gauge in that reads what it likes, when it feels like it.
Sorry - DD. If it had been my intention to name and shame I would have said which station....
You did give out the area, as well as the brand of fuel. Although the street wasn't mentioned, it was enough info to narrow it down to only one of a small handful, IMHO.
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The accuracy of fuel pumps is one of the very few things I trust in this world.
Seen too many TSO's with burnished measuring vessels checking them out.
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Agree. A few garages in my part of London have been done by local Trading Standards over the years for dodgy metering.
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They are so accurate they give you exactly as much of a short measure is allowed by law.
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Sorry for any typos Im very long sited
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"Please don't name and shame, regardless of whether you're right or wrong."
unless, of course it's Citroen, in which case please free to say what you like,
"If it's anything like the Berlingo van I use on occasion, (and I don't see why it shouldn't be as it's also a Citroen), the gauge in that reads what it likes, when it feels like it."
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"enough info to narrow it down to only one of a small handful, IMHO."
The word "Citroen" certainly narrows it down to a "small handful " of car manufacturers
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Phil,
I'd have thought being around as long as you have, you would know what's acceptable and what isn't.
Anyway, a reminder:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=16...4
DD.
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I am almost certainly positive that trading standards no longer test pumps with their beautiful copper and brass measures; the reason given was that modern electronic pumps are so reliable that routine servicing by the manufacturer's service engineer is sufficient!!?
I haven't seen these measures in use (in my area) for some considerable time, a couple of years at least; I guess they are all adorning some trading standards officer's shelves by now
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I have absolutely no qualms about getting a genuine litre of duel at a petrol station.
I also take advantage of the people who fail to empty the fuel pipe completely because they leave a loop whilst the fuel is being delivered.
What's left in the pipe might well take me three or four miles further...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Slightly off topic, if we fill up to value i.e. £10 worth rather than a number of litres, do we lose or gain by it?
The pump display will register £10 for a certain quantity of fuel passing through before it clicks on to £10.01, so if one releases trigger just before this point one gains a little free fuel. Obviously this can also happen when filling by volume but can one gain most 'free' fuel through filling by volume of value?
I apologise for burdening backroomers with an apparently trivial query; however I guess that over a year there will be a significant amount of fuel gained, besides I can't watch telly tonight because I can no longer afford the licence fee and I've just had the 'Dear Occupier 'letter
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should have been...volume or value...
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I also take advantage of the people who fail to empty the fuel pipe completely because they leave a loop whilst the fuel is being delivered. What's left in the pipe might well take me three or four miles further...:-) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
As I understand it, the whole hose is pressurized with fuel and valved off in the handle. Therefore you only get for free what is in the nozzle, i.e. a few drips, rather than the contents of the hose.
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Looks like my fears of being ripped off were unfounded - Good I'd prefer to be wrong than ripped off even more than the law demands.
If fuel pumps deliver exactly a litre when you buy a litre I think we ought to turn our attentions to getting them to dispense beer at pubs.
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'As I understand it, the whole hose is pressurized with fuel and valved off in the handle. Therefore you only get for free what is in the nozzle, i.e. a few drips, rather than the contents of the hose.'
No,the trigger operates the pump,it does not close the end of the hose.I always lift the hose,apart from the extra fuel it avoids the danger of it spilling onto your feet.
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'As I understand it, the whole hose is pressurized with fuel and valved off in the handle. Therefore you only get for free what is in the nozzle, i.e. a few drips, rather than the contents of the hose.' No,the trigger operates the pump,it does not close the end of the hose.I always lift the hose,apart from the extra fuel it avoids the danger of it spilling onto your feet.
So perhaps I did get a short measure - I filled up after you had left the hose empty and then left a full hose for the next person!!!
;-))
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No,the trigger operates the pump,it does not close the end of the hose.I always lift the hose,apart from the extra fuel it avoids the danger of it spilling onto your feet.
This discussion has cropped up before. The fuel is shut off at the nozzle and the pipe remains full of fuel.
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Well I always get quite a bit if the person in front of me has not lifted the hose up whilst the fuel is being put into the tank.
I just lift the hose up and let what's remaining go into my tank...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I don't think it's fiddling the motorist that's the big issue for 'the authorities', it's fiddling HM Customs & Excise, which is still practically a capital offence.
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I've had the opposite happen.
Went to fill my bike up at the local supermarket.
Because the tank is small I don't fill it at full blast.
Was looking at the digital readout & noticed it stopped incrementing at slow fill rates even though it was still dispensing fuel.
I returned to the same pump later with the car & some cans & got very good value for money, probably worked out to 1950's petrol prices. Needless to say they had fixed it when I went back a few weeks later.
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"I am almost certainly positive that trading standards no longer test pumps with their beautiful copper and brass measures;"
Last saw one about three years ago I think.
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Don't know if 'Weights and Measures' are still on the go nowadays but I can well remember them turning up at my father's filling station in the 1950s/60s with their little flasks. I've a feeling they also withdrew some fuel straight from the underground tank for testing (presumably for water / dirt in fuel)
In those days pumps were a bit different. Our old Avery Hardols had a little flap in the front that you could move aside to reveal a socket for inserting a handle. If the power failed you could crank out the petrol by hand!
At the top of the hose there was a sight glass and I'm almost certain a little notice advising the user not to use the pump if the sight glass was not full.
Petrol was a couple of shillings a gallon. No unleaded, but Shell,Super Shell or Shell Economy.
The pumps had fine glass globes on the top which were illuminated at night. I can well remember one of them blowing off in a fierce gale and smashing all over the forecourt! The light bulb, however, was left intact on the top of the pump.
(Sorry to run off-topic - sudden burst of nostalgia!)
Graeme
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Remembering those lovely old pumps, I was always amazed by how much petrol they held, knowing nothing of underground tanks at that young age...
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