275 gallon fuel tanks for home heating, there not cheap and even more expensive to fill. Last year (2021) we got flooded and our oil tank was sitting on only three legs and up against the house and it had around a 1/3 of fuel in it. The problem was I needed to get the fuel out of the tank so I could move it to get it set back up.
Turns out I got lucky and found another 275 gallon tank for free and it was in much better condition then the one we had. Our tank was pretty rusty looking and the one leg where it screws into the tank was stripped... or should I say the threads were rusted out.
So I got the new tank and this is were the fun started. I first had to pump the fuel out of the old tank into the new tank so I could move the old tank out of the way. After getting the old tank moved, I had to then put the fuel from the new tank back into the old tank so I could put the new tank where the old tank sat.
Once I got the new tank in position I again had to put the fuel from the old tank back into the new tank! Finally I was done.
Everything was fine until it started getting cold outside and I woke up one morning and the furnace didn't kick on sometime during the night. I'm just glad it wasn't super cold out yet. My first thought was maybe there was air in the line so I went on to bleed the line. When I started bleeding the line I got sludge, and crap coming out of it and at times nothing at all. At this point I knew I had a bigger problem.
At this point I went and got two new filter and two new nozzles, one for a spare just in case. When I went to turn the valve off for the fuel at the tank it felt kind of frozen like ice was in the valve. So I got the valve shut and removed the filter and it was like frozen hard from water or moisture and there was a good bit of sludge in it.
I cleaned out the filter canister put in a new filter and put it back on the tank. I then went in and replaced the nozzle in the furnace. When I took the nozzle out there was even sludge on the nozzles filter at which point I was hoping it didn't hurt the pump. So I put the new nozzle in then proceeded to open the valve at the tank and bleed the fuel line.
What came out of the fuel line didn't look good at all, instead of a clear pink color, it was a milky looking crap. I ended up bleeding the line a good while until the milky crap stopped and the fuel looked a clear pink again. At that point the furnace started and I set the fuel/air mixture and it's been running fine ever since. I just hope that's it.
HOW TO SET YOUR TANK:
When people put in a tank they do in one of three way's. The tank leaning a little towards the filter (output of the tank), level, or have it tilted a little towards the back. I have mine tilted towards the filter a little so any fuel will run towards the output of the tank. People say you'll get more dirt and crap that way. If you tilt it towards the back, all the crap settles to the back of the tank. Yea right! Then when there is a lot of dirt and crap built up in the back and it starts to cause a problem when it reaches the filter, you might have a long process to get it out. Where with the tank leaning towards the filter you only get a little dirt and crap at a time if you happen to get any.
DOES IT REALLY MATTER HOW YOU TILT YOUR TANK?
Probably not. Think about it, no matter how you tilt your tank or leave it level, the next time you get fuel in your tank it's going to mix all that crap in with your new fuel. When fuel is delivered it come out from the truck pretty fast, so it doesn't matter where the dirt and crap settle in your tank, it's going to get moved around and mixed all up again with the new fuel. In the end, if you change your filter every fall you should be in pretty good shape. Another good thing (which I should do also) is to have your filter inside out of the cold. A lot problems can be traced to filters mounted outside.
SO WHERE DID ALL THE SLUDGE AND CRAP COME FROM IN MY TANK?
Good question. Ok, first of all when I had my problem it's been three or four years (maybe going on five) since I did anything to the furnace. We replaced our old furnace which was 36 years old and I just never got around to servicing the new one. I was going to the year before but that's when we got flooded (see the post on flooded). Being we got flooded and it was winter out, I left it go as we worked on fixing the house up so we could move back in it.
I take it the sludge and crap either came from the old tank or the delivery truck. I would rather think it came from the old tank being the delivery trucks have filters on them but I guess if there filters wasn't changed sludge and crap could possibility get past them?
Then during the summer months your tank can sweat causing condensation inside the tank which will result in water in your fuel, that's why it's better to have a full or almost full tank in the summer. My tank pretty much sits in the shade so I don't really think condensation was a problem.
WHAT KIND OF FUEL DO YOU USE?
Most common fuels for furnaces is kerosene, mixed, and #1 & #2 fuel oil. When I get fuel I get "mixed" being my tank is outside and it's cheaper then kerosene. I'd rather use fuel oil being you get more heat from fuel oil but it would "jell" out in the cold. When we first moved here and where was used to get our oil, they came and filled out tank with fuel oil and that night it got down below zero and it jelled up and wouldn't flow.
I ended up having to go out in the freezing could and removed the filter as well as wrapped the tank with a heating tape and put a blanket over it to try and keep it from jelling. The next morning the came and pumped out the fuel oil and put kerosene in the tank. I wouldn't want to repeat that again! To damn cold!
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