On Sep 4, 2:02 am, "Michael Chare"
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.

You should have a gate valve and filter at the tank exit, and a 2nd filter
close to the boiler (according to the instruction manul for my boiler. The
filter elements need to be changed every year or two. If you don't change
them they become clogged, which if this has happened to you could explain
why your boiler can't suck the oil of out the tank.

I have just replaced my oil lines using plastic coated pipe bought from BES
and also run inside plastic drain pipe for added physical protection. I
might have used flexible electic truncing instead which is normally 20 or
25mm diameter, had I found it before I bought the drain pipes.

A more interesting question is how you join to your old pipe particularly if
it is old and 1/4" !

Installing an oil tank is DIY-able. Making joints in the pipe work and
fittings that don't leak either immediately or even months later is the
tricky bit - IME! A good reason for avoiding any burried joints.

There is quite alot of useful info on the Oftec website http://www.oftec.co.uk/tech-info.asp


Thanks for the references. Much appreciated.

Rgds

Paul.