heating oil

[never_retreat]

I need to take a heating oil tank out of a friends house. The previous owner changed to gas and left the tank in the basement. Half full at that. How long does oil last? I have to drain it either way. I want to either burn in it my garage (oil hot air furnace) or if its good enough put it in my truck (yes i know its not legal) but neither is charging 3.39 a gallon for diesel. So I hopping this works out like winning the lottery for me.

[Bogie]

Should work fine for the garage. I'd worry about burning it in the truck tho... How are you planning on transferring the liquid? 5 gallon cans could take a while...
 

[Nitrogen]

ATSM specs for Diesel say it's good for 1 year. 

If it smells like rotten eggs, or doesn't look right, it's been in the tank too long.

If it's older than 1 year, it can pretty well be usable, You might want to consider getting the fuel "Polished" meaning, getting it filtered and processed.
I know marinas tend to do it, but outside of that, I'd have no idea where to get it done.

EDIT: IF it's dyed, like they do for Kerosene, you might have an issue getting any of this done.

[280plus]

Watch out for the sludge at the bottom, I've seen guy suck the sludge out of the old tank and put it in the new one. Mostly because they're stupid. That'll mess up pretty much anything you put it in.

[never_retreat]

Yep 5 gallon cans. Might take a while. I'm going to pump it off the top not drain it from the bottom. If it truly is crap I still think a friend of mine can burn it in his garage. He has a commercial waste oil burner. The thing will burn gear oil. Pretty impressive actually. 500,000 btu's he works in shorts and tshirt in the dead of winter. All this with the door open half the time. MMMMM toasty.
 

[drewtam]

Another problem with old fuel oil is that it can be contaminated with bacteria. I think machine dealerships sometimes have the equipment to filter and test the fuel (like a Cat, Deere, etc dealership). The dye shouldn't bother them since they deal with off road machinery all the time.

Drew

[Art Eatman]

An automotive electric fuel pump isn't the fastest thing in the world, but it works.  Measure the depth of the tank, and have the end of the intake tube/pipe no lower than some four inches above the bottom.  Using jerry cans is good, as you can fairly easily see if there's gunk.

If you pump the first small bit through a shop rag, you can see if you're getting anything bad.

I've used diesel from my overhead storage tank that was at least three years old, and it had lived through summertime desert high temperatures.  No problem in my backhoe.

[Sergeant Bob]

You can probably get a drill driven pump for a reasonable price.

Northern Tool and Equipment

[HankB]

I'd burn the old stuff in my garage furnace.

Then I'd buy fresh stuff "for the furnace" and use that in my truck. Surprised you're not doing that already. 

[Leatherneck]

Are we talking about kerosene (coal oil) or heating oil?

TC

[roo_ster]

I'd burn the old stuff in my garage furnace.

Then I'd buy fresh stuff "for the furnace" and use that in my truck. Surprised you're not doing that already. 

I like the way you think.  Er, I am horrified at the very thought!

[never_retreat]

Well I sucked 5 gallons out of the tank today. It still smelled like heating oil, not quite as strong though. But for some reason it has a brown color not red. It doesn't smell like rotten eggs or any thing like that.
What do you guys think?

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I'd burn the old stuff in my garage furnace.

Then I'd buy fresh stuff "for the furnace" and use that in my truck. Surprised you're not doing that already. 

I like the way you think.  Er, I am horrified at the very thought!

guy in goldvein had 10 tanks  got several thousand gallons a month got caught   got slammed   both the seller and the buyer.  moral is dom't be too greedy  didn't help that he had a couple big rigs and the tanks were lined up and visible from the street

[Mabs2]

Yep 5 gallon cans. Might take a while. I'm going to pump it off the top not drain it from the bottom. If it truly is crap I still think a friend of mine can burn it in his garage. He has a commercial waste oil burner. The thing will burn gear oil. Pretty impressive actually. 500,000 btu's he works in shorts and tshirt in the dead of winter. All this with the door open half the time. MMMMM toasty.
 

heh.
Does he heat his house with it?

[never_retreat]

Yep 5 gallon cans. Might take a while. I'm going to pump it off the top not drain it from the bottom. If it truly is crap I still think a friend of mine can burn it in his garage. He has a commercial waste oil burner. The thing will burn gear oil. Pretty impressive actually. 500,000 btu's he works in shorts and tshirt in the dead of winter. All this with the door open half the time. MMMMM toasty.
 

heh.
Does he heat his house with it?

No he doesn't live there. Its a regular commercial car repair garage. Its a self contained forced hot air type unit. I've never seen one you could install in a house. I guess you probably rig duct work to though.