DIYbanter - clogged oil tank whistle

DIYbanter (https://www.diybanter.com/)

- Home Repair (https://www.diybanter.com/home-repair/)

- - clogged oil tank whistle (https://www.diybanter.com/home-repair/53245-clogged-oil-tank-whistle.html)

clogged oil tank whistle

Hi there,

Does anyone have any sort of miracle solution to unplug a clogged up oil
tank whistle? Mine is plugged up by what I'm assuming is flies and ladybugs
(We got plenty of those this year). Air still comes out of the vent pipe
when the tank is being filled so is must be going around the whistle.

The last time the oil delivery guy was here, the tank was empty so he
had no problem filling it by watching the meter after confirming there were
no leaks (since it's a 1 year old tank). He indicated it was a one-time
deal however and that I need to get that whistle working again.

From what I can see to get the whistle out of the tank involves
dismantling the entire vent pipe. The vent pipe has about 3 joints that
would all have to be undone and involves going underneath a very shallow
(18" in some spots) deck to take it all apart. The tank installer cursed
the entire time he was under there. Now there is -20C freezing temperatures
and snow to contend with so I doubt I'd get anyone to go under until spring
time.

Is there some way to clear the blockage without pulling the whistle?
There are 3 elbows between the top of the vent and the tank.

-- Steve

clogged oil tank whistle

Steve wrote:
Is there some way to clear the blockage without pulling the
whistle? There are 3 elbows between the top of the vent and the tank.

How about a remote-reading overfill gauge?
http://www.ksentry.com/overfill.htm

clogged oil tank whistle

wrote in message
...
Whistle???????

I have lived in several houses with oil heat, and never heard a
whistle...... I just had a fill guage in the tank center, and a 2
inch fill pipe, and 1 inch vent pipe. I was in WI.
Is this something local to your area? What state?

Funny you should ask that. I've lived in this house for almost 15 years &
never thought my oil tank might have a whistle. I had the same thing in my
head when I had my oil tank filled yesterday. As I'm standing there, sure
enough, the oil tank was whistling. So I asked the truck driver why the
oil tank had a whistle. When the whistle stops, the tank is full. It's to
prevent overflows. Learn something new everyday.

Joe F.

clogged oil tank whistle

Usually the whistle is located in the vent pipe just above the tank. As
the tank is filled the oil level rises and air is forced out of the vent
pipe past the whistle. When the oil begins to rise into the vent pipe
it submerges the whistle and the whistle stops making a sound. My guess
is that insects aren't the problem since the vent cover has a screen in
it. Since the tank is only a year old I'd get the fellow who installed
it back out. Removing the vent line can be a major production but
that's the way to the whistle. Do you have an unused opening in the top
of you tank that would accept a level sensor?

RB

Steve wrote:
Hi there,

Does anyone have any sort of miracle solution to unplug a clogged up oil
tank whistle? Mine is plugged up by what I'm assuming is flies and ladybugs
(We got plenty of those this year). Air still comes out of the vent pipe
when the tank is being filled so is must be going around the whistle.

The last time the oil delivery guy was here, the tank was empty so he
had no problem filling it by watching the meter after confirming there were
no leaks (since it's a 1 year old tank). He indicated it was a one-time
deal however and that I need to get that whistle working again.

From what I can see to get the whistle out of the tank involves
dismantling the entire vent pipe. The vent pipe has about 3 joints that
would all have to be undone and involves going underneath a very shallow
(18" in some spots) deck to take it all apart. The tank installer cursed
the entire time he was under there. Now there is -20C freezing temperatures
and snow to contend with so I doubt I'd get anyone to go under until spring
time.

Is there some way to clear the blockage without pulling the whistle?
There are 3 elbows between the top of the vent and the tank.

-- Steve

clogged oil tank whistle

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 23:20:59 -0500, "Steve"
wrote (with possible editing):

Hi there,

Does anyone have any sort of miracle solution to unplug a clogged up oil
tank whistle? Mine is plugged up by what I'm assuming is flies and ladybugs
(We got plenty of those this year). Air still comes out of the vent pipe
when the tank is being filled so is must be going around the whistle.

....snip

Here the whistle is just mounted at the end of a vent pipe. The key
word is "mounted" - it isn't part of the pipe. You just take it off
and replace it with a new one. Here it's a 10 minute job.

--

Larry
Email to rapp at lmr dot com

clogged oil tank whistle

RB wrote:

Usually the whistle is located in the vent pipe just above the tank. As
the tank is filled the oil level rises and air is forced out of the vent
pipe past the whistle. When the oil begins to rise into the vent pipe
it submerges the whistle and the whistle stops making a sound.

Your answer is close, but not quite right.

I'm qualified to pontificate about this subject as 20 some years ago I spent a
dozen years of my career as the Chief Engineer of the Scully Signal Company. That
company was the original promoter and manfacturer of the whistling tank fill
signal, (The "Scully Signal") which it brought onto the market in the early 1930s.
That device made "automatic unattended oil delivery" possible. The company still
makes those whistling fill signals, along with lots of other mechanical and
electronic equipment associated with fuel oil and gasoline delivery and storage.

Prior to that invention, if the fuel oil tank was inside a house, oil delivery
required access to the inside to check how much the tank could accept and
sometimes even a second person in there watching a tank gauge, or just looking in
an bung hole, ready to bang on the vent pipe with a wrench to signal the guy
outside to stop filling.

The whistle has a hollow stem extending down from it about 5 or 6 inches into the
tank. When the rising oil level reaches the bottom of the stem, the venting
air/oil vapor stops flowing through that tube and blowing the whistle, signaling
that the tank is filled to a safe level, and leaving enough head space to
accomodate the expansion of the possibly cold oil warming up to interior
temperature.

If as you said, the oil had to be all the way up to the vent pipe to stop the
whistle, then the deliveryman would have to act super quick to shut the nozzle
before oil came spraying out of the vent pipe, and there'd be no head room left in
the tank for expansion of the oil.

The whistle and it's tube are "loose" and form a mushroom shaped gravity operated
presure relief valve which acts to keep the air/vapor pressure above the oil
relatively constant over a wide range of filling flow rates. As the flow rate
increases, the whole whistle and it's stem rises to spill the excess pressure
around it. And the whistles have a "bug screen" built right on them, because not
all vent caps are screened.

The whistling fill signal is a very simple device that almost never fails, and if
it does, it "fails safe", as the deliveryman is trained to stop filling if he
doesn't hear a whistle from the ventpipe within a second or two of starting to
fill the tank.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS!

You won't have to dismantle all the vent piping. You can just cut the pipe and
rejoin it with a double ended compression coupling after you remove and replace
the whistling fill signal. There are even fill signals made with a compression
fitting on thier top ends, which you could use if you hacksaw the vent pipe right
at the top of the existing signal, providing there's enough spring in the ventpipe
to accomodate things.

I'd lean on the original installer to replace that fill signal.

Let us know what happens...

Good Luck,

Jeff
--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"If you can keep smiling when things go wrong, you've thought of someone to place
the blame on."

My guess
is that insects aren't the problem since the vent cover has a screen in
it. Since the tank is only a year old I'd get the fellow who installed
it back out. Removing the vent line can be a major production but
that's the way to the whistle. Do you have an unused opening in the top
of you tank that would accept a level sensor?

RB

Steve wrote:
Hi there,

Does anyone have any sort of miracle solution to unplug a clogged up oil
tank whistle? Mine is plugged up by what I'm assuming is flies and ladybugs
(We got plenty of those this year). Air still comes out of the vent pipe
when the tank is being filled so is must be going around the whistle.

The last time the oil delivery guy was here, the tank was empty so he
had no problem filling it by watching the meter after confirming there were
no leaks (since it's a 1 year old tank). He indicated it was a one-time
deal however and that I need to get that whistle working again.

From what I can see to get the whistle out of the tank involves
dismantling the entire vent pipe. The vent pipe has about 3 joints that
would all have to be undone and involves going underneath a very shallow
(18" in some spots) deck to take it all apart. The tank installer cursed
the entire time he was under there. Now there is -20C freezing temperatures
and snow to contend with so I doubt I'd get anyone to go under until spring
time.

Is there some way to clear the blockage without pulling the whistle?
There are 3 elbows between the top of the vent and the tank.

-- Steve

clogged oil tank whistle

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve (Post 413333)

Reverse vacuum cleaner to blower side and blow into outside vent pipe. To test - blow air into fill pipe. Took about 2 minutes not counting setup time.

clogged oil tank whistle

replying to Steve, Rickyd61 wrote:
A much easier way, I have found,although depending on how blocked your whistle
is, is to switch the hose on your shopvac so that its blowing, not sucking,
and alternate blowing air down the vent,and fill pipes alternately. This may
free up the obstruction. This has worked for me in the past, and also not
worked,again, depending on what's obstructing the whistle. Good luck

--
for full context, visit http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...le-499262-.htm

clogged oil tank whistle

replying to Steve, laurie wrote:
i've got the same issue. no whistle. first time it's been a problem in 30
years. gotta call my furnace repair guy so i can get it fixed and get oil.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...le-499262-.htm

clogged oil tank whistle

replying to Steve, Bangle eugene wrote:
Same thing

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...le-499262-.htm

clogged oil tank whistle

replying to rb608, David wrote:
I needed have they said I need a oil whistle cap for outside could you what
that mean and do I get one

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...le-499262-.htm

clogged oil tank whistle

On 2/2/18 1:44 PM, David wrote:
replying to rb608, David wrote:
I needed have they said I need a oil whistleÂ* cap for outside could
you what
that mean and do I get one

They probably mean this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Belle-Fo...038P/202274805

It keeps leaves and small animals out of the vent, which can clog the
whistle, which is in or near the tank.

BTDT ;-)

clogged oil tank whistle

My tank whistle is getting less and less heard. How. much will it cost to clean whistle and put new seal on bolts. Tank above ground.

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...le-499262-.htm

clogged oil tank whistle

In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 4 Feb 2021 17:31:12 +0000, Cheryl Smith
wrote:

My tank whistle is getting less and less heard. How. much will it cost to clean whistle and put new seal on bolts. Tank above ground.

Don't know but you can call 2 or 3 oil delivery companies and ask them
how much they will charge. They know better than we do. A handyman
might do it for less but I don't think most handymen have ever been
called on to do this. You don't want him learning on your tank. I'm
"handy" and I have a basement tank with a refill pipe outside, and I
have no idea how to clean it or take it apart, but my tank is in the
corner and I built shelves in front of the pipe, so I don't even know
where it comes apart. The oil delivery company hasn't spilled oil yet,
after 42 years, so the whistle must still work.

But this might help:
https://www.google.com/search?client...l+tank+whistle

https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/...in_place.p df
This should be tried first, at least before trying to take it apart.

https://alloiltank.com/oil-tank-whistle/
But read this first. It has a part about cleaning, might be better

https://askinglot.com/how-do-you-cle...l-tank-whistle

https://www.doityourself.com/forum/g...-delivery.html

I haven't read any of these.