Twinned Oil Tanks

Dick Charland

If you need to pipe off the top of the tank, I would suggest installing a doubletap bushing with a piece of black pipe or 1/2" copper tubing into tank. Install a slip coupling on the double tap and run your tubing down below the tube it is run in. Make a slit in the top of the tube or pipe to allow air to escape. Install a wall mount Garber filter with a firomatic valve ahead of it and then run to the burner. I would install one of Garber's vacuum gauges on the unit so you will know when to change the filter. I would tie the tanks together with a ball valve on each and black pipe, the union will allow cleaning if necessary. I have installed many setups with the feed coming off of the bottom equalizer. In this case use only one filter off of the equalizer to allow the tanks to equalize with no restriction. I have seen too many with a filter on each tank, end result running out of oil with one tank full as filter plugged. I would locate the firomatic before the filter and ball valves on each tank.

I don't know how long a run you have to the equipment, but even if you come off the top of the tank, you can run single pipe which is much more beneficial in the long run. It prevents an environmental issue with the return line, allows you to filter only the oil that the burner will use and it cuts down on the "handling" of the oil whcih contributes to the fuel's instability and results in the gooey black "oil" that we have been seeing for the past 15 hears or so. Exposing the oil to the copper tubing in a two pipe system also contributes to this process as the copper acts as a catalyst.

Hope this helps.

Ernie

Twinned Oil Tanks


If you come off the top of your oil tanks to feed burner, where would you locate your firematic valve in a two pipe system, also would you need any fire protection on your ½” bottom crossover connection if not feeding from this location? I am in Connecticut. Trying to resolve piping problem for some one where (knucklehead) installer will not come back. Oil feeding from top of both tanks and returning to both tanks through teed connections. This does not make sense to me. I can see where this could be a potential problem if both supply lines were at different depths, causing prime to be lost, sucking in air and locking out burner. I believe this happened once when tanks were low on fuel and was not caught before oil delivery.

ed wallace

twinned oil tanks

the way i have seen them is feed off of tank a and return to tank b firomatik goes on tank a i like to use a floating suction line rather then a bushing with a copper tube running thru it

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Big Ed

Over head

You should tee in the suction at the bottom cross over pipe with a general filter. The return if needed should be twined to both tanks at top. Gerber at burner....

Ernie

Thanks

To all for your input, now if I could only get the installer to come back and rectify his work.