Heating Oil Tank & Piping Sludge Cures
- POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about heating oil tank sludge, clogs, and relating heating equipment malfunctions
Sludge & crud or contaminants in heating oil storage tanks:
Steam cleaning oil tans & oil piping can clear out settled oil tank sludge and debris that are blocking heating oil delivery to an oil burner.
This article series explains the causes and cures for heating system problems due to sludge in home heating oil tanks, including problems of clogged oil piping, clogged oil filters, oil burner malfunctions, and loss of heat due to sludge in the oil tank. We explain why sludge is a problem in home heating oil & why it leads to loss of heat.
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Steam-Cleaning Fuel Oil Tanks & Tank Piping to Get Rid of Sludge
Heating oil tank repair, cleaning, & lining companies offer heating or fuel oil storage tank cleaning services that can include pumping out the oil tank, squeegee-cleaning of debris from tank interior, steam cleaning the oil storage tank, and steam cleaning the oil piping lines.
More often this service is performed on large commercial-sized (thousands of gallons) oil storage tanks, not on residential tanks.
The service will typically guarantee the removal of sludge from the oil storage tank and from plugged sections of heating oil return lines.
Watch out: oil tank steam cleaning experts who provide this service may offer these warnings about steam-cleaning of heating oil piping lines:
- Oil piping system leaks
may appear after steam cleaning because the cleaning process removes sludge that may have actually been sealing marginal oil piping sections or connections.
The heating contractor or service company should be sure to perform a vacuum test on the oil piping system after this or any other oil storage & piping system cleaning procedure. - Heavier Fuel Oil Heating & Pre-Heating Systems:
Steam cleaning of oil piping systems does not include the cleaning of any fuel oil heating equipment (such as a below-line side-arm heater) that is used with heaver heating oils such as No. 6 heating fuel oil.
The cleaning of heating equipment for fuel oil heaters used on heavier-oil systems should be discussed and if needed, added to the cleaning contract. - Document problems found:
the oil tank or oil piping cleaning contractor should leave a service ticket or similar document with the customer indicating the conditions found, such as evidence of oil piping leaks or oil tank damage. - Re-Prime the oil piping, pump & burner system:
Air or steam condensate left in the oil piping system (lines, pumps, tank) will usually require additional service steps including having to re-prime the oil burner fuel unit.
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Continue reading at OIL TANK REPLACE due to SLUDGE? or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.
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- STEAM CLEANING OIL TANKS & OIL PIPING
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Citations & Reviewers
In addition to any citations in the article above, a full list is available on request.
- [2] Domestic and Commercial Oil Burners, Charles H. Burkhardt, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York 3rd Ed 1969.
- [14] The ABC's of Retention Head Oil Burners, National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, TM 115, National Old Timers' Association of the Energy Industry, PO Box 168, Mineola, NY 11501. (Excellent tips on spotting problems on oil-fired heating equipment. Booklet.
- [15] AGA, Redfyre, or Rayburn directly at AGA, Station Road, Ketley, Telford, Shropshire, TF1 5AQ, UK, Tel: 08457 626 147, or 08458 152 020, Website: rayburn-web.co.uk
- [17] William K. Rashbaum, "Heating Oil Companies Face Inquiry on Purity of Fuel", The New York Times, 21 March 2013 p. A22.
- In addition to citations & references found in this article, see the research citations given at the end of the related articles found at our suggested
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- Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. Tel: (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 Email: info@carsondunlop.com. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The HOME REFERENCE BOOK - the Encyclopedia of Homes and to use illustrations from The ILLUSTRATED HOME .
Carson Dunlop Associates provides extensive home inspection education and report writing material. In gratitude we provide links to tsome Carson Dunlop Associates products and services.
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