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Is this cool? -DF

Dan Foley
Dan Foley Member Posts: 1,260
I don't do much oil so I'm not current on the codes. I saw this PVC vent pipe today. It does not seem like oil and PVC are a good mix. Is this up to code? -DF

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Comments

  • Mad Dog
    Mad Dog Member Posts: 2,595
    NO way! not on Long Island..and even if it were

    I'd never do it. Mad Dog

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  • Bob Boltz
    Bob Boltz Member Posts: 25
    Piping

    I hope no oil company fills that tank. In 2004, I can't believe persons still can't pipe a tank, to code! No ventalarm, piped wrong & PVC to boot.
  • Kal Row
    Kal Row Member Posts: 1,520
    unlike the gas company, the fire dpt

    has no way to lock you out, pity, i lived next to a fire house and cant tell you how many stories i heard from them about inspecting a house, an writing up a bunch of violations, and then going back, the night after, to pull dead bodies out - make them crazy, like the troopers get when they catch you driving drunk – they just hate scraping babies off "their" highway - ruins their whole day
  • PVC Piping

    Hi Dan,

    I haven't seen plastic pipe used in a long, long time on oil tanks. Back in the early 70's when I lived and worked in Upstate NY, I used to see ABS pipe used for both Fill and Vent. Scared the dickens out of me, but they still used it. When the tanker pumps got a bit more powerful with GPM flo, the oil companies began requiring they be changed to iron due to deteriorization of the pipe exposed to sunlight and brittle pipe breaking. But what did they use instead of iron......copper. But that's a whole different can of worms.

    The three problems I see with that installation is no Vent Alarm signals, the Vent Pipe is PVC and appears to be reduced to 3/4" at the sill and it appears as though they have indoor fills. I don't see any way that the reduced diameter vent is going to relieve the air and vapor pressure building up inside those tanks when they are being filled. I'm not sure where the code stands on this but I bet we will all find out soon!

    Glenn
  • Guy_5
    Guy_5 Member Posts: 159
    PVC

    Correct me if I am wrong, but if the oil company knows that the piping is PVC, even if they were just there for a cleaning and INSPECTION of the SYSTEM, they can be held liable for any incidents. The downsizing to 3/4 inch just makes things worse.
  • Paul Mitchell
    Paul Mitchell Member Posts: 266
    NO WAY

    shanty....shanty.....You should have a 2" vent....Black pipe or at least copper..although we never use copper. And a 2" fill piped outside....the reduced vent is against code and not correct.....
    Good Luck with that mess

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  • J.C.A._3
    J.C.A._3 Member Posts: 2,980
    Dan,

    RUN!!!! Don't walk away from this one. There are so many code violations that my mind is boggling just thinking about it .

    NFPA31 is the only code to be used.(at minimum) Ma. code would eat the installer for breakfast and turn him into refuse by the time they left that job site.

    At minimum, the vents should be as large as the fills. STEEL PIPING!!!!is the only approved material. There are some rules for "spill and fill" that can be followed, but I'm still a 1 fill per tank guy. Twinning the PROPERLY PIPED vents together is acceptable. (again, I like a ventalarm in each tank, not a combination gauge/vent) and if the fills are 11/4, I opt for at least a 11/2" vent for twinned tanks.

    Don't sign anything till this abomination is taken care of to THE CODE. Pulling a permit can put you in hot water and it ain't the place to be , when you had nothing to do with this HACK JOB. I can already see that the vents are working wonders! The oil stained top of the brand new tanks should have been at least, a wake up call. JMHO, Chris
  • Mike Kraft_2
    Mike Kraft_2 Member Posts: 398
    cool.........?????

    that ain't cool thats ...............freakn' awesome!

    cheese
  • Burnerman
    Burnerman Member Posts: 14
    Sad Sad Sad...

    Ya know everyone is right about the violations of the code and all but, notice that the oil driver needs to be looking at this mess everytime he fills it. I guess the customer got tired of smelling the odor of FO from the open vents and hired a plumber to vent the tanks outside but notice the fills are inside @ each tank.
    "Why do I have to do anything, you guys never had any problem with it before?" says the customer............
  • scrook_2
    scrook_2 Member Posts: 610
    DANGER! OIL & PVC!

    NEVER use PVC for OIL! EVER! It can shatter or break spilling hundreds of gallons of oil upon fill! Black iron pipe only (some places *may* allow copper if BRAZED, but 2" copper gets expensive FAST!)

    BTW where's the VENTS?!

    Drop a dime w/ the State Fire Marshal, Building and/or Plumbing inspectors and the Fire chief!
  • Dan Foley
    Dan Foley Member Posts: 1,260
    Thanks...

    Thank you for the comments, guys. This is a government building downtown. We are installing some radiant floor heat as part of a renovation. They have their own in-house service and maintenance personnel. I will make them aware of the situation. -DF

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  • jerry scharf
    jerry scharf Member Posts: 159
    notify the agency in writing

    Dan,

    I used to work for the government (well, NASA.) I'd write a memo to them rather than just mentioning it. You might want to talk to them first, and then say you need to send a memo to cover you a$$. Ask them who the right person is to send it too. They should be understanding and can do anything they need to do on their end before the memo gets sent.

    I'm beginning to see a repeated theme "not just the minimum." You're minimum would have been to do your work and nothing else. You cared enough about the safety of the people in the building to do more. The entire CO discussion and legionella are about doing more than the minimum.

    jerry
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