When pumping gas, most stations around here (California) have a little latch you can push to dispense gas and let go of the handle.
… when you use that latch, does it pump slower? Is it supposed to?
I always feel like it does but figure it’s a reasonable question for here.
Thanks folks!
Hey, could you please edit your post to have the question in the title. See rule #1 for more information (:
The fuel nozzle is a completely mechanical implement - there’s nothing electronic about it, and the pump has no idea whether you are manipulating the trigger or using the hold-open.
Because it’s mechanical, however, the way the hold-open is designed needs to allow for further actuation of the trigger mechanism to free up the hold-open lever when your tank is full. Because of this, the highest setting on the hold-open is less than the full actuation of the trigger mechanism.
Here in Texas most of the gas pumps have two or three notches for the latch to go in, so the speed is adjustable. It seems to me like the highest setting is usually pretty close to just holding down the handle at full blast, minus a little bit of play in order to get the latch into and out of the notch.
That’s my experience as well. I’m in Alaska.
The latches that allow you to pump fuel hands-free usually have 2 settings and even the highest setting is not 100%. It seems like 80-90% of the max pump rate imo. So you’re right that it does pump slightly slower when using the hands-free latch.
The latches are sometimes stepped and might not hold the valve open all the way, so it’s possible it’s slower compared to holding it all the way open.
It shouldn’t. The latch just secures the handle in place so you don’t have to hold it down. As long as the latch presses the handle down as far as it can go there should be no difference.
The latch is just a mechanical mechanism that holds the pump lever in its fully depressed state. Unless the latch is worn and the mechanism is holding the lever at some percentage below its full level of travel, then there is no reason that the pump speed would be any different than if you were to hold the level manually.
They don’t pump slower. Here’s a video explaining how the handle works: https://youtu.be/fT2KhJ8W-Kg
There is no way that the pump can detect the use of the latch and slow down (and why should it anyway).
I’ve seen those same latches all across the US and I can certify that the gas usually flows slower when latched.
But it’s not because it’s designed to flow slower, but that the latch holds the tube open in a more closed position than when your hand is squeezing the handle.
This theory makes the most sense to me.
I feel that using the latch to hold the lever, closes the valve inside just slightly and causes a slower “pump”(just a guess). Side note, if someone else pumps gas on the other side of you at the same time, the gas flow pumps wayy faster, or at least I think it does from how the flow feels and sounds.
