What steps should be taken to maintain a fuel oil tank? Mine is more
than 31 years old.

Is it a good idea to put in any kind of additive for disolving sludge
and water ?

I have heard some say yes, add in a disolver just prior to taking an
oil delivery and others say, not to use a disolver unless the tank has
been treated since it was new.

TNX

Vince
Long Island, in New York

i would check for rust when the oil level is low, assuming a steel tank
your near its design life.

trying to dissolve crud may move it to your furnace clogging it and
worse open leaks in rust

If your oil tank has been touching a wall for 31 years, just call someone to
get it replaced. If not, put in something like ComStar Super Heat '8 in 1'
or Hot '4 in 1' treatment. The person who told you not to treat it with
anything is seriously misinformed.


wrote in message
oups.com...
i would check for rust when the oil level is low, assuming a steel tank
your near its design life.

trying to dissolve crud may move it to your furnace clogging it and
worse open leaks in rust

Vince wrote:

What steps should be taken to maintain a fuel oil tank? Mine is more
than 31 years old.

At that age, I'd be looking for a new tank.

You missed the boat. A couple years ago NY gave a Tax rebate of
several hundred dollars to replace home fuel-oil tanks. You should
check to see if the state repeated it-- or if NYC has a similar plan.
[do you pay city income tax out there, or is that just Manhattan?]

I don't think my tank was much over 20-25 yrs old, and it got treated
with "Hot"(Heat?) every time it was filled. [at least for the 16 yrs
that I lived here- The delivery guy puts it in] It still had several
inches of sludge in the bottom of the tank when I cut it apart. It
also had some thin spots along the bottom.

The cost of paying for a cleanup if your tank ruptures should convince
you to catch this before it becomes a major hassle.

Jim

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
What steps should be taken to maintain a fuel oil tank? Mine is more
than 31 years old.

At that age, I'd be looking for a new tank.

Why? I know of tanks that exceed 50 years and have caused no problems.
While it may be a good idea to check it out, to replace it just because of
age seems like overkill to me.

I've seen a lot of leaking oil tanks, but I've never seen a rusted tank
rupture. They usually just start with a little leak. On the other hand, I've
seen several oil tanks rupture from the tank vent being too small. I got
called for an estimate once where the guy had two brand new tanks installed,
using the existing 2" vent and 1" fill. The seams on both tanks were
ruptured and the oil went into a stream. Cost the HO $40K.

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
Vince wrote:

What steps should be taken to maintain a fuel oil tank? Mine is more
than 31 years old.

At that age, I'd be looking for a new tank.

You missed the boat. A couple years ago NY gave a Tax rebate of
several hundred dollars to replace home fuel-oil tanks. You should
check to see if the state repeated it-- or if NYC has a similar plan.
[do you pay city income tax out there, or is that just Manhattan?]

I don't think my tank was much over 20-25 yrs old, and it got treated
with "Hot"(Heat?) every time it was filled. [at least for the 16 yrs
that I lived here- The delivery guy puts it in] It still had several
inches of sludge in the bottom of the tank when I cut it apart. It
also had some thin spots along the bottom.

The cost of paying for a cleanup if your tank ruptures should convince
you to catch this before it becomes a major hassle.

Jim

Around here home insurance companies will not renew nor provide insurance
for houses that have oil tanks 25 years old or older.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
news:Z7tEf.2949$ap3.1267@trndny03...

"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
What steps should be taken to maintain a fuel oil tank? Mine is more
than 31 years old.

At that age, I'd be looking for a new tank.

Why? I know of tanks that exceed 50 years and have caused no problems.
While it may be a good idea to check it out, to replace it just because of
age seems like overkill to me.