On Sep 3, 9:45 pm, Calvin wrote:
Dieseldes wrote:
wrote in message
...
Ok, so the boiler's working. One of the problems is the lack of drop
to the boiler when the tank's near empty.

Looks like the oil was sucked to the level of the outlet, but there
wasn't enough head to displace the air when a couple of emergency
drums were thrown in, necessitating waiting for a partial fill & bleed
process.

So I want to move to a slimline tank, placed slightly higher up on
either a brick base, or some sort of blocks, probably on a concrete
over hardcore raft.

Is this DIY-able ? I'm happy with the concept of mixing and pouring
concrete, and building something that will hold a tank up, but.

1) What's the required thickness of raft to support a 60Kg tank plus
1000 litres of contents ?
2) what supporting should be put under the tank if any, I.e how many
legs and or cross supporting does it need ?
3) Any special considerations planning permission
4) Any statutory requirements siting or commissioning ?
5) I'm told a "recognised risk assessment undertaken by a competent
person" is required, Is it still required as the new tank will be
adjacent to the old one i'm decommissioning. So siting shouldn't be an
issue in the current location.
6) Pipework needs to be buried. Ok, with what protection and any
special considerations ? I'll probably connect the new tank pipework
to the old, existing pipework.
7) Any recommnedations as regards new filters/gate valves etc. Clearly
won't be reusing the existing items.

The tank i'm looking at is 160Cm long by 70 wide by 140 high.

Thanks,

Paul.

I am assuming a 1200 litre Titon plastic tank and a mortgage to fill it,
last week ours took 1300l at 53p a litre!! we had run out :~(

1000L is a ton in weight, mine is on concrete slabs so building it up on a
small brick plinth would be work OK
I have mine on 3x2 slabs on sand.

When we bought our tank it came complete with a tankmaster valve, filter
and sight tube

I used 10ml plastic coated copper pipe to travel the 60 feet to the Stanley,
I buried mine about a foot down but put it through plastic water pipe for
extra protection and to make it easier to replace.

I also used a Tiger loop which makes it a lot easier to bleed and saves
running a return to the tank and will work where the tank is lower than the
appliance, Oh and a firevalve

I don't believe any of the tank installations around this area comply to any
planning or building regs!
I read the regs and it had to be placed a certain distance from the house
and boundry/ walls etc, certainly most of the ones I see in this area are
right up against walls, houses farms etc and no one seems to bother.
I certainly followed the regs.........

If you are just replacing an existing set up, check the regs (library)
follow the spirit (if not the letter) of the law.......

The rules are all in the building regs (part J IIRC) which are
available online. They got a lot more stringent recently so you may
not legally be able to just copy the old installation. Look out for:

1. Distance from buildings. It's not just a simple distance from a
building but involves understanding of the construction of the
building wall - how high, how flammable, any openings?

2. Bund requirements. The need for a bund depends on how any spill
will run. Essentially if it would run into a protected watercourse
you're going to need a bund which can be a bunded tank (expensive but
simple to fit) or a bund wall (cheaper if you're DIY but more complex
and time-consuming to make which is why the trade prefer bunded tanks,
oh and they make more profit on them).

3. Tank support. You don't say if you're looking at a metal or a
plastic tank. Metal usually sit on treated wood above pillars as it
evens out the point loading. Plastic *must* be fully supported across
its whole surface so you need to construct a base on the pillars.
Ignore that and as the tank ages and the plastic gets slightly brittle
it will crack. Of course it will do this under maximum load which
will be when you've just emptied your wallet into it.

4. Buried pipe requirements. The pipe need to be surprisingly deep
and from memory you need to have marker tape a certain distance above
it.

Even if you're going to get a firm in to do the work read the regs and
understand them. In fact *especially* if you're getting a firm in as
I found a lot that clearly hadn't read the rules themselves but
trotted out the recieved wisdom and would have made the job much more
expensive than it needed to be.

I'm a keen DIYer and would happilly have done my own tank change but
then I considered:
The weight of the metal tank.
The storage of the oil during the change.
The disposal of the old tank
In the end it made more sense ot get someone in to do it for me and I
feel I struck lucky with the company as they were very professional
and only a bit expensive. See my posts from about a year ago if
you're interested.

Thanks for this, i'll take a look.

I was considering a plastic tank, how much (ball-park) did the work
cost you if you don't mind me asking .. Also who do you call, the oil
supplier, a plumber, or a heating engineer ?

Thanks,

Paul.