The pipe that goes between the oil tank and the boiler (in my Aunts
house) is leaking.
Well, no oil is getting through to the boiler and oil is leaking from
the pipe close to the tank. The plumber who has looked at it says that
the copper pipe is encased in a plastic sheath beneath the concrete
and the oil is leaking through the copper and flowing back between the
copper and plastic and emerging from the pipe near the oil tank.
Is this likely or possible? (I haven't actually seen it myself so i'm
only relaying a secondhand account).

The tank is situated about 10 or 15 yards from the house in a secluded
spot and ideally she doesn't want to have to move the tank adjacent to
the house as it would be unsightly.

How difficult would it be to cut a groove in the concrete with some
sort of grinder and relay it?
How deep would it have to go as cutting through 2/3 feet of concrete
sounds unrealistic?

On 17 Feb, 21:39, jim wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:20, wrote:



The pipe that goes between the oil tank and the boiler (in my Aunts
house) is leaking.
Well, no oil is getting through to the boiler and oil is leaking from
the pipe close to the tank. The plumber who has looked at it says that
the copper pipe is encased in a plastic sheath beneath the concrete
and the oil is leaking through the copper and flowing back between the
copper and plastic and emerging from the pipe near the oil tank.
Is this likely or possible? (I haven't actually seen it myself so i'm
only relaying a secondhand account).

The tank is situated about 10 or 15 yards from the house in a secluded
spot and ideally she doesn't want to have to move the tank adjacent to
the house as it would be unsightly.

How difficult would it be to cut a groove in the concrete with some
sort of grinder and relay it?
How deep would it have to go as cutting through 2/3 feet of concrete
sounds unrealistic?

seems odd that it's started leaking *somewhere* under 2 ft of
presumably undisturbed ?? concrete and then tracking back to the tank
- perhaps more likely it's leaking whewre the sheathed pipe joins the
valve at the tank and *appears* to be coming from a leak further on?

Did the guy do it originally? can't be that old if it's white plastic
sheathed?? Has he quoted for replacing the whole lot perchance??

Have you tried checking whether the leak is coming from tank end or
*further* down pipe and tracking back? - bog roll twisted and wrapped
round at various points (to absorb oil and so narrow down origin of
leaks) is your friend........

cheers
jim

That sounds rather unlikely to me unless things have been disturbed -
after all why would it fail?

The normal arrangement of these things is that there will be a few
inches/cm/insert-your-favourite-small-unit-here of bare copper tube at
the connection to the tank before the plastic cover begins. Oil
leaking from the joint to the tank will run down the tube and be
noticeable as it hits the plastic. I would thoroughly clean the pipe
with paper towels so that it's both clean and dry. Then leave it a
short while and carefully examine it (use a mirror to see the back if
necessary) and you should be able to see for sure where the oil is
coming from.

Actually, thinking a bit more about it, you said no oil was getting to
the boiler. Unless it's absolutely ****ing out of a hole in the pipe,
which I doubt from the tone of your post, then I can't see why a small
leak would stop oil getting to the boiler. How much oil is leaking?
Could it be that the boiler has a problem or the tank filter is
blocked or something and your aunt has called out the service man who
has just spotted a minor leak that has been there for ages and is
nothing to do with the real fault?

wrote in message
...
The pipe that goes between the oil tank and the boiler (in my Aunts
house) is leaking.
Well, no oil is getting through to the boiler and oil is leaking from
the pipe close to the tank. The plumber who has looked at it says that
the copper pipe is encased in a plastic sheath beneath the concrete
and the oil is leaking through the copper and flowing back between the
copper and plastic and emerging from the pipe near the oil tank.
Is this likely or possible? (I haven't actually seen it myself so i'm
only relaying a secondhand account).


That is a bit surprising. I would look for obvious damage to the pipe, and
investigate whether there is no some other cause of a blockage, such as
filter that needs changing.


The tank is situated about 10 or 15 yards from the house in a secluded
spot and ideally she doesn't want to have to move the tank adjacent to
the house as it would be unsightly.

How difficult would it be to cut a groove in the concrete with some
sort of grinder and relay it?
How deep would it have to go as cutting through 2/3 feet of concrete
sounds unrealistic?

There is a leaflet on the Oftec web site that says that the pipes should be
450 mm deep.


--
Michael Chare

Calvin wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:39, jim wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:20, wrote:



The pipe that goes between the oil tank and the boiler (in my Aunts
house) is leaking.
Well, no oil is getting through to the boiler and oil is leaking from
the pipe close to the tank. The plumber who has looked at it says that
the copper pipe is encased in a plastic sheath beneath the concrete
and the oil is leaking through the copper and flowing back between the
copper and plastic and emerging from the pipe near the oil tank.
Is this likely or possible? (I haven't actually seen it myself so i'm
only relaying a secondhand account).
The tank is situated about 10 or 15 yards from the house in a secluded
spot and ideally she doesn't want to have to move the tank adjacent to
the house as it would be unsightly.
How difficult would it be to cut a groove in the concrete with some
sort of grinder and relay it?
How deep would it have to go as cutting through 2/3 feet of concrete
sounds unrealistic?
seems odd that it's started leaking *somewhere* under 2 ft of
presumably undisturbed ?? concrete and then tracking back to the tank
- perhaps more likely it's leaking whewre the sheathed pipe joins the
valve at the tank and *appears* to be coming from a leak further on?

Did the guy do it originally? can't be that old if it's white plastic
sheathed?? Has he quoted for replacing the whole lot perchance??

Have you tried checking whether the leak is coming from tank end or
*further* down pipe and tracking back? - bog roll twisted and wrapped
round at various points (to absorb oil and so narrow down origin of
leaks) is your friend........

cheers
jim

That sounds rather unlikely to me unless things have been disturbed -
after all why would it fail?

The normal arrangement of these things is that there will be a few
inches/cm/insert-your-favourite-small-unit-here of bare copper tube at
the connection to the tank before the plastic cover begins. Oil
leaking from the joint to the tank will run down the tube and be
noticeable as it hits the plastic. I would thoroughly clean the pipe
with paper towels so that it's both clean and dry. Then leave it a
short while and carefully examine it (use a mirror to see the back if
necessary) and you should be able to see for sure where the oil is
coming from.

Actually, thinking a bit more about it, you said no oil was getting to
the boiler. Unless it's absolutely ****ing out of a hole in the pipe,
which I doubt from the tone of your post, then I can't see why a small
leak would stop oil getting to the boiler. How much oil is leaking?
Could it be that the boiler has a problem or the tank filter is
blocked or something and your aunt has called out the service man who
has just spotted a minor leak that has been there for ages and is
nothing to do with the real fault?

Make sure that the leaking oil is caught. It is very expensive for you
and/or the neighbour to replace their gardens including topsoil.

On 18 Feb, 08:55, Invisible Man wrote:
Calvin wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:39, jim wrote:
On 17 Feb, 21:20, wrote:

The pipe that goes between the oil tank and the boiler (in my Aunts
house) is leaking.
Well, no oil is getting through to the boiler and oil is leaking from
the pipe close to the tank. The plumber who has looked at it says that
the copper pipe is encased in a plastic sheath beneath the concrete
and the oil is leaking through the copper and flowing back between the
copper and plastic and emerging from the pipe near the oil tank.
Is this likely or possible? (I haven't actually seen it myself so i'm
only relaying a secondhand account).
The tank is situated about 10 or 15 yards from the house in a secluded
spot and ideally she doesn't want to have to move the tank adjacent to
the house as it would be unsightly.
How difficult would it be to cut a groove in the concrete with some
sort of grinder and relay it?
How deep would it have to go as cutting through 2/3 feet of concrete
sounds unrealistic?
seems odd that it's started leaking *somewhere* under 2 ft of
presumably undisturbed ?? concrete and then tracking back to the tank
- perhaps more likely it's leaking whewre the sheathed pipe joins the
valve at the tank and *appears* to be coming from a leak further on?

Did the guy do it originally? can't be that old if it's white plastic
sheathed?? Has he quoted for replacing the whole lot perchance??

Have you tried checking whether the leak is coming from tank end or
*further* down pipe and tracking back? - bog roll twisted and wrapped
round at various points (to absorb oil and so narrow down origin of
leaks) is your friend........

cheers
jim

That sounds rather unlikely to me unless things have been disturbed -
after all why would it fail?

The normal arrangement of these things is that there will be a few
inches/cm/insert-your-favourite-small-unit-here of bare copper tube at
the connection to the tank before the plastic cover begins. *Oil
leaking from the joint to the tank will run down the tube and be
noticeable as it hits the plastic. *I would thoroughly clean the pipe
with paper towels so that it's both clean and dry. *Then leave it a
short while and carefully examine it (use a mirror to see the back if
necessary) and you should be able to see for sure where the oil is
coming from.

Actually, thinking a bit more about it, you said no oil was getting to
the boiler. *Unless it's absolutely ****ing out of a hole in the pipe,
which I doubt from the tone of your post, then I can't see why a small
leak would stop oil getting to the boiler. *How much oil is leaking?
Could it be that the boiler has a problem or the tank filter is
blocked or something and your aunt has called out the service man who
has just spotted a minor leak that has been there for ages and is
nothing to do with the real fault?

Make sure that the leaking oil is caught. It is very expensive for you
and/or the neighbour to replace their gardens including topsoil.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

only if you are stupid enough to involve oficialdom. Kerosine and Gas
oil both evaporate given time

On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:20:46 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Well, no oil is getting through to the boiler

There is oil in the tank? Don't rely on a remote electronic gauge and
remember the sight tube will need it's valve opening at the bottom (push
button or a small tap) to read correctly. Failing that dip the tank.

Water in a low point of the feed that has frozen.
Blocked fire valve.
Blocked filter.

and oil is leaking from the pipe close to the tank. The plumber ...

Why a "plumber" and not a OFTEC registered heating engineer?

who has looked at it says that the copper pipe is encased in a plastic
sheath beneath the concrete and the oil is leaking through the copper
and flowing back between the copper and plastic and emerging from the
pipe near the oil tank. Is this likely or possible?

Well it's possible but not likely IMHO. As others has said what would
cause the failure? Has the pipe route been driven over by a heavy vehicle
recently? Have there been really hard prolonged frosts? I'm thinking of
heave due to the ground freezing but the pipe would have to be quite
shallow.

How deep would it have to go as cutting through 2/3 feet of concrete
sounds unrealistic?

The regulation depth of the pipe is 18" but I wouldn't expect anything
like that depth of concrete. See if you can prove where the oil is coming
from as others have suggested and go from there.

--
Cheers
Dave.