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Inaccuracies at the Pump

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by DaveinOlyWA, May 18, 2004.

  1. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    Today (5-18) there was a segment on KING 5 news detailing inaccuracies of gas pumps in the state of WA. In 2003 11% were found to not be dispensing the amount of gas they claimed to be. Although some were in favor of the customer, most of the time it was the gas station that was favored. This problem stems from the fact that the entire state has only 9 people working for the department of weights and measures in the gas department.

    Officials estimated that if only 5 % of the pumps were in favor of the gas station, that would still amount to 800,000 gallons of gas paid for but not received. So the next time you think the Prius fuel monitoring system isnt working right, maybe you should consider looking at other areas for discrepancies.
     
  2. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Thank you Dave for the info on this news piece! Did they happen to say how 'off' the pumps were on average? One in Ten gas pumps is an extremely large figure, IMHO. I'm sure it's probably worse in DC, which is known to be a fairly corrupt city.

    -m.
     
  3. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    I'd like to know if any of the measuring devices used by any of the states would be willing to sell those to the public - I know I'd gladly use it with each and every tank I fill up, and check all the stations I could. :)
     
  4. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    The device they used when I worked at my dad's service station was pretty low-tech. Simply a 5-gallon fuel can with a calibrated neck that was about 6 inches tall and about 3-inches in diameter. After calibration, the fuel was simply dumped back into the supply tank.

    You should be able to see the date the pump was checked on a sticker visible on every pump. The pumping mechanism is sealed and doesn't offer much opportunity for tinkering by the station's owner.
     
  5. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    After searching around on the internet last night regarding this, I kind of figured it was something along the lines of KISS - ie, Keep it simple stupid. :)

    I did find that in the state of Virginia, there are "Public Weighmasters", much along the lines of a Public Notary - from what it sounds like (and I could be mistaken), you just need to prove you have 'accurate' measuring devices, pay $10 a year and pay for your stamper that has your name and the state seal on it - and you're then a Public Weighmaster for the state. I'm definately going to check into it more, but if this is the case, it's something I'd gladly join up to do.

    -m.
     
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    well the measuring device they used was a very large vehicle mounted apparatus from what i could see on the tv. also they stated that the cause of the inaccuracies at the pump was nearly always mechanical failure so it wasnt a question of cheating gas station owners.

    The only thing they said about the degree of inaccuracy is that if 5% were in the favor of the gas station owner then that would amount to 800,000 gallons of fuel paid for but not received. so considering the amount of pumps in the state (they didnt say but i would imagine that there are several) and how often they are used, i would say that the amount of inaccuracy wouldnt be more than a quarter on an average fillup.

    as for the Virginia solution, that sounds about as straight as a construction site inspector in Manhattan. i can see that inaccurate pumps are hardly ever reported there.

    but the real problem was the 9 inspectors for the entire state. in fact in any given year less than 25 % of the pumps are inspected. with those stats i would suspect in rural out of the way places, they may go years with inspection since the average would be over 3 years for mainstream areas. i will be checking the dates on the inspection stickers thou. and maybe we should start a thread on oldest inspection sticker found...
     
  7. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Some more studies recently around the country:

    Florida: http://www.wtev.com/news/reports/story.asp...D7-E58962CEAED0

    Arizona: http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/21365.php

    Both seemed to show "more than expected" discrepancies, but the measurements are somewhat small (tablespoon lost per gallon, or shot glass per 5 gallons) - still, it's a disturbing trend of too few workers checking out the pumps, and too few gas stations having regular maintence on their pumps. So, roughly estimating, of the pumps that come up short, you'd lose .1 to .2 gallons per 11 gallon purchase. Doesn't sound like much, but it's definately enough to throw off hand calculated mpgs.

    -m.

    EDIT: In the worst case scenario case in AZ, they said the pump was 15 times the allowed limit (the above mentioned .1 gal per 11 gallons) - this would mean you'd be shorted 1.5 gallons (or, actual fill of 9.5 and displayed fill of 11) FYI.
     
  8. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    great articles rflagg...

    ya when i saw the news program about the short pumps i figured that WA St wasnt unique. they seem to be just about in the same boat as everyone else.