Oil tank vent pipe / whistle

ChrisJ

Kind of an odd question here, we finally pulled the oil tank out of my crawl space which I've been wanting to do for over a year now.



During this we started talking with a neighbor that said he installed the vent pipe and whistle for the previous owner in 2008.  I'm curious if an indoor tank without a vent of any type or whistle suggests any specific age of the tank?  As the tank is no longer in my hands I suppose it doesn't really matter but I am kind of curious how old the tank was.  Someone had told me 10 years and I'm finding it hard to believe. 

  



Something else I noticed was the tank had a valve on the bottom and a copper line connected to it which was cut and crimped.  The line then was ran out of the top of the tank.  Makes me wonder why this was done?   Maybe required by code later on?



Thank you for your time.

Chris J

billtwocase

Vent alarm

is a must on any tank. Without it, over filling is a strong possibility. It looks like it was a one pipe system. Maybe sludge was becoming a problem, so they tied the supply line to a double tap bushing on top. 

chapchap70

tank age, oil line

If you really need to know how old the tank that you had removed was, here is a clue:



How old is the house?



From clues I took from what you wrote in your post, I am guessing that the tank was filled from inside the crawl space area meaning that the oil driver had to bring the hose down into the basement or wherever the tank was.  If my guess is right, this means that there was no fill or vent pipe that went through the wall so there was no vent alarm until it was installed by your neighbor for the previous owner in 2008.  The driver would have removed a tank plug and looked into the tank to see the oil level while filling the tank.  Not quite ideal to say the least!

ChrisJ

fill pipe

Fill pipe went through the crawlspace wall to the outside.

House was built in 1901 but was originally heated with wood stoves so the tank isn't that old.

SWEI

boiler pictures

Looks like somebody took the time to do it right.

ChrisJ

Boiler pictures

Thank you, I appreciate the compliment.



All of that was made possible by Dan's books and this website as I knew nothing about steam or plumbing before May 2011.



Though I said this once before I'm going to say it again.  Anyone that complains plumbers and HVAC guys get paid too much need to try it themselves. 

Paul48

Did

you use the tank? The 2 lines are probably from a 2 stage pump. Makes it easier, if someone is in the habit of running out of oil.

ChrisJ

Use

We used the tank for a few months when we bought the house last year.  After we closed and found out we had no oil I went and bought some diesel to get us by for the weekend until oil could be delivered.

Then found out the boiler was rotted out, and then the chimney was undersized AND plugged and so on and so on.



All of that said, it was a single line run down to a Burnham V83 with I *think* a Beckett AFG burner.   The older line connected to the bottom was cut and crimped



What really amazes me is every part of the heating system in that house, was absolute junk, even the oil tank.  The fill pipe for the tank was installed with a 45 ell and not a 90 so essentially rain water would pour down the pipe and then down the front of the tank.  The front of the tank is rusted pretty bad.

 I'm going to assume with no way to drain the very bottom of the tank, there was also no way to remove water which builds up over time?

chapchap70

Re: Tank

If a person installing a tank with oil lines coming out of the top is conscientious, he would pitch the tank slightly toward the the bottom opening and install a tank valve there so the condensation that builds up over time could be drained periodically. 



There is a way to install a tank valve at the bottom after the tank is in service but don't let the electricity go out while the vacuum is running and you are in the process of putting in the valve.



If the oil lines coming off the top start pulling water, the oil lines are often raised, especially in buried tanks so the usable gallons in the tank are less.  The water at the bottom could also be pumped out.