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Best Oil Tank Setup

Uni R
Uni R Member Posts: 663
in THE MAIN WALL
If you were installing a new tank, would you rather have the feed off the end or the bottom? The installers seem to be recommending end feeds and the manufacturers are recommending bottom feeds. Assuming all new oil, vents and lines which way is actually best? I was wondering what the views were here for those who toil with oil?

Comments

  • c-rex
    c-rex Member Posts: 48
    we have always

    felt that a bottom tapped tank would stay clean, and, if condensation developed, could be removed compleatly by merit of the physical location of the outlet.
  • kevin coppinger_4
    kevin coppinger_4 Member Posts: 2,124
    do you mean...

    2 pipe vs.1 pipe? If you mean end feed that would suggest a non UL80 tank.Most all states require UL 80, bottom tapped tanks now...allows all the sediment to draim out the tap through the filter. kpc
  • heatboy
    heatboy Member Posts: 1,468
    The only fuel tanks I offer now.....

    are the double wall PEX tanks. From a liability aspect, nothing else makes any sense.

    hb

    To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • ML
    ML Member Posts: 7


    Neat looking setup. I have not seen these tanks around here. Would you identify the manifacturer?

    Thanks

    Mike
  • Uni R
    Uni R Member Posts: 663
    Then a non-UL80 is what I'm suggesting...

    Thanks Kevin. Tanks here can be installed either way. I can't decide what is the best solution for dealing with sludge. On an end feed tank the sludge will stay out of the filter and lines. The tank won't last as long but with insurance companies driving the show now, I'm pretty sure that they'll be the ones actually dictating how long a tank will last. On a bottom feed system, it will be harder on the filters. Will it be significantly harder on the burner and boiler having to deal with any sludge or water that gets past the filters?
  • Uni R
    Uni R Member Posts: 663
    Nice brace of Roths

    The Roth and the Dehousts are very nice. The Dehoust even has a lower profile model when there are clearance problems. A nicely welded 12 gauge tank shouldn't be a liability and not everyone can afford the nice tech tanks. Fibreglass is probably where the market will grow.

    Now with the Roths using top feeds, how do you clear the sludge?
  • kevin coppinger_4
    kevin coppinger_4 Member Posts: 2,124
    that being said....

    is it not easier to change filters, than change tanks? A good Garber filter @ the burner and a more coarse filter at the tank should take care of that. I am NOT an expert w/ this but the additives will also help. ex. Fuel rite and 4in1 hot. kpc
  • Uni R
    Uni R Member Posts: 663
    I totally agree, however...

    I totally agree with your logic Kevin, however the length of time a tank may last could soon be fully determined by the insurance companies. If they start saying 10 years why not park the sludge in the bottom of the tank and make it easier on the rest of the system? If I were putting in a tank and expecting to leave it 30 years or more I'd put in a double safety tank like a Roth or a Dehoust, but it is a complete crapshoot on how long the insurance companies in some areas will allow tanks to stay in service.

    I appreciate the feedback that I received here. Thanks everyone.
  • Big Ed
    Big Ed Member Posts: 1,117
    Sludge Problem

    That is a problem . If you allow water to collect in the bottom of a oil tank, you would breed sludge. The bugs live in the water and eat the oil or it could be the other way around ? :) Anyway their waste product is sludge. So the preventive cure is not to leave any water traps . Kill the environment to prevent sludge.Yes top feeds breed sludge as well as side taps and even bottom taps if the tank is pitched to the other end . So the best way is a bottom feed , pitched toward the valve then come into a general filter which would act like a water separator . Then a micro filter at the burner.

    The Roth set up is nice . I like the plastic inside tank as well as the outer safety steel tank . The leak flag is a nice feature. I would use two pipe if top feeding . The plastic connections on top is the only thing I'am unsure about . The tank gauge reminds me of a old alarm clock :)

  • scrook
    scrook Member Posts: 26
    Best Oil Tank Setup

    Bottom feed w/ a General filter housing w/o an element to catch most of the sludge & any water, followed by a second General w/ an element to get the bulk of the dirt, both at the tank and finally, at the burner a Garber to capture the last traces of crud. Easy to clean any sludge out and you don't have to worry about the tank bottom, replacing the tank at short intervals as preventative maintainance or whether the HO insurance covers oil spills.
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