Apparently, old gas pumps with mechanical meters can’t display prices above $3.99 per gallon. One of the solutions being used is "half-pricing"–displaying the price per half-gallon, but that’s a bit confusing to consumers.  Meanwhile, there are delays in getting the mechanical upgrade that will allow displaying $4+ prices, and some stations can’t afford the hundreds of dollars per pump it costs to upgrade.

Here’s a simple solution, which would require nothing more than some white-out and a permanent marker (or possibly some paint, depending on the colors used by the gas pump):

  1. Configure the pump as if gas cost 1/10 of what it does.
  2. On both the price per gallon and total price meters, cover the current decimal point with white-out.
  3. Make a new decimal point after the next digit to the right.
  4. Add a "0" at the end if necessary.

Voilà! You now have a pump capable of displaying prices up to $39.90 per gallon.  If your total price meter only went to $99.99, it now goes up to $999.90.

The only downside is you’re now rounding to the nearest dime instead of the nearest penny on price (or nearest penny instead of 1/10 of a cent, if your pricing went that far.)  But most of that difference probably cancels itself out on average.


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