need to drain an old tank...

LithiumKid1976

I have a house, that im trying to sell.
i have two plastic old tanks, one that connected, and one that was left to the side to be removed at a later date.

that later date never materialized, and its bit sitting there. taking up space.
Its a bit tank, and oddly appears to have a good bit of kerosene in it.
i thought this would have been drained prior to the replacement going in.

so, i need to drain the old tank, before i can begin to lift it.

obviously i dont want to tipp it out as it would be bad for the environment, and i cant tip it to put it in to another container.

how do i drain it so i can move it?

Also, couldnt find the right forum, left it in garden, as the tank is in the garden, feel free to move to the correct forum...

Lumen

Siphon

magicbastarder

into what though, i guess is the question. the OP says there's a good bit of kerosene in there.

i have drained a tank before, but it was 150l, so two runs in the car with a few 20l or 25l drums to transfer the kerosene to the recipient tank.

Lumen

Well if there's that much kerosene in it you could advertise it as partly filled and then someone else can solve both problems.

LithiumKid1976

looking at this siphon option, i only see hand pumps, god know how long that would take to Empty. but it might be the only option?

LithiumKid1976

Lumen wrote: »

Well if there's that much kerosene in it you could advertise it as partly filled and then someone else can solve both problems.

the only thing with that though is how to move it,
there is no way to access it from the back of the house due to trees,
(it was probably dropped in place with a hoist when the houses were being built.

you could bring it up the side of the house, but there inst much room there either..

Lumen

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

looking at this siphon option, i only see hand pumps, god know how long that would take to Empty. but it might be the only option?

I've only done siphoning the old fashioned way (sucking on a hose) but you only need the suction to start the process and then it's gravity working for you.

wexie

Get one of these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drill-Suitable-Fluids-Diesel-Kerosene/dp/B00HSITYT0

magicbastarder

what pipes are feeding from it? are they flexible?

if they're flexible (i was lucky in this sense), i was able to cut the pipe and just bend the end of it up to where it was higher than the level in the tank - and when i wanted to drain it, just had to bend it back down again.

rovertom

Firstly,
Do not make the mistake of pumping it direct into your current tank. It will likely mess up your good oil and possibly your oil burner with the amount of crap that is going to be in the base of the old tank.
Saying that, the oil is likely perfectly fine when handled right.
Can you drain it off at the pipe connection at base of tank? There should be a lever there.
If so, you could fill it into 20L drums or get friends and family around with their own 20L drums and let them take it away.
If you were careful, you could syphon from tank into can and then into new tank. If I was doing it, I would set up suction pipe so that it takes oil from a few inches below surface. That way you should avoid any floating debris and also avoid the water and muck from base of tank.
Once empty, it is easy to move tank.

_Brian

Plenty of lads have small pumps for transferring oil.

I’d say offer the oil free to take away and you’ll get a stream of offers to pump it out.

Fr_Dougal

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

looking at this siphon option, i only see hand pumps, god know how long that would take to Empty. but it might be the only option?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kerosene-Extractor-Electric-Transfer-Vehicle/dp/B072QYC4HN/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&qid=1537398303&sr=8-31&keywords=oil+drain+pump

40 litres p/m

Jimmy.

Lumen wrote: »

I've only done siphoning the old fashioned way (sucking on a hose) but you only need the suction to start the process and then it's gravity working for you.

What length pipe do you suck?

Del2005

Our ethnic minority have a handy way to empty plastic tanks. Heat a copper pipe and stick it into the bottom of the tank and you will get it out. Stick a valve on the pipe as you will want to be able to stop the flow.

BigAl81

_Brian wrote:

I’d say offer the oil free to take away and you’ll get a stream of offers to pump it out.

Hi,

Also have an old metal tank with a fair bit of oil in it. Do you know where you could make such an offer? Adverts or DoneDeal is it?

I'd say the scrap metal of the old heavy tank could be worth a bit too if someone could take that away!

Thanks,
Al.

_Brian

Either, or your local Facebook for sale group

magicbastarder

After I drained my (plastic) tank, I put it on sale on adverts. Tumbleweed. Then stuck it on donedeal and had it sold within a few hours.

_Brian

Adverts is great if you want to swap something for an odd sock with a hole in the toe.
DD gets serious hits.

Hocus Focus

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

looking at this siphon option, i only see hand pumps, god know how long that would take to Empty. but it might be the only option?

Below is a link to a Hand Siphon Pump which gives up to 4 Gallons (20 litres) per minute. You start the flow either with the jiggler valve or the rubber bulb, then the siphon action takes over, just sit back and watch it flow.
I'm going to get one of these to extract some suspect fuel from the tank of my boat.
When you have it empty, consider cutting it up with a chainsaw for removal, (get a sack of sawdust to soak up any remaining fuel, your local butcher will tell you where to get it).


https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M5D2XZQ/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01M5D2XZQ&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=8e5be0e3-b258-4b06-8b6e-695b24f935a4&pf_rd_r=VTWN42BX2JTXKCSS3CST&pd_rd_wg=5OFzk&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=sGMzZ&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=0d57474c-c7e2-11e8-aa96-2dfcaacd0086