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Guide to Oil Tank Fill & Vent Piping - Visual Inspection of Above Ground Residential Heating Oil Storage Tanks (ASTs) InspectAPedia®  -     How to install, inspect, or troubleshoot oil storage tank filler piping How to install, inspect, or troubleshoot oil storage tank vent piping Questions & answers about oil fill & vent piping location, diameter, length, routing, connections, leaks, & troubleshooting.

Oil tank fill & vent piping guide: This heating oil piping article & photographs give advice and example photos for the installation, inspection, & leak troubleshooting of oil tank fill & vent piping for both buried and above ground oil storate tanks.

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.

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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. Details about piping of fill and vent and oil supply lines for duplex oil tanks are at DUAL OIL TANKS - PIPING. Thanks to Arlene Puentes for technical editing, March 2010.

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  OIL FILL & VENT

• Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education including the ASHI-adopted Home Inspection Training Program (home study course), publications such as the Home Reference Book, report writing materials including the Horizon report writer, 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.
• Arlene Puentes, an ASHI member and a licensed home inspector in Kingston, NY, and has served on ASHI national committees as well as HVASHI Chapter President. Ms. Puentes can be contacted at ap@octoberhome.com

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

• Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
• 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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