Hole in top of oil tank - help please

cheveleyaprkpaul

Hello

I discovered a 6cm diameter round hole in the top of my plastic oil tank this morning. Cannot for the life of my understand what has happened. I was checking the level and I saw this hole I have never seen before. It is on top at the opposite end from the normal filling hole which has a cap on it. We've been in this house for 8 years, so I am amazed I have not spotted it before. I've never noticed this hole before either capped or open!

I don't know how long it has been like this but clearly there will be water, debris and stuff in my tank. There is about 300 or so litres in there.

Anyway what kind of problems can I expect and what should I do. I was wondering if this was a ready drilled hole for a Watchman, but they only need 3cm holes.

My guesses as to what has happened?

1) Last time the heating engineer was here he filled a tiny hole in the filler cap - did he remove another cap and forget to fill it?

2) Has it always been like this?

3) Has someone drilled a hole in my tank?

4) Has someone nicked the cap?

fattestbass

What tank is it?
Feel the edge around the hole- does it feel smooth, like it was moulded, or rough like it's an impact or piercing problem.
At least it's on the top- just glue something over it and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't come off.

cheveleyaprkpaul

Feels like it was cut out not moulded - do you think I should get the oil replaced?

w50nky

cheveleyaprkpaul wrote: »

Feels like it was cut out not moulded - do you think I should get the oil replaced?

I have a plastic tank which has a 2 holes in the top. There is the filler flap at one end and a breather at the other which has a small mushroom shaped cap to allow air to enter as the oil level falls. This has come off before but not like you describe, it just clips back on. If water has entered the tank it will be at the lowest point which may have a drain tap if your lucky. I think the oil should be ok if you have filters to catch any foreign bodies that may have entered. I have a gauze filter at the outlet point at the bottom of the tank which can be removed & cleaned when the stop valve is closed.
If you can cover the opening try to ensure that air can enter but water can not. Good luck.

cheveleyaprkpaul

Just wanted to close out this thread. We were missing a vent cap, which is indeed a mushroom shaped cover. We have a titan plastic tank and after a lot of hunting around managed to find a supplier in Ireland to provide the missing piece.

So the water ingress is stopped, now to figure out what damage has been done.

macman

Any water should surely sink to the bottom of the tank, along with any solid debris, and won't the filter take care of anything that does get through?

Dusty_Vinyl

Hi, water will sink to the bottom of your oil tank which is OK if you have a plastic filter element (as fitted to Atkinson products, tank master, filtervalve, etc) as this will stop the water, whereas if your filter element is made from paper (as most of them are) the water will disintegrate it and this will cause your boiler and possibly other components to fail. best to check and get some water finding paste from your plumbers merchant and this will tell you if youhave water in your tank, more than 50mm worth and you should get your fuel tank cleaned before it costs you a new pump on your burner and a night or two without heating whilst it gets fixed.....