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On average, a well-maintained heating oil tank should last around 10-15 years before it causes any trouble. Once the oil tank has hit this age, it's time to start budgeting for a new heating oil tank installation. Talk to your local oil tank replacement professionals about your options —that's us!
The only effective way to protect a tank against internal corrosion is to treat it with a corrosion inhibitor, like TANK-GUARD®, that mixes with the water and sludge – not with the oil. TANK-GUARD® is chemically engineered to fight the electrolysis and corrosion on the tank bottom.
Rust and Wet Spots
If your oil tank is running low, condensation can form in the tank, leading to rust or corrosion. Rust particles can sit at the bottom of the tank and get pulled into the fuel line.
Oil contaminates the soil. It also pollutes the groundwater when it leaks into wells and drainage areas. Such a tank poses grave health and safety problems for the owner of the property. As a homeowner, a leaking underground storage tank starts to pinch you financially as homeowner's insurance becomes costly.
Damp Spots: The first sign your oil tank is leaking is a damp spot on the tank. Usually, they will appear on the underside of your tank or along the seam at the bottom of the tank. As the leak gets worse, oil will travel up the side of the tank.
Removing An Underground Oil Tank
The longer a tank is left untreated, the more likely it is that it will rust and leak oil into the soil, resulting in soil contamination and further soil remediation and/or foundational underpinning to return the site to its natural, healthy state.
With that said, the first sign an oil tank is leaking is a damp spot on the tank. These damp spots most often appear on the underneath of the tank or along the seam at the bottom of the tank. As the leak progresses oil will travel up the side(s) of the tank.
Painting can help, but only if the proper procedures are employed. Because heating oil tanks are metal, they don't accept paint well. The proper base primer will combat this problem. Further complicating matters is that fact that heating oil tanks are very smooth.
Steel oil tanks are designed to last around 20 years but can last longer than this, but they do require some minimal maintenance.
You can prevent rust easily by coating the metal object with an oily shield using a cloth that has been treated or trunk with linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil dries faster than cold-pressed linseed oil, and forms a much harder surface.
Keeping your tank as full as possible at all times is the best way to avoid condensation and the problems it can cause. This is especially important over the spring and summer months, as fluctuations in outside air temperature can speed up condensation accumulation.
Oil contamination will damage you furnace and create blockages in filters and valves, increasing maintenance and repair costs. For these reason it is important to get your oil tank cleaned out periodically. Experts recommend having your oil tank cleaned out at least once every five years.
How long will ½ tank of heating oil last? Standard oil tanks can hold as approximately 1,000 litres. Therefore half of a tank would leave you with 500 litres. Burning at an average of 7.7 litres per hour, 520 litres of heating oil would last roughly 67 hours.
Your domestic oil tank should be serviced annually by a registered OFTEC engineer. Some suppliers recommend every 6 months and different types of tanks may require more servicing than others, for example, steel oil tanks need their oil-resistant coating maintained.
Running out of oil means the water and sediment in the bottom of the tank can get sucked into lines, causing clogs. Water and sediment can also damage your HVAC equipment itself.
Whitening and discolouration is a sign of surface bleaching of your plastic oil storage tank, which is caused by exposure to the UV light from the sun.
Yes, even the inside can rust, but what happens most times is that the tank will degrade on the bottom where the sludge, moisture, and water gather in the tank. And on the bottom edges at the seams are typically the first place the tank will start getting holes.
If your fuel tank has rust there are two ways fix the problem: Replace the tank with a new one or take steps to clean the inside of the tank, remove the rust, and seal the inside with a fuel tank sealer.
Why Do Fuel Tanks Rust? The typical metal fuel tank uses a galvanized steel construction. While the galvanization process helps to resist rust, all steel eventually succumbs to corrosion. Since steel contains iron, the material rusts as the metal reacts with oxygen in the presence of moisture.
A tank test can be done to test how tight the storage structure is. They will also test the fuel lines since faulty or corroded lines can cause oil to seep into the ground. According to tank-removal companies, leaks occur in 30 – 50 percent of the cases.
Nowadays, most modern oil tanks are made with recyclable polyethylene, a hard wearing plastic that won't rust or require painting. However steel tanks still have their place and do have their own advantages. To make life easier for you, we've listed a few of the main cons and pros for each material below.
Any oil leak or spill has the potential to lead to a fire if ignited accidentally. After noticing a leak coming from your oil tank, you should turn off the oil supply as soon as possible if you can do it safely.