sluge in oil tanks what can I do?

sluge in oil tanks what can I do?

I have 2 275 oil tanks in my basement, everytime I get fuel i have to leave the boiler off for a while or they will clog up the filter and nozzle. I change the filter a few times a season know just to be safe and it is always dirty. If you stick a rod in teh tanks you can feel the sluge. Is that stuff you add to the tanks any good? what can I do the tanks are about 20/30 years old thanks

sludge

there are company's that can clean your tank but if it's 20-30 years old i also recomend replacement if u have a good company do the job they will remove your old tanks as others will say try to use the tank til it's empty we used to pump out the tank and reuse now we try and let it run empty tanks are exspensive but so are servicecalls royboy

What about getting them cleaned out?

How did they clean the tank? how much was it?

filters

since the trouble is sludge try this shut one tank after u have them filled and use the one tank after u are almost out put in 10 gallons of kerosene and use til u run out then close this tank now and repeat u may want to put a few gallons of oil in the first tank so after u run the second tank out and put in the kerosene u can use it til u get a delivery kerosene is a good cleaner and will not hurt your furnace try this much cheaper than new tanks a little work but u can do this yourself also add a second filter at the pump if u r getting plugged nozzles filters r cheaper than nozzles royboy

So if I where to run a few tanks of kero though it it should clean the tanks out? instead of doing it the way you said could I just fill up the tanks with kero? what is the price diffrence between kero and fuel oil usaly? thanks

Do you have links to those tpy of filters so I can see what they look like and a place where I could order them? thanks

joe g

Just a story had a HO with old tank like yours ,used to change filers all the time he was advised to change out tanks for years and did not head the words end up the tanks bottom started to leak by the time he noticed it the epa and a clean up crew where there about 35,000 dolars later he's got a new tank advise if your tanks are that old why not replace before you have bigger promblems like not retiring and working to pay off the clean up would you drive a20 to 30 year old car daily with old brakes or tires ,avoid the bigger ticket andget your tanks replace use roth and a single pipe system with a tiger loop re circ oil with a 2 pipe system is old bag filtering up to 18 gph why just filter what you burn and with atiger loop no vacume promblems assicated with single pipe and your burner thinks it's a2 pipe just advice take it for what's it worth free cheaper then fuel spill clean up peace and good luck clammy

I have a 60 year old tank that suddenly started throwing sludge into the Beckett burner. Since it's November, the thought of dealing with draining down an oil tank with cold weather just around the corner didn't sound like a good idea. Further, no one would guarantee chemical treatments or cleaning. The outlet of the tank was an inch above the bottom, so I'm sure that 60 years of oil finally deposited enough sludge to reach the outlet pipe.

So my solution (which has worked so far) was to install a Scully Snorkel in place of my old fill gauge. It wasn't very expensive to buy, and it was easy to install. I capped the outlet at the bottom of the tank (didn't trust the 60 year old valve not to leak), and moved the PurePro filter to the top of the tank. I also added a Gar-ber screw on, oil filter style filter right before the burner. Replaced the old filter with a new element, replaced the pump screen, replaced the nozzle, and flushed out all of the lines. Once I fixed a minor adjustment issue with the Suntec pump (it would prime but not pass oil through the pump), we were good to go. So far, the burner is still working 24 hours later (whereas the last filter change plugged in 12).

The Scully Snorkel is pretty simple, and seems reliable. The only thing that could possibly go wrong is the plastic feed tube could deteriorate, but replacing that would be a piece of cake.

Not suggesting leaving a rotting, leaky tank in place by using this solution, but mine seemed solid. Just needed a way to get the feed off the bottom, and out of the sludge.

Finally, I called Beckett, and after giving them the model and specs on my boiler, they gave me the specs on the recommended nozzle. .85 GPH, 80 Degree, B cone. The oil company had installed a 1.1 GPH, 80 Degree, B cone. It's probably a good idea to check the nozzle to insure that the wrong one hasn't been installed. Not sure if this was wasting fuel, but it was sure cooking the boiler with a very hot flame.

Emmette.

I searched for hours on the web for a solution. Figured that someone might benefit from my research. If someone had posted something like this, it would have saved me a ton of time.

And there's not much out there in the way of reviews on the snorkel product.

Isn't the whole point of these kinds of forums to share information, and help people?

Emmette, thanks for the tips, ignore abracadabra, it will may help someone. But in reality, a 60 year old tank should be replaced. Does your insurance company know its 60 years old?

Time for new tank and a new supplier. Sounds like he is delivering with his defueler truck.

All oil came by barge from the terminal in New York or Providence. The barge carried every type of products. Mobil gave free additives with every load.