What to Do With Old #2 Fuel Oil?

Ah yes...life in Maine!

Thanks for the great description of the problems in MAINE...I pretty much figured that the oil might be a loss but I'm still not sure about the tank. Yes it's the typical 275 gal, indoor tank, with a gauge on the top. The tank is about 14years old...installed in 1995 I believe. The gauge reads a little over 1/4 full so I estimated 60 gals. based on that.

I will drain the entire tank and inspect the oil that comes out for information purposes...maybe it can be used for some other project like a waste oil furnace. Then I'll do as you suggest and thoroughly inspect the tank, decide on the condition, and either replace it or clean/flush and use it. I'll probably get a small tank (55gal drum) to use initially so I can fire up the furnace with some clean oil and maybe get some heat in the house while I finish painting this winter...in MAINE!

Sound like a plan?

Tom

Tom,

That sounds like a good plan. If the tank is only 14 years old, you probably have much less to worry about regarding corrosion, but a good inspection now could save you headaches down the road. I was imagining a 30, 40 or 50 year old tank.

BTW, don't take me wrong, I grew up taking camping vacations annually with my family, and some great memories from my youth were in MAINE!

Now, if there were only some way to harness the energy of Simulium venustum and Simulium vittatum (i.e., the black fly)...

Thanks again, I feel better about the condition of the tank now. I did a quick inspection this morning and it really doesn't look bad, but we'll see what the inside looks like after it's empty.

I'm going to get a few extra filters and pump the oil through them as I empty it, that way I have a better chance of recovering it for another use.

We have lots and lots of Culiseta logiareolata that I wish I could harness or eat! Some of us still think of it as the State Bird!

"Maine, the way life should be."

Tom

If the tank were in the basement it could be just fine because the temperature doesn't fluctuate much, the basement likely doesn't go above 65°F this would severely limit biological growth in the fuel.

Check if there is water bleed off valve or just crack open the plug a the bottom of the filter. Normally adding some redline does the trick for many faulty fuel situations.

Thanks bwire,

In this case, even though the tank is in the basement, since there has been NO heat in the house since 2001, it fluctuated...probably between -20 and 65. Maybe 70 or 80deg once in a while but nothing extended, like weeks or months. There was a minor flood problem in this basement at one point and I had to remove a lot of mold on the floor and walls in the basement. That's one of the reasons it being renovated...I had to remove all the false floors in the basement, the wallboard, insulation etc. The upper living quarters just needed cleaning and removal of rugs. I'll be doing further checking as you suggest.

Thanks again.

Tom

In the future, once you're running new oil, here is a helpful maintenance item for removing small amounts of water collecting at the bottom of the tank.

http://www.h2ocontrol.com/productsWaterWorm.php

Ubetcha!

While you're doing this labor intensive stuff you may consider adding an oil heater; screws into a bung, to enable use of vegetable oil/fuel oil blends [20-50%] and or use of dual filters. I added a second filter a few years ago and I could kick myself for not doing it sooner. The vegetable oil blends eliminates much of the sooting of the heat exchanger thereby a significant increase of efficiency.

Because I intend to use higher percentages of vegetable to #2 diesel I'm considering use of a Davcotech filter. Their heated filter with water separator feature is interesting. I've used their filters on diesel powered equipment with outstanding result.

How about adding a filter and a water collector between tank and boiler.....then try and burn the fuel as normal. Keep an eye on the water collector, empty regularly if required.....

Do you have a Hazardous Waste phone number you could ask them.

Final post here on this outcome. Plumber came to assist with installation of new baseboard heaters and to restart the furnace. He said he thought the fuel would be fine so we left it in and fired the furnace up. It ran fine for several weeks then the furnace quit. Called the company that originally installed the furnace to come take a look. They found (and I watched) that the entire combustion system right up to the exhaust flew was plugged with soot! Now that may be because the other guy didn't do a good job cleaning it, or it could be because of the old fuel. I was lucky that the soot didn't get into the newly renovated house! All is good now and the furnace runs like a champ. Someday I'll post a picture of the zone valve manifold I made and the home made zone valve thermostat distribution panel.