Filtering / re using old oil

[Orkney]

Anyone ever tried this? read somewhere on the web that you can actually clean old oil using wick syphoning.
i.e. get your gallon of dirty in a demijon e.g. on a stand higher than an empty one, cotton wick or taper pinned so it doesnt touch the neck. Osmosis takes the oil upto the apex of the wick then the clean oil starts to sypon down into the lower container.
Apparently it takes a few weeks to do a gallon but your left with a nice clean oil. Obviously you dont have any detergents in it or such which have degraded over time.

So just wondering if anyones tried it? Got a few gallons of old knocking about and scabby is on a gallon of new as a flush for a hundred miles, thought migth try this and get some free clean stuff for the old rangy, ideal for mucking about around here.

Just thought i' ask if anyones tried this and it doesnt work before having a go

[Willie]

The oil is the single most vital ingredient in the engine. Considering its
importance it would be folly to try that system especially since you acknowledge that the additives will have degraded. Use new oil every time.

[Orkney]

Well in this case its not for a road vehicle one that just use for lugging stuff around the fields, wouldnt put it in a road car no way

[paulhumphries]

If it's the V8 then the old rule is change oil based on number of times door opened and not mileage as it's that important.
Hydraulic tappets and dirty oil don't mix even if cleaned the way you suggest.
If it's just an old heap that is destined for scrap yard soon anyway then I'd just filter though coffee paper and not worry too much though.
BTW isn't some of the cheap oils full or part "recycled" anyway ?

Paul Humphries

[MoggyTech]

No Amount of filtering will restore the oil molecule chains to their original length and viscosity strength. For a very old engine you don't care about it might work. I doubt the filtering would remove fuel from the oil, thus the oil would still be diluted and less viscous.

£4.95 for 5 litres of cheepo ASDA oil would be a safer bet, assuming the engine it will be used in does not require an oil with a minimum API spec.

[bmcecosse]

If you leave old oil sitting for ages - the crud settles to the bottom and lovely clear oil remains! However - I see no point wrecking that V8 engine - better to use your old oil as heating fuel I would think!

[dunketh]

Given that a 5 litre tub of oil is about 4 quid at Tescos/Asda I cant see any real reason for recycling old stuff. Dump it at your local tip and let the professionals re-use it.... or poor it into your sills as a rust prevention measure.

[Orkney]

Allrigth if youve got a tesco or asda Mind you factors do one for about £6 a gallon so not the end of the world.
Tempted to look out for a garage heater that can burn it actually, an old chip oil too

[bmcecosse]

Just soak timber in it - and then burn that!
Or - use it as rot preventive on fence posts etc.

[Orkney]

Hmm thought about that, know people who swear by it as a creosote substitute - but of course you cant get creosote any more.
Bit reluctnt to do that - organic & all, wildlifey bits of ground so dont want to wantenly chance oil seeping into the ground.

Like the soaking timber in it idea though, only slight flaw there is lack of timber Actually will be cracking on with some joists & stuff the next month or two so will give it a try with any offcuts. trouble is I'm so thrifty pretty much everything gets used one way or another

[Spag]

Just soak timber in it - and then burn that!
Or - use it as rot preventive on fence posts etc.

My wood burning stove in the garage eats the occasional bit of 'spilled' oil
Mix it with sawdust to make a nice combustible porridge

Must get around to making a drip feed oil conversion...

Spare small fuel tank with tap (mower/motorcycle), mounted a few feet above (and several feet to the side) of the stove for simple gravity feed.

Then a bit o rubber fuel hose onto about 3 or 4 feet of brake pipe preferably via a non return valve.

Throw a couple of turns around the base of the flue where it meets the stove as a 'heater coil', then into the stove, where you can squeeze the end to make a slightly smaller nozzle.

Point this at a bit of steel or iron 'evaporator' (which get heated redish when the stove is first fired with wood).

Should work OK

When cold you should get a slow drip onto the wood which will help get it started, then when warm, the oil in the heater coil expands and is ejected via the nozzle onto the hot evaporator plate, where it should burn quite fiercely !!!


(Please note, your garage, and a large section of your garden could be at risk.)

[Orkney]

Have actually looked atthe home brewed burners on the web - theres even one guy smelts his own metals using one.
Trouble is the 'can it get out of control' & burn everything down factor.

Did some experiments burning neat veggy oil in a multifuel here some time back.
Baking tray (deep) - crumpled loo roll to act as a wick - the wick idea worked but the surface area was too great, resulted in the oil getting above boiling point and catching fire. (resulting in the equivalent of a chip pan fire - way out of control & way too hot)
Back to the drawing board & plan B - deeper smaller vessel. This was a tin about 4" across and 6 or so deep (takes just under 1 & 1/2 pints).
Fill with used veg oil, bog roll wick and hey presto it works great. Gives a steady burn of about 4 hours.
Doesnt give off masses of heat, but refilling & lighting that 3 times in a day will certanly put some nice residual heat in the stone walls.

Often thought about revising it and use a gravity fed drip feed to keep the tub topped up. Would make a nice low maintenance beackground heater (that and be nice and frugal with the oil)

Migth try fitting such a thing into an old pot bellied stove got knocking about one day to get it running in the garage. Havnt tried this method with engine oil but might just do so later to see what happens.

Suppose if more heat was needed then perhaps a bigger stove and severall pots might be the way to go, theres a really good kit available in the U.S. to convert a 45 gallon drum into a stove, would love to try one but that will have to wait until winning the lottery

[Spag]

The 'open top' approach is pretty good if you have a small surface area, e.g. a bean can 1/2 full of petrol stood in the bottom of the stove (prior to lighting!!!) will burn for a good period of time, and is super for starting damp wood.

However with the other sundry rubbish that gets thrown into the stove, the risk of splash or spill from a pot or tray burner is significant, hence the hot drip plan.

Alternatively, use a fuel pump with a perforated tube as a spray bar and go for a fuel injected stove