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Guide to Oil Tank Fill & Vent Piping - Visual Inspection of Above Ground Residential Heating Oil Storage Tanks (ASTs) InspectAPedia®  -   An inspection guide to heating oil & oil tank piping defects, products, repairs How to inspect oil tank filler piping How to inspect oil tank vent piping

The article and photographs below give advice and example photos for the visual inspection of above ground oil tanks and oil tank piping for leaks and damage including damaged or leaky oil storage tanks, improper oil tank piping, valves, and indoor-type oil tanks located outdoors. This is a section of our article on inspecting above ground oil tanks for defects. Sketch provided courtesy of Carson Dunlop.

Here are a some important indicators of tank condition that any home owner or home inspector can examine when an oil storage tank is visible and accessible inside or at a building.

Also see additional visibly detectable oil tank defects listed at Home Inspection Report Language Library: Visible Defects in Oil Tank Installations, Tanks, and Heating Oil Piping. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

OIL FILL & VENT Piping

Is the oil storage tank vented properly (1 1/2" - 2" diameter piping) to outside? In the photo a 1 1/2" vent line is installed. The oil company recommended going to 2", and most new installations use a two-inch diameter vent pipe; we've seen vent piping as small as one inch on oil tanks. During fill fuel is delivered at an average rate of 60 gallons per minute. Improper venting can place excessive stress on tank seams and piping.

Is the oil tank vent line properly capped with a screened weather-resistant cap to prevent water entry or clogging by mud or insects?

Is the oil tank piping tight, leak-free, and does it drain freely into the tank? Has the piping been equipped with a whistle to signal the delivery person when the tank is full?

Are all tank plugs and piping tightly in place?

Has black or galvanized iron piping been used for oil tank filler and vent lines? Plastic lines may come apart at the seams during a fill up. Some plastic lines can shatter or break in extremely cold weather.

Is the tank vent next to or close to the oil filler pipe so that the delivery person can listen to the vent alarm and determine when the tank is full? The vent alarm prevents over filling and is recommended for both underground and above ground tanks. It should be mounted at the top of the tank at the vent pipe opening. (Naturally inspectors cannot see this component on buried tanks.)

Is the oil tank gauge installed and tight. Loose or broken oil tank gauges can cause spills during tank fill operations.

Fill and Vent Piping for Duplex Heating Oil Storage Tanks

At buildings where two heating oil storage tanks are installed, typically indoors, this Audel Oil Burner Guide sketch shows the proper arrangement of fill piping, vent piping, and oil line piping leaving the tanks. We have seen an alternative arrangement that provides a fill line only to the first tank, with the second tank filled by a second pipe exiting the top of the first oil tank - not an arrangement we recommend as this forces the first oil tank to be fully pressurized at the oil delivery truck pressure during fill-up of the second tank. The piping shown in this Audel sketch is better.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website

OIL TANK HOME
ABOVE GROUND OIL TANK INSPECTIONS
OIL TANK PIPING DEFECTS
  OIL FILL & VENT
  UNDERSIZED OIL FILL & VENT PIPES
  OIL TANK VILL & VENT LINES APART
  OIL FILL OR VENT PIPE CAPS LOST
  NO OIL TANK VENT PIPE
  OIL FILL PIPE EXPOSED
  CAULK PIPE ENTRANCES
  OIL LINE EXPOSED
  SINGLE HIGH OIL LINE
  OIL LINE LEAKS
  SINGLE LINE BURIED TANK
  HEAT TAPE HAZARD
  OIL FILTER - NONE
  FIRE SAFETY CONTROLS

• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Audels Oil Burner Guide, Installation, Servicing, Repairing, Frank D. Graham, 1940's edition (obsolete). Updated versions of this guide are available in various editions, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, and at prices from around $3.00 to nearly $70.00 - useful for simple, clear, but not current, explanation of how heating equipment works. The original retail price was $1.00.

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• Oil Tanks - The Oil Storage Tank Information Website: Buried or Above Ground Oil Tank Inspection, Testing, Cleanup, Abandonment of Oil Tanks
• Abandon a Buried Oil Tank, How To - Abandoning Commercial Underground Tanks, Russ Brauksieck, ASHI Tech. Journal, Vol.3 No.1 Spring 1993, P. 40-41 [Reprint]
• Above Ground Oil Tanks: Visual Inspection of Oil Storage Tanks for evidence of leaks, damage, improper piping - photos and text
• Above Ground Oil Tanks Checklist, an Oil Company's advice
• Above Ground Tanks UL Standards, UL Tank Listing Standards, guidance for home owners, buyers, and inspectors
• Buried Oil Tanks - Finding How to Find Buried Oil Tanks and "Nearly Hidden" and Leaky Oil Tanks - photos and text.
• Buried Fuel tank - Advice - Buried FUEL Tank - GAS or OIL advice for home buyers, inspection report language
• Environmental Issues & Regulations for Oil Tanks, Registration, Abandonment, Leak Reporting
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Buried Oil Tanks, Basic home buyer advice - home inspection report language suggestions
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Visible Defects in Oil Tank Installations, Tanks, and Heating Oil Piping
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Gas Fuel Piping or Tank Faults Basic advice - home inspection report language suggestions
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Oil Tanks text file list © Oil and Other Storage Tank Leaks, Testing, Abandonment, Inspection - UST home inspection report language files - Reference List
• Indoor Environment Website Indoor Building Environmental Hazard Detection, Testing, Repair, & Prevention - Main Web Page
• Leaky Heating Oil Tanks - Advice for Home Owners or Buyers: caused of leaks in oil tanks, oil tank testing alternatives, what to do about leaky tanks: D.J. Friedman, ASHI Tech. Journal, Vol.2 No.1, Winter, 1992 p. 42-43 Illus
• Leak or Failure Rates for Home Heating Oil Tanks
• Legal Issues Regarding Buried Oil Storage Tanks K.S. Rea, Attorney, summary from ASHI Chapter Seminar.
• Primer on Petroleum Bulk Storage Tanks & Petroleum Contamination of Property Paul H. Ciminello, ASHI Tech. Journal, Vol.3 No.1 Spring 1993, p 35-39
• Petroleum Bulk Storage J. Sibblies, NY State DEC, Advice to Home Owners and Home Inspectors about Oil Storage Tanks - summary from ASHI Chapter Seminar.
• Septic Tank inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair
• OIL TANK FAILURE CAUSES - Oil Tank Failure Causes - oil tank leaks are caused by corrosion, damage, soil conditions, other factors
• TANK FAILURE RATES - Oil Tank Failure Rates - Oil Tank Leak Probability as a Function of Tank Age, Location, Condition, Soil Conditions and Other Factors
• OIL TANK TESTING - - How Oil Tanks are Tested for Evidence Leaks, of Current or Previous Oil Spills
• National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, PO Box 380, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407
• "Homeowners Guide to Fuel Storage," Agway Energy Products, Verbank, NY, November 1990
• ...

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