Waste Oil Tank Pump

[JLR]

My 74 MY came equipped with a 30 gallon waste oil tank located in the ER. At least, I have decided to use it as a waste oil tank rather than a tank to hold clean oil. The waste oil tank is plumbed to the oil change system. There is also a deck fill (or removal) port. What is the best setup to pump (read suck) the old oil out from the deck fill? It seems silly to drain the waste oil tank into 5 gallon buckets in the ER and then carry those buckets of dirty oil through the VIP stateroom and then up the stairs and out of the boat. It would be really nice to be able to have 6, 5 gallon buckets lined up on the dock with a hose connected to fill them with the dirty oil, thereby bypassing any need to transport the dirty oil through the boat. Sort of like a pump out for oil rather than the holding tank. Thanks.

 

[johnjen50]

If you could plumb in your oil removal pump so that it provides positive pressure forcing the oil from the tank up toward the deck fitting, and it you fabricated a screw fitting to fit into the deck fitting that had a hose attached to it, you could pump out through the deck. trick would be fabricating a fitting with matching threads to the deck fitting, and screwing on a shutoff before the hose attachment, that way you could momentarily stop the flow of oil as you were changing buckets without having someone in the ER to stop the pump. You really have me thinking now, as that would make changing the oil a heck of a lot less risky.....regarding spillage. makes me think of the Hatteras deck hose fitting that hooks the water hose to the boats freshwater system. Something like that.

 

[Bob Bradley]

I have a similar setup. The deck (or in my case gunwale) fill is just that, a filler. It dumps into the top of the holding tank. You'd need a pipe running to the bottom of the tank to pump it out. You would also need the oil to be warm, as cold thick oil will not go willingly up that hose.

I use mine as clean oil storage for changing oil and topping off my engines. I eliminated my deck fill after an over enthusiastic crew member used it to top off my domestic water tank a few seasons ago. That didn't work out so well. I buy my oil in 6 gal pails, and fill the tank using a funnel down in the er, instead of thru the deck fill. I then pump the old oil into the same buckets, so I can screw the caps back on. All in all it is a fairly clean process. And, I figure I have to carry the oil one way or another.

 

[johnjen50]

Thinking a little more about this, what's to prevent you from tapping a deck fitting cap, and fitting it with an Appollo valve shut off? Kind of like those Thoroflush units. That way you don't have to mess with matching threads. The Appollo shut off can have a hose fitting on the top side to drain off the oil. When you are done changing the oil just have another cap to screw back in and you're done.

 

[saltshaker]

Those tanks are designed for oil storage. The deck fittings are only to add oil to the tank. As Bob stated, I don't think you could pump the oil up through the deck fitting. Mine is filled and emptied by the oil change pump in the ER.

 

[johnjen50]

Ah yes.....I see. I didn't think of the "cold oil" issue. I don't have a storage tank, and was thinking how great it would be to not have to carry the bucket through the boat.

 

[JLR]

Thanks all for the help. I was told that using the tank for storage of fresh oil might not be such a good idea unless I knew the condition of what was in the bottom of the tank before I bought the boat. I did not. With that said, I can always put a fitting on the bottom of the tank that would permit me to drain it easily but I wanted to try to do it all from above the deck and preferably on the dock. I guess that is not going to happen. Shame, it sounded like a good plan.

 

[saltshaker]

Thanks all for the help. I was told that using the tank for storage of fresh oil might not be such a good idea unless I knew the condition of what was in the bottom of the tank before I bought the boat. I did not. With that said, I can always put a fitting on the bottom of the tank that would permit me to drain it easily but I wanted to try to do it all from above the deck and preferably on the dock. I guess that is not going to happen. Shame, it sounded like a good plan.

I wouldn't use it for storage either. Tom Slane told me most owners used them for waste oil. They would do oil changes when in the Bahamas and bring the waste oil home for disposal.

 

[Bob Bradley]

If you take off the fitting for the fill line, you can get a pretty good look down into the tank. That's what I did when my crewmember pumped water in there by mistake. If there's sludge there, it should be obvious.

I had already replaced my tank a few years earlier when it began to leak slightly. I also built a new manifold from copper pipes and Apollo valves for it. I fill mine down in the ER and don't ever use the deck fill. It's particularly helpful on long multi day trips offshore to be able to top off the engines without handling oil jugs and hot fill caps.

I even plugged the line from the deck so nothing can be poured down it. I was always spilling some oil on the deck while filling it anyway. Nothing like an oil slickened gunwale for safe walking.

 

[bigbill]

could you add to the length of the hose on the oil change pump and run it outside thru an engine room vent and into a bucket on the dock when you want to empty the waste oil tank? it would be a 2 person operation, one to handle the hose and one to turn the pump on and off.

 

[johnjen50]

Bill, I was thinking that if you put a shutoff at the end of the hose you cold momentarily shut it while moving the hose from bucket to bucket. I like the hose idea.

 

[REBrueckner]

A garbage bag around the bottom of a five gallon oil can while toting and/or bypass oil filters to extend oil change intervals could be complementary approaches. I tried a hose approach of sorts a long time ago, but the hose gets yucky incredibly fast and then is a pain to store anyway.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Put a pad heater on the tank. Then run a smaller hose down through the fill and pump it out with a portable oil change pump on the dock.

 

[JLR]

Sky - that's an interesting idea. I bet that I could do away with the need for the pad heater if I pumped the oil out of the boat into the tank and then from the tank to the portable oil change pump within a half hour or so of getting it warm in the engine in the first place.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

The pad heater will set you back $50

http://www.ebay.com/itm/60W-Battery...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19f5dc58d9&vxp=mtr

 

[JLR]

Nice to know. I wonder whether it will be effective on this tank. It's about 6' long by about 2' high--from memory.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Nice to know. I wonder whether it will be effective on this tank. It's about 6' long by about 2' high--from memory.

That's what they're made for. They're used most of the time for hydraulic tanks up here.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Yes, it will work. I have one on my standby generator fuel tank (diesel) and one on the generator engine. And one each on my boat engines. Wolverine heaters are VERY reliable. They claim they use them on cattle troughs outdoors in the West. I wouldn't doubt it.