Home heating oil tank problem

murphym7

I looked for a thread on this but could not find one.

I moved into my house last April and have had one fill of oil so far. The guy who filled the tank brought my attention to a bulge or belly in the middle of the tank. The tank is on two rows of blocks instead of 3, and now has a belly in it, about 70 liters worth.

I was hoping that when the oil was used the belly would come out of it and I could rebuild a center row of blocks. This has not happened, I have a few questions:

1) Is this a big risk of leaks due to cracks?
2) Is there anyway of correcting this?
3) Do I have to get a new tank?

Thanks

Beverley Macca

Can't answer your questions but if it leaks then you are in trouble. We had a six foot deep and eight foot wide trench dug around our house for months. We had a similar pit dug in a downstairs room. The whole job cost €70k. It was covered by insurance which was fine, but the inconvenience lasted eight months.

Sparkpea

It will eventually leak I expect

No the bulge wont go out of it as its stretched the plastic

An oil tank, by regulations must sit on a solid base (not piers of bricks just). The base should overlap the tank area by 300mm on all four corners and should be 600mm away from a boundy and 1800mm away from a house or building.

The reason your tank has bellied is because it wasn't supported correctly underneath.

Those regulations are for up north but I imagine the south is similar.

Buford T Justice

Sparkpea wrote: »

It will eventually leak I expect

No the bulge wont go out of it as its stretched the plastic

An oil tank, by regulations must sit on a solid base (not piers of bricks just). The base should overlap the tank area by 300mm on all four corners and should be 600mm away from a boundy and 1800mm away from a house or building.

The reason your tank has bellied is because it wasn't supported correctly underneath.

Those regulations are for up north but I imagine the south is similar.

Whats the current regs re bunded tanks in the north?

Sparkpea

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Whats the current regs re bunded tanks in the north?

new installs need to be bunded tanks

you can install normal tanks but u will have issues when it comes to selling your house, same with standard boilers - god knows why they are both still made..

Buford T Justice

Sparkpea wrote: »

new installs need to be bunded tanks

you can install normal tanks but u will have issues when it comes to selling your house, same with standard boilers - god knows why they are both still made..

Thats why there's a crowd in the South selling s/h boilers from the north. They're all being replaced for condensing ones, and they're shifting the old ones down to the paddys;).

murphym7

Thanks for the replies - I have decided to put another 500Lt in this weekend to get me over Christmas. I have a tank crowd coming over in Feb who will remove this tank, out in new 1100Lt tank and transfer oil between two for €450. Happy enough with that price I think.

Buford T Justice

murphym7 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - I have decided to put another 500Lt in this weekend to get me over Christmas. I have a tank crowd coming over in Feb who will remove this tank, out in new 1100Lt tank and transfer oil between two for €450. Happy enough with that price I think.

Isn't that a bit of a waste of money on a 500L tank?

murphym7

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Isn't that a bit of a waste of money on a 500L tank?

Not sure I understand - what is the waste of money?

I'm replacing the old dodgy tank with a new tank of the same size, and any oil that is in the old tank gets transfered to the new one. I need oil for heating for Christmas so I need a fill now. I don't understand where the waste of money is, I am new to this oil business so please help me understand, I don't want to waste money on something I know little about.

Buford T Justice

murphym7 wrote: »

Not sure I understand - what is the waste of money?

I'm replacing the old dodgy tank with a new tank of the same size, and any oil that is in the old tank gets transfered to the new one. I need oil for heating for Christmas so I need a fill now. I don't understand where the waste of money is, I am new to this oil business so please help me understand, I don't want to waste money on something I know little about.

My bad OP, i misread your post. I thought you were talking about getting a 500lt tank for the christmas, and then a new one again in the new year, hence the wasting money thing

murphym7

Fingers McGee wrote: »

My bad OP, i misread your post. I thought you were talking about getting a 500lt tank for the christmas, and then a new one again in the new year, hence the wasting money thing

Thanks for coming back to me Fingers, I thought I was doing something stupid!:)

I find this oil heating a total pain in the arse - I always had gas up to thsi house and had no bother, now I am worrying about the tank getting empty, ordering oil, PAYING for oil and now having to replace my tank. Although I just enetered an aggreement with TEXOIL to pay my yearly cost each month instead, that should be a great help.