Oil tank retrieval tools to fish out something you dropped:

This article describes steps to take if you dropped a tool, fuel spout, or additive cap or something else into the heating oil storage tank.

Don't panic, probably you'll be fine and so will the oil tank. We describe the use of retrieval tools taken from the mechanical or well drilling industries to retrieve objects dropped into inaccessible spaces.

Need to Fish Out What You Dropped into the Oil Tank?

Also see WELL RETRIEVAL TOOLS - where we provide a complete list of tools used to fish out or retrieve stuff dropped into confined spaces.

On 2021-02-17 - by (mod) - Cap that fell 2 feet an is lodged in the oil tank fill pipe.

Sean

I'm really puzzled is usually the cap on the pipe is larger than the internal diameter of the pipe so I don't know how it fell down in there. If you can't hook the cap and pull it out with a stiff wire you may need to actually unscrew that section of fill pipe and the cap out from the other side and then reassemble it.

On 2021-02-17 by Sean

My name is Sean I am the guy with part of his home heating oil fuel. Cap that fell 2 feet an is lodged in the fiil pipe.

On 2020-03-02 by Anonymous

Anon

What a pain. If you cannot fish out the rock using a pair of coathangers or similar wire, your oil service company can actually excavate the tank top, remove the piping, poke out the rock, and re-install it.

On 2020-03-02 by Anonymous

Hi, I had one of my children put a rock down the pipe where you put the oil and it is lodged in the pipe and I cannot remove it I could see it it's just stuck in there is there anyway to retrieve this my tank is under the ground. Thank you

On 2019-12-09 - by (mod) -

Sal

If the metal things dropped into the tank haven't fouled the fuel gauge they lie on the bottom - not a catastrophe.

I'm a little concerned that the yardstick, if it's wood, will float and could jam your fuel gauge. That's probably the most immediate concern.

Next time drill a hole in one end of your yardstick and tie a cord through it and tie the other end to a nearby pipe so that you won't lose it in the tank.

On 2019-12-08 by Sal

Dropped yard stick in oil tank and then when trying to get it out I made a retrieval tool with wrench and pex and then dropped that in there , can I just leave or am.i loveed

On 2018-12-26 - by (mod) -

What a bummer.

I don't think the yardstick will harm the oil, even if it keeps floating.

I'm assuming that you're using a yardstick because there is no fuel level gauge. Otherwise I would be worried that the yard stick with Jam the gauge.

On 2018-12-23 by Brenda

Wooden yardstick dropped into kerosene fuel tank. Will it ventually become saturated and sink to bottom? It feeds from top

On 2016-11-15 by Pamela E

I dropped a folding carpenter's ruler in my oil tank (275 gal) while measuring oil. Afraid it will block oil flow while I am home and damage my furnace. Is this possible or am I worrying for nothing? Oil tank is full and in basement with low overhead clearance. Thanks.

Question: oil tank retrieval tools to fish out stuff dropped into the oil tank

(Feb 26, 2014) Joseph said:

Is there a strainer or some kind of guard at the outlet of the tank (on the inside)? Mine is a single line out the bottom side. I may or may not have dropped an oil can nozzle cap down the fill pipe and am worried it could block the oil flow.

(Aug 17, 2012) DP said:

Hi. I didn't have the funds to put the minimum oil delivery of 50 gallons (210$) in my oil tank. I bought a yellow diesel container and bought 2 gallons of diesel. It was simple enough to pour it into my 275 gallon tank BUT then I wound up dropping the 6" clear plastic spout from the yellow container into my oil tank.

I see no way to get it out. Any assistance would be appreciated. Maybe this plastic will dissolve and pass thru. Maybe it doesn't. The line leading from tank into my home and the burner is more narrow than the plastic nozzle I dropped in the tank. I am in the N.E. but we are in a heat wave right now so I really didn't need much fuel and needed to wait three weeks for my next pay check.

Reply: using a mechanic's retrieval tool or well retrieval tool at an oil tank

DP:

There are mechanic's retrieval tools that use a flexible rod and plunger that extrudes a wire "grabber" that could pick up an object from the tank bottom if you found or made a tool that was long enough, but once getting the fuel spout to the tank top you'd need still to manipulate it to move it end-wise out through the opening - a difficult but not impossible job.

The plastic fuel container spout that you dropped into the oil tank is probably not going to dissolve in the heating oil; as long as it is not interfering with the movement of the oil tank fuel level gauge nor movement of oil into the heating oil piping it's not going to hurt the system.

Also see WELL RETRIEVAL TOOLS - where we provide a complete list of tools used to fish out or retrieve stuff dropped into confined spaces.

Even if you leave the fuel can spout in place in the oil tank, reading that there is a whole industry of retrieval tools made for people who dropped something down into a well, oil tank, or other impossible location (such as inside of an automotive engine) will make you feel better.

Joseph:

I'm not aware of any in-tank filters, nor does one sound feasible - how would we get it in the tank, or get it out for cleaning. There's no strainer inside the tank.

But darn, I understand the worry of dropping something in the tank. And we can't just assume that the cap sits harmlessly on the tank bottom: oil tank contents are rather stirred up during an oil delivery.

If the top you dropped was metal there's a slight chance you can fish it out with a magnet retrieving tool, though it'll be tedious as the tool will want to stick to the tank too.

if the top you dropped into the oil tank was plastic ... well I'll continue to think about it, but for now I can just hope it either stays away from the tank outlet, or that its shape and position will prevent a total blockage. You'll know if it blocks the outlet.

You might get some ideas about making your own retrieval tool by reading our article found by searching InspectApedia for

Well Pipe Grabbers & Fishing Tools for Retrieving Stuff you Dropped Into the Well

• or hop directly over to read WELL RETRIEVAL TOOLS

or at least take comfort that you're not the only devil who's done something like this.

Also see

• Mehta, Rohini, Ancha Baranova, and Aybike Birerdinc. "Do-It-Yourself device for recovery of cryopreserved samples accidentally dropped into cryogenic storage tanks." Journal of visualized experiments: JoVE 63 (2012): e3903.

which will take you to a PDF link of the article - free

You'll see a panoply of home-made scoop-strainer type retrieval tools. Yours will have to be small enough to fit inside the tapping at the top of the oil tank. And there'll be some plumbing to disassemble and re-assemble. It's not trivial IMO. But a right-angled strainer-scooper might work if the magnet doesn't.

Send along photos of your tank and piping arrangement and I may be able to comment further. Keep us posted.

HEY before going to a lot of trouble look more carefully for the lost oil can cap; you'll be ... upset ... if you find the cap lying on the ground after you've already torn things apart and fished.

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Continue reading at OIL LINE CLOGGING FIX or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to HEATING OIL, OIL BURNERS, OIL FIRED HEATERS, OIL TANKS

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