Wet/dry vac on oil tank

[bennythedip]

Has anyone ever used their wet/dry vac to hoover up the dregs in an oil tank? Had a contaminated oil tank and pumped out most of the oil using a hand pump. Would like to get the last bits out which always contain the most crap and was wondering if the oil would kill my wet/dry vac. Anyone done this?

 

[Dotty]

It'll knacker your vac and render it useless for anything else.

 

[gasmanrob]

Wouldn't fancy having the fumes running over the top of an electric motor myself

 

[Ermintrude]

Hot motor vaporised oil then bushes make a nice 4mm arc! What's that tom jones track? "Burning down the house? " plus it will stink forever. Go but a 12v fuel pump from m mart for £12

Just re use top clean oil to wash and rinse. Normally takes about 25 l a few rinsed on old steel tank. Or just get a nice new placca bundled one?

 

[bennythedip]

I've run a couple of drums through it to rinse it out. A lot of people here are just using drums to fill the oil tank and are constantly running out. Been having a lot more pumps seizing, nozzles needing changed etc. The vac cleaner would be a quick and handy option to clean bottom of tank. For any inventors out there surely it wouldn't be much of a step from an ordinary wet/dry vac??

 

[lame plumber]

if a lot of your customers are using drums of fuel one wonders what the source is, other peoples oil, serves them right, just keep replacing the pumps. re wet vac, why invent something not needed ,just flush and pump, set the tank up correctly and all the crud floats to the water drain off that your metal tank should have

 

[Ermintrude]

You can get a soot vac sure a few mods and it's sorted. Soot vac keeps wet vac clean ish , but oil gets everywhere

 

[gasmanrob]

I would suggest there already is something out there. Those fuel doctor people must have something for when people use the wrong fuel on their cars

 

[lame plumber]

yep its called a drain plug or filter off and drain.

 

[bennythedip]

I'm afraid a lot of people are using drums because they can't afford a fill of oil. Here it's €480 (£380)for 500 litres. I know oil is cheaper in the uk. People who live near the border for Northern Ireland take a couple of drums in the car and fill up the drums. Most of the tanks are plastic and there's only the main line out.

 

[bennythedip]

Just spent the last while filtering the contaminated oil through a pair of the wife's tights. Great job for cleaning the crap out,don't know how great the wife's legs will look in them after!!

 

[Dotty]

Just spent the last while filtering the contaminated oil through a pair of the wife's tights. Great job for cleaning the crap out,don't know how great the wife's legs will look in them after!!

They looked ok last time I saw them! :devil2:

 

[bennythedip]

Must have been very dark! Are you sure that was her legs??

 

[Ermintrude]

Rumor has it he can't see past ankles on a normal height person.

 

[Best]

I find that syphoning oil using an old hose with a few feet of pipe in it's end, will do a good job of cleaning the crud out if you have the patience to move the end of it around the bottom of tank while looking in with a torch. Actually easier to clean a tank when it has a lot of oil in it as you can keep syphoning for ages.
You are not going to be able to clean a lot of plastic oil tanks fully, as they are odd shaped inside - I cleaned one as best as i could using an old towel screwed to end of a brush shaft.
Just get 99 % of the dirt out & fit a paper element at tank & nothing will get past it later. The dirt tends to settle on the bottom of tank anyhow & is only disturbed when oil is low & tank is refilled thus stirring it up.

 

[Best]

if a lot of your customers are using drums of fuel one wonders what the source is, other peoples oil, serves them right, just keep replacing the pumps. re wet vac, why invent something not needed ,just flush and pump, set the tank up correctly and all the crud floats to the water drain off that your metal tank should have

I don't know about England, but in Northern Ireland some of the big Petrol stations have the usual petrol & diesel pumps & blue coloured pumps which are Kerosine heating oil. Saves money as you just bring your own drums & it's 66.9 pence per litre at the moment - which is reasonable.