On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

This got me wondering about something. I might be wrong, but I seem to
remember that when my parents converted their oil heating to gas, they
had the plumber weld the gas pipe shut on the outside end so no one
could take the cap off and make the same mistake. My parents were also
concerned that pranksters could not pour anything down the pipe into the
basement. This took the plumber only a few minutes to do and I assumed
everyone who got rid of oil heating did the same thing, but apparently
not. My parents' gas heater conversion was done by a close family friend
so maybe their got special treatment, but I am curious why all people do
not have the cap welded shut on their oil pipe or just remove the pipe
entirely.

The heating guy did not make a mistake last time. Therefore
he will never make a mistake. This is reasoning to justify
running stop signs and launching seven Challenger astronauts
to their death.

Same thing happened a few years ago to another house around
here. The landlord tried to clean it and lease it.
Fortunately, the building inspector was a responsible type.
The house is now history. It must be removed all the way down
to and including its foundation - for obvious human health
reasons.

And so the next question: how honest is your government?
Drive by in a few months. If anyone is living there, your
government is corrupt.

Shawn Hearn wrote:
On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

This got me wondering about something. I might be wrong, but I seem to
remember that when my parents converted their oil heating to gas, they
had the plumber weld the gas pipe shut on the outside end so no one
could take the cap off and make the same mistake. My parents were also
concerned that pranksters could not pour anything down the pipe into the
basement. This took the plumber only a few minutes to do and I assumed
everyone who got rid of oil heating did the same thing, but apparently
not. My parents' gas heater conversion was done by a close family friend
so maybe their got special treatment, but I am curious why all people do
not have the cap welded shut on their oil pipe or just remove the pipe
entirely.

On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 01:35:52 -0500, Shawn Hearn
wrote:

On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

This got me wondering about something. I might be wrong, but I seem to
remember that when my parents converted their oil heating to gas, they
had the plumber weld the gas pipe shut on the outside end so no one
could take the cap off and make the same mistake. My parents were also
concerned that pranksters could not pour anything down the pipe into the
basement. This took the plumber only a few minutes to do and I assumed
everyone who got rid of oil heating did the same thing, but apparently
not. My parents' gas heater conversion was done by a close family friend
so maybe their got special treatment, but I am curious why all people do
not have the cap welded shut on their oil pipe or just remove the pipe
entirely.

Perhaps people don't weld it shut because they don't think of the
possibility of mistaken deliveries. Sealing or removing the pipe
should be part of the plumbing code or whatever other code the gas
heat installers are supposed to be using. Even if people don't
convert to gas, they should upgrade the tank-to-boiler feed line,
which is where leaks usually happen, to a double-walled pipe.

Oil spills in basements are not just an inconvenience. Most of the
work I do (environmental assessment and remediation in Mass. and R.I.,
sometimes in N.H., Vt. or Conn.) involves oil or gasoline
contamination in soil and groundwater, a good deal of the oil problems
is residential. Even if the house can be saved, assessment and
cleanups (even putting aside attorney's fees) can run into the 10s of
thousands and even over a 100k if there is a lot of groundwater
contamination and it's gotten into bedrock, flowed under a neighboring
property, or if private or public wells are located anywhere nearby.
And even if it is cleaned up to whatever the state environmental
agency finds acceptable, you're still going to have a difficult time
selling the property later on.

On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

I've heard of such mistakes in a neighborhood I used to live in,
although that was decades ago. One of the more recent ones apparently
required demolition of several neighboring houses under EPA rules.

This got me wondering about something. I might be wrong, but I seem to
remember that when my parents converted their oil heating to gas, they
had the plumber weld the gas pipe shut on the outside end so no one
could take the cap off and make the same mistake. My parents were also
concerned that pranksters could not pour anything down the pipe into the
basement. This took the plumber only a few minutes to do and I assumed
everyone who got rid of oil heating did the same thing, but apparently
not. My parents' gas heater conversion was done by a close family friend
so maybe their got special treatment, but I am curious why all people do
not have the cap welded shut on their oil pipe or just remove the pipe
entirely.

Chances are, it has something to do with:

(1) The homeowner doesn't even think of the issue. (Someone doing the
conversion ought to bring this up, but I don't see it as negligence
if they don't, although it really ought to be standard practice.)
Some neighborhoods have fewer pranksters than others. And the
pranksters probably pour in water, or maybe ****, not oil. But
probably the most danger comes from the oil company they used to
use, who was not notified or screws up and delivers oil anyway.
(2) Welding near a pipe that used to contain heating oil sounds a bit
dangerous, especially if the tank was removed today.
(3) Welding probably costs extra money, and if the guy doing the
conversion doesn't do it, it requires another appointment with
another guy to come out and do it.

Gordon L. Burditt

On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 12:06:20 -0500, someone wrote:

Same thing happened a few years ago to another house around
here. The landlord tried to clean it and lease it.
Fortunately, the building inspector was a responsible type.
The house is now history. It must be removed all the way down
to and including its foundation - for obvious human health
reasons.

And so the next question: how honest is your government?
Drive by in a few months. If anyone is living there, your
government is corrupt.

Huh? 1st part made sense. 2nd part doesn't. "Corrupt"???? So if
the owner of the property goes ahead and rents it anyways, without
benefit of a permit, how is the GOVERNMENT "corrupt"? Incompetent?
Unobservant? You'd have to PROVE that the owner was in fact issued a
permit he didn't deserve, in exchange for a bribe, to show that a
particular person in the government is "corrupt".

And that is a long way and several steps beyond claiming that the mere
fact that someone is using the house means the "government" is
corrupt.

I also would like some demonstration as to why it is "obvious" that
the house has to come down to the foundation. Spills happen and get
cleaned up with regularity without houses having to come down to the
foundation. Presumably no oil spilled upstairs, so why take down the
whole house.

-v.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

On 12 Dec 2004 18:54:49 GMT, someone wrote:


(2) Welding near a pipe that used to contain heating oil sounds a bit
dangerous, especially if the tank was removed today.

Why would it have to be welded. Cap it with a plain not a fill cap.
Epoxy it. Strap it. Placard it. Lock it (aren't there locking cap
gizmos for security locations anyway?). Better yet, remove the
exposed part so when the oil guy comes, he can't find any pipe to
fill. Though I did hear of an oil guy who "filled" down the vent pipe
of a forced draft heater!

And BTW, if nobody ****ed, poured anti-freeze, maple syrup, etc. down
the tank for years, the why would they now suddenly pour oil down it
as a prank?

-v.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:39:02 GMT, (v) wrote:

I also would like some demonstration as to why it is "obvious" that
the house has to come down to the foundation. Spills happen and get
cleaned up with regularity without houses having to come down to the
foundation. Presumably no oil spilled upstairs, so why take down the
whole house.

Depends on the situation. I've worked on homes where excavations
could be done in a small area of the basement and the only thing
needed was clean fill and a new poured concrete floor. On others, a
machine did the work from the outside, and the foundation was
temporarily shored to allow work underneath the floor. Still on
others, we used angled drilling to apply chemicals which react with
the oil. Yet on others, it was so bad, the entire foundation had to
go, which meant the entire house.

As The Etobian demonstrates, cleaning a building is grossly
expensive. Oil saturates things that don't easily clean.
Without removing a contaminated foundation, then household air
is toxic to human life. Again, this should be obvious.

Basement was a pool of oil. A responsible building
inspector declared the building condemned since that oil
contamination could not be removed from the concrete floor and
building foundation. A problem so severe that only a corrupt
building inspector would not have condemned that building.
Therefore the landlord eventually conceded and razed the
entire building - foundation included.

Also obvious, a house requires a certificate of occupancy.
A house with a basement pool of oil cannot be occupied and
must undergo massive reconstruction to clean it. Often more
than a house is even worth. However some landlords don't care
about human life - which is why inspectors (not the landlord)
say when a building is safe to occupy. This too is obvious.
A building still contaminated by oil could only be occupied if
the building inspector was corrupt.

Which obvious part are you having a problem with? There is
no (inexpensive) removing fuel oil from the basement floor and
foundation. Those materials must be removed. Vapors from
those contaminated materials obviously are toxic to human
life.

v wrote:
Huh? 1st part made sense. 2nd part doesn't. "Corrupt"???? So if
the owner of the property goes ahead and rents it anyways, without
benefit of a permit, how is the GOVERNMENT "corrupt"? Incompetent?
Unobservant? You'd have to PROVE that the owner was in fact issued a
permit he didn't deserve, in exchange for a bribe, to show that a
particular person in the government is "corrupt".

And that is a long way and several steps beyond claiming that the mere
fact that someone is using the house means the "government" is
corrupt.

I also would like some demonstration as to why it is "obvious" that
the house has to come down to the foundation. Spills happen and get
cleaned up with regularity without houses having to come down to the
foundation. Presumably no oil spilled upstairs, so why take down the
whole house.

Shawn Hearn wrote:

On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

Articles:
It Happened Again WPVI-TV
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/121...ldelivery.html

Oil Delivered To Wrong House KYW
http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_346205742.html


Another similar story, from central/north New Jersey
Thanks to a flood of oil, family won't be 'home for holidays' Newark
Star-Ledger
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey...2182258470.xml

Greetings,

My neighbors had oil delivered to them even though they have gas heat.
Apparently the Chestnut Street gang had written Chestnut Street on the side
of a house on our street. The oil delivery man assumed he was on Chestnut,
but wasn't.

I thought it was good for a (sad) laugh.

William


"John" wrote in message ...
Shawn Hearn wrote:

On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

Articles:
It Happened Again WPVI-TV
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/121...ldelivery.html

Oil Delivered To Wrong House KYW
http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_346205742.html


Another similar story, from central/north New Jersey
Thanks to a flood of oil, family won't be 'home for holidays' Newark
Star-Ledger

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey...2182258470.xml

IMO, that fault lies with the people that installed the gas equipment. The
should have removed the oil fill when the pulled the tank.


"John" wrote in message ...
Shawn Hearn wrote:

On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.

Articles:
It Happened Again WPVI-TV
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/121...ldelivery.html

Oil Delivered To Wrong House KYW
http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_346205742.html


Another similar story, from central/north New Jersey
Thanks to a flood of oil, family won't be 'home for holidays' Newark
Star-Ledger

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey...01362182258470
..xml

John wrote:

Shawn Hearn wrote:


On the way home from dinner with friends tonight, I heard on the radio
(KYW in Philadelphia) that an heating oil company accidentally delivered
heating oil to a home that had converted from oil to gas heating. As a
result, the oil flooded the basement of this home. The home's occupants
were not there at the time. The news story said another company made the
same mistake a few weeks ago.


Articles:
It Happened Again WPVI-TV
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/121...ldelivery.html

Oil Delivered To Wrong House KYW
http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_346205742.html


Another similar story, from central/north New Jersey
Thanks to a flood of oil, family won't be 'home for holidays' Newark
Star-Ledger
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey...2182258470.xml


The oil delivery guy was an ignoramus who should have lost his job
immediately.

When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.

IMO the oil company is liable and to a lesser degree the jerks who
dragged off the old fuel oil tank without removing or at least capping
off the fillpipe on the inside of the house.

(In earlier days I happen to have spent a dozen years as CE of The
Scully Signal Company which developed the "Ventalarm" whistling fuel oil
tank fill signal in the 30s and still making them today.)

A somewhat reverse situation happened to a $1 mil plus house near me two
winters ago. The owners had put it on the market and moved to a home in
the next state. In order to make it salable per local codes they had to
remove its underground 1000 gallon fuel oil tank, which they replaced
with an above ground 275 gallon tank behind the house. The contractor
who did the work for them (It was not their oil company.) partially
filled the new "275" with some of oil from the 1000 gallon tank they
removed.

No one thought to inform the fuel oil company, which, thinking they
still had a 1000 gallon tank, and based on the date of that tank's last
fill and the degree days which had transpired, didn't make an
"automatic" delivery in time to keep the 275 gallon tank from running
dry. The heat went off, pipes froze and burst and water kept running
until it emerged outside the house where I happened to be the one who
noticed rivers of brown ice running down one of their garage doors from
somewhere inside the house.

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/freezer.jpg

I took on the unpleasant task of calling and breaking the the bad news
to the owners. The damage to the interior of their house was terrible to
observe.

My own thoughts about the smarts of a homeowner who'd leave a house
unoccupied during a New England winter without so much as a low
temperature remote alarm system or even simply turning off the house's
main water valve are best left unsaid.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote

When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.

Not all tanks have whistles. Should they? Sure. But, as I said, not all do.


The lack of a simple Scully can ruin one's day...

Dr. Hardcrab wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote


When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.


Not all tanks have whistles. Should they? Sure. But, as I said, not all do.


The lack of a simple Scully can ruin one's day...



Agreed, but in the absence of a whistling tank fill signal the only
acceptable alternative IMO is to be able to get to the tank and check
the available volume with the tank gage or by sticking the tank, before
starting to pump as much as one gallon into it.

Anything less is taking too big a chance, and my sympathies go to any
fuel oil delivery truck operators who are pushed by their bosses to fill
the customer's tank "regardless".

Way back when we didn't lust for so much material goods and have so much
of what we earned confiscated to fund welfare programs most wife's jobs
were maintaining a proper and nurturing environment for their children.
So, there was usually someone at home to receive an oil delivery.
Typically there were two guys with the tank truck, one to go down in the
basement and watch the tank level, and the other outside to handle the
hose and nozzle. When the tank was safely full the guy inside would bang
on the fillpipe with his wrench to signal the guy outside to stop filling.

The development of the whistling signal by Scully in the 30s made
"unattended delivery" by one operator possible, as access to the tank
was no longer required in order to make a safe fill. As you pointed out,
it is a marvelously simple and virtually fail-safe device.

Thanks for the mammaries, and Happy Holidays,

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Dr. Hardcrab wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote


When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.


Not all tanks have whistles. Should they? Sure. But, as I said, not all
do.


The lack of a simple Scully can ruin one's day...



Agreed, but in the absence of a whistling tank fill signal the only
acceptable alternative IMO is to be able to get to the tank and check
the available volume with the tank gage or by sticking the tank, before
starting to pump as much as one gallon into it.


Sounds good but not realistic. Many people are not home and the tanks are in
the basement. which means the delivery guy cannot verify anything and you
typically can't stick an inside tank.

Also the idea of listening for the whistle will only minimize damage. Modern
oil delivery trucks can pump at 50 gallons or more a minute. So even a quick
"squirt" can put 25 gallons into a basement if someone were to remove a tank
and leave the fill intact.

Most of the blame rests with whoever did the gas install. Even if they
decided to leave the fill lines in place they could have removed the fill
cap and installed a $1.00, 2" black cap so no one could accidently fill.



Anything less is taking too big a chance, and my sympathies go to any
fuel oil delivery truck operators who are pushed by their bosses to fill
the customer's tank "regardless".

Way back when we didn't lust for so much material goods and have so much
of what we earned confiscated to fund welfare programs most wife's jobs
were maintaining a proper and nurturing environment for their children.
So, there was usually someone at home to receive an oil delivery.
Typically there were two guys with the tank truck, one to go down in the
basement and watch the tank level, and the other outside to handle the
hose and nozzle. When the tank was safely full the guy inside would bang
on the fillpipe with his wrench to signal the guy outside to stop filling.

The development of the whistling signal by Scully in the 30s made
"unattended delivery" by one operator possible, as access to the tank
was no longer required in order to make a safe fill. As you pointed out,
it is a marvelously simple and virtually fail-safe device.

Thanks for the mammaries, and Happy Holidays,

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

George wrote:

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Dr. Hardcrab wrote:

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote



When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.


Not all tanks have whistles. Should they? Sure. But, as I said, not all

do.


The lack of a simple Scully can ruin one's day...



Agreed, but in the absence of a whistling tank fill signal the only
acceptable alternative IMO is to be able to get to the tank and check
the available volume with the tank gage or by sticking the tank, before
starting to pump as much as one gallon into it.



Sounds good but not realistic. Many people are not home and the tanks are in
the basement. which means the delivery guy cannot verify anything and you
typically can't stick an inside tank.

Also the idea of listening for the whistle will only minimize damage. Modern
oil delivery trucks can pump at 50 gallons or more a minute. So even a quick
"squirt" can put 25 gallons into a basement if someone were to remove a tank
and leave the fill intact.

True, but one of those reports said 100 gallons went in, and if the
delivery guy didn't hear a whistle in the first ten seconds he should
have closed the nozzle.

Most of the blame rests with whoever did the gas install. Even if they
decided to leave the fill lines in place they could have removed the fill
cap and installed a $1.00, 2" black cap so no one could accidently fill.

I think I'm inclined to lean in that direction and put more of the blame
on those gas installers than the delivery guy, because capping or
removing the fill line should be SOP.

But since the reports both said somebody screwed up the street number,
it looks like the oil company's gotta pay up. And I hope they cap off
that poor guy's fillpipe while they're at it. G

Think we've saucered and blown this one now?

Jeff



Anything less is taking too big a chance, and my sympathies go to any
fuel oil delivery truck operators who are pushed by their bosses to fill
the customer's tank "regardless".

Way back when we didn't lust for so much material goods and have so much
of what we earned confiscated to fund welfare programs most wife's jobs
were maintaining a proper and nurturing environment for their children.
So, there was usually someone at home to receive an oil delivery.
Typically there were two guys with the tank truck, one to go down in the
basement and watch the tank level, and the other outside to handle the
hose and nozzle. When the tank was safely full the guy inside would bang
on the fillpipe with his wrench to signal the guy outside to stop filling.

The development of the whistling signal by Scully in the 30s made
"unattended delivery" by one operator possible, as access to the tank
was no longer required in order to make a safe fill. As you pointed out,
it is a marvelously simple and virtually fail-safe device.

Thanks for the mammaries, and Happy Holidays,

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"





--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

George wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Dr. Hardcrab wrote:

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote



When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.


Not all tanks have whistles. Should they? Sure. But, as I said, not all

do.


The lack of a simple Scully can ruin one's day...


I happened to sit next to a fuel oil dealer at my Rotary Club's lunch
meeting yesterday and asked him if tank overfill signals for "hidden"
tanks were required by code here in Taxachusetts. He replied that they
have been for as long as he can remember. He also said that the code
requires capping disconnected fillpipes.

I don't know nuttin about Jersey though...

Happy Holidays,

Jeff






Agreed, but in the absence of a whistling tank fill signal the only
acceptable alternative IMO is to be able to get to the tank and check
the available volume with the tank gage or by sticking the tank, before
starting to pump as much as one gallon into it.



Sounds good but not realistic. Many people are not home and the tanks are in
the basement. which means the delivery guy cannot verify anything and you
typically can't stick an inside tank.

Also the idea of listening for the whistle will only minimize damage. Modern
oil delivery trucks can pump at 50 gallons or more a minute. So even a quick
"squirt" can put 25 gallons into a basement if someone were to remove a tank
and leave the fill intact.

Most of the blame rests with whoever did the gas install. Even if they
decided to leave the fill lines in place they could have removed the fill
cap and installed a $1.00, 2" black cap so no one could accidently fill.



Anything less is taking too big a chance, and my sympathies go to any
fuel oil delivery truck operators who are pushed by their bosses to fill
the customer's tank "regardless".

Way back when we didn't lust for so much material goods and have so much
of what we earned confiscated to fund welfare programs most wife's jobs
were maintaining a proper and nurturing environment for their children.
So, there was usually someone at home to receive an oil delivery.
Typically there were two guys with the tank truck, one to go down in the
basement and watch the tank level, and the other outside to handle the
hose and nozzle. When the tank was safely full the guy inside would bang
on the fillpipe with his wrench to signal the guy outside to stop filling.

The development of the whistling signal by Scully in the 30s made
"unattended delivery" by one operator possible, as access to the tank
was no longer required in order to make a safe fill. As you pointed out,
it is a marvelously simple and virtually fail-safe device.

Thanks for the mammaries, and Happy Holidays,

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"





--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

George wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Dr. Hardcrab wrote:

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote



When he didn't hear a whistling overfill alarm signal within a couple of
seconds after opening the hose nozzle he should have known something was
wrong and slammed the nozzle closed.


Not all tanks have whistles. Should they? Sure. But, as I said, not all

do.


The lack of a simple Scully can ruin one's day...

I happened to sit next to a fuel oil dealer at my Rotary Club's lunch
meeting yesterday and asked him if tank overfill signals for "hidden"
tanks were required by code here in Taxachusetts. He replied that they
have been for as long as he can remember. He also said that the code
requires capping disconnected fillpipes.

I don't know nuttin about Jersey though...

Has been required in NJ for many decades.

Its the homeowners responsibility to take care of a capped tank.
The company that removed the unit should really be held liable for this
mess.

Oil company has nothing to do with the damage. Its an unfortunate
accident but thats it. Around here in NY is required to have the pipes
either capped or removed from the outside of the home.

Tom

Every once in awhile I still hear about overfilled oil tanks or worse, the
disconnected fill line. Seems to me like one answer would be to take a can
of that expanding foam "Great STuff" and pack that into the fill pipe. Would
keep oil from filling the cellar, and provide a very minimal insullation.

I'd guess that the gas installers took the pipe off with a sawzall, which
doesn't leave much threads to cap the indoor end.

--

Christopher A. Young
Keep Jesus Christ in CHRISTmas
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
news:a9GdneKd0Km34FncRVn-

I happened to sit next to a fuel oil dealer at my Rotary Club's lunch
meeting yesterday and asked him if tank overfill signals for "hidden"
tanks were required by code here in Taxachusetts. He replied that they
have been for as long as he can remember. He also said that the code
requires capping disconnected fillpipes.

I don't know nuttin about Jersey though...

Happy Holidays,

Jeff


Sounds good but not realistic. Many people are not home and the tanks are
in
the basement. which means the delivery guy cannot verify anything and you
typically can't stick an inside tank.

Also the idea of listening for the whistle will only minimize damage.
Modern
oil delivery trucks can pump at 50 gallons or more a minute. So even a
quick
"squirt" can put 25 gallons into a basement if someone were to remove a
tank
and leave the fill intact.

Most of the blame rests with whoever did the gas install. Even if they
decided to leave the fill lines in place they could have removed the fill
cap and installed a $1.00, 2" black cap so no one could accidently fill.



Anything less is taking too big a chance, and my sympathies go to any
fuel oil delivery truck operators who are pushed by their bosses to fill
the customer's tank "regardless".

Way back when we didn't lust for so much material goods and have so much
of what we earned confiscated to fund welfare programs most wife's jobs
were maintaining a proper and nurturing environment for their children.
So, there was usually someone at home to receive an oil delivery.
Typically there were two guys with the tank truck, one to go down in the
basement and watch the tank level, and the other outside to handle the
hose and nozzle. When the tank was safely full the guy inside would bang
on the fillpipe with his wrench to signal the guy outside to stop filling.

The development of the whistling signal by Scully in the 30s made
"unattended delivery" by one operator possible, as access to the tank
was no longer required in order to make a safe fill. As you pointed out,
it is a marvelously simple and virtually fail-safe device.

Thanks for the mammaries, and Happy Holidays,

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"





--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"