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The Mysterious Forecourt Penny

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Suvvey:

--- Quote from: mike142sl on December 31, 2008, 11:25:32 ---Some time ago we were discussing the mysterious penny that can be added to your bill after you have filled up at the pump, especially when you have been really carefull to put a specific amount in like £20. Well I have been speaking to someone who used to work on the pumps that petrol stations use and he told me
--- Quote ---There is a sensor about half way up the nozzle that guages how much fuel passes over it and into your car, and thus how much you have used. when you have hit your nice round £20, YOU NEED TO SHAKE THE NOZZLE OUT into your car - because there are always a few drops left in the nozzle tip. so if you dont shake it out and just lift the nozzle straight back to the pump, then these drips go back down the nozzle, over the sensor and it reads it and adds a couple of pence on.

and before you ask, no they cannot have sensors that only read one way as there is not supposed to be anything travelling up the other way, anyhow.
--- End quote ---
Seems to make sense as I always tip the pump handle before replacing it and have never had the mysterious penny added.

Just though you might be interested.

--- End quote ---

I'm sorry but your friend was either taking the preverbial or is full of bull excrement  [-X

I used to manage a few service stations and between the 6 of them we managed to cover most of the popular makes of pump. No nozzle I ever saw or have heard of since has any metering sensor in it. They all just screw into the pipe with a 'break-away' union and no wires are present. The only sensor in the nozzle is the overfill cut off and is usually in the smaller tube at the top of the larger dispensing tube. This is a mechanical device that cuts the fuel off at the nozzle.

All the metering is done at the pump end. The 'Mysterious Forecourt Penny' is actually just the pump rounding up what you have actually had. For instance if you actually had used £20.006 (point six of a pence over £20) it will round it up to £20.01 when you replace the nozzle in it's cradle telling it that you have finished. The meters on these pumps are extremely accurate (far more accurate than the display) as they have to account for many thousands of litres of fuel a day all dispensed in relatively small amounts. If you were not charged that penny everyone would try to get that extra .9p :roll:

Also with the cost of fuel nowadays (yes I know it has gone down a bit) that .6 of a pence comes around far quicker than it used to :evil:

There does seem to be some kind of myth that you can get the fuel out of the pipe after you release the trigger as I have watched hundreds of eejits carefully lifting the hose at one end and working it up to the nozzle :doh:

However there is some truth in your friends theory. There does tend to be some remnants left in the nozzle spout itself so a good shake before removing will save you a penny or 2 and splashing fuel all over your shoes. There have been cases of guys going around closed stations at night by bike and emptying the dregs into a can. If you cover enough stations you could well fill a 5lt can in a night or 2 ;)

diggerdog36:

--- Quote from: Suvvey on January 25, 2009, 20:34:42 ---No nozzle I ever saw or have heard of since has any metering sensor in it. They all just screw into the pipe with a 'break-away' union and no wires are present. The only sensor in the nozzle is the overfill cut off and is usually in the smaller tube at the top of the larger dispensing tube. This is a mechanical device that cuts the fuel off at the nozzle.

All the metering is done at the pump end. The 'Mysterious Forecourt Penny' is actually just the pump rounding up what you have actually had. For instance if you actually had used £20.006 (point six of a pence over £20) it will round it up to £20.01 when you replace the nozzle in it's cradle telling it that you have finished. The meters on these pumps are extremely accurate (far more accurate than the display) as they have to account for many thousands of litres of fuel a day all dispensed in relatively small amounts. If you were not charged that penny everyone would try to get that extra .9p :roll:
--- End quote ---

Sounds a hell of a lot more realistic.  How often are pumps tested for their correct measuring. ie, could it be possible for pumps to give less fuel than they say.

Llanigraham:
The Morrisons in Newtown, Powys seems to be done every week!!

Suvvey:
They should be calibrated regularly. How often this happens can vary depending on the type of station. For instance the large chain owned sites (including their franchised ones) are usually quite good at this, a small local dealer that buys his fuel in from the large companies probably only gets them checked when the trading standards come around and do it for him (usually at least once a year, often more).

We used to test our own pumps with equipment calibrated by trading standards every month as well as being checked by the area manager once a quarter and of course the visits from trading standards. Any adjustment to the pumps calibration had to be done by credited engineers (such as Gilbarco) in the presence of Trading Standards who would then fit a wire and soldered seal (like you used to get on your 'leccy meter) to ensure you didn't wind it back up a few notches when the left :lol: Although any long term discrepency would also probably show up on the 'Tank report' that is regularly scrutinised by Trading standards and the Fire/Petroleum Officer.

Suvvey:
Also there is a mechanical meter in litres on each pump. This read had to be collected at the close of each day (or before you started a new one) and this was then compared against what the electronic meter has passed on to the till. Any descrepency here (to within a fraction of a percent but can't remember exactly what now) would prevent the 'Daily Sales Report' being accepted by the Head Office. To be able to 'commit' this would require a phone call to explain the problem and the margin of error lifted at their end. The offending pump would then have to be shut untill the engineer could come to check/callibrate it.

Infact, thinking about it, a large chunk of my day used to be taken up just checking by one means or another that we weren't ripping people off or giving the stuff away (I think it was the latter that compelled the company to be so thorough though :roll:)

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