Checking Your Tank Regularly.
No oil tank, whether plastic or steel, is completely maintenance-free!
The oil company tanker driver should inspect your tank every time they fill it to ensure it is fit to be filled. Also, your heating engineer should check it annually as part of the boiler service, but what do you need to look for and check?
Plastic Oil Tank Check
Look for any cracks in your tank but also any discolouration and bulges.
Steel Oil Tank Check
Check for rust and any sweat marks on your oil tank. It would be best to touch your oil tank in areas you are unsure of and smell your fingers. First, you should examine your oil tank to see if you can smell any oil. If you can smell the oil on your fingers, it may indicate that your tank is starting to reach the end of its life. However, steel oil tanks can sweat for quite a long time; don’t panic! But it does need sorting.
Check Your Pipework
Look out for any brown patches of grass where your oil line could be. Look out for any oil on the floor and see if you can smell oil around your tank. These could all be signs that your oil tank or pipework is leaking.
If you have a bund, check it has no oil in it. If it’s a bunded oil tank, you should have access to it from the top of your oil tank, so it’s also trying to dip it with something to check. If it’s a single-skin tank in an open bund, check the open bund is holding water, and if need be, get it emptied by a licensed contractor. You need to do something about it if it’s not holding water. If it’s not holding water, it won’t hold oil. If your tank leaks, it is a complete waste of time!
Ensure any foliage around your oil tank is trimmed well back so you can see all around it.
Dip your oil tank for water
We sell a special water-finding paste you can paint onto the bottom of a stick. Due to water being heavier than oil, any water in your tank should sink to the bottom, and the paste on the bottom of a stick should change colour if any water is present.
If you find any water in the bottom of your oil tank, remove it as soon as possible. As it could freeze and expand and close your oil line off in really cold water, just when you need your heating the most! If this does happen, you will also contact a specialist in oil tanks. Call us on 01772 338892 as we have contacts with many of our counterparts nationwide.
As a quick fix, if there is only a small amount of water in the bottom of your oil tank, you could use a tank sponge which removes a small amount of water from the bottom of your oil tank.
It is as well to check all the seals and sockets on the top of your oil tank as they can start to fail, or you might have a lid missing, if you find water. We can help you with any replacement parts or fittings for your oil tank. Give us a ring, and we will be happy to help.
Taking the time to check your oil tank could save you a lot of time and trouble in the future.
If your tank does need replacing, we can help you see “Why to Choose Us To Install Your Oil Tank”. Alternatively, you can find an Oftec registered engineer find a technician.
Our helpful, knowledgeable staff are on hand to help. Call us on 01772 338892, we have many years of experience, and all we do is oil tanks.
