Leaking joint in oil tank feed pipe - fixing tips?

mwddrwg

Hi all,


We have an oil tank which powers our central heating and water which has a feed pipe to the boiler which goes around the back of our garage.


The pipe goes off at a 90 degree angle at one point so has an elbow joint to link both sections. Trouble is, one end of the joint has started to leak a bit of oil and is creating a bit of a mess, albeit gradually :mad:


Bad time of the month so funds are tight for repairs so was hoping anyone would have some advice about the best type of sealer I could maybe spray/paint on the joint to seal it temporarily?


Any recommendations appreciated.


Thanks!

JP08

Spray or paint are unlikely to work for two reasons.

1) the pressure of the weight of the oil in the tank is liable to push anything out of the joint before it has a chance to set / dry.
2) it is an oil leak, and the chances of anything bonding to the oily surface is practically zero.

As to repair - what type of joint is it (soldered / compression) ? Is there a way of shutting off the oil flow between the tank and the problem area ? What condition is the pipework in (relatively new or a donkeys years old corroded mess) ?

If the answers are "Compression, Yes and Relatively New" then you could probably turn off the oil, dismantle the joint, clean up the pipe surfaces with emery cloth or similar, pop in a new elbow joint with new olives and plenty of ptfe tape, and the job would be a good 'un.

Any other answers and you are really going to be looking at getting a heating engineer in.

mwddrwg

JP08 wrote: »

Spray or paint are unlikely to work for two reasons.

1) the pressure of the weight of the oil in the tank is liable to push anything out of the joint before it has a chance to set / dry.
2) it is an oil leak, and the chances of anything bonding to the oily surface is practically zero.

As to repair - what type of joint is it (soldered / compression) ? Is there a way of shutting off the oil flow between the tank and the problem area ? What condition is the pipework in (relatively new or a donkeys years old corroded mess) ?

If the answers are "Compression, Yes and Relatively New" then you could probably turn off the oil, dismantle the joint, clean up the pipe surfaces with emery cloth or similar, pop in a new elbow joint with new olives and plenty of ptfe tape, and the job would be a good 'un.

Any other answers and you are really going to be looking at getting a heating engineer in.

Thanks for your reply.
I thought the chances of a quick fix with a sealer were slim... thanks for confirming it
It's a compression joint and the pipework is not new but not rusty either (white-coated copper piping I think) so will need to check if I can shut off the oil at source. Fairly confident I could replace it myself if oil can be shut off - just about getting the right size joint.


Thanksa again

Moss5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpIh1u_Y3h0

Try just tightening first. Tighten as explained in the video from 1.38.

mwddrwg

Moss5 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpIh1u_Y3h0

Try just tightening first. Tighten as explained in the video from 1.38.

Have tried that. Plumber mate of mine came round at the weekend but no joy. Still leaks. He can't come round until at least the weekend so was hoping to do it myself and avoid his costs! lol


Thanks for the suggestion

mwddrwg

Thanks for all your advice so far.


Have decided to be brave and do it myself


I bought a 15mm right angle compression joint yesterday but looks like it's too big. Am I right in thinking that it's a 10mm joint I need?


The tank has a sight gauge with valve (think it's an Atkinson Tankmaster) which needs turning clockwise to turn off the feed. Once I've done that and drained the excess, do you think I can anticipate problems with getting the boiler back up and running once the joint has been changed and the flow restored?


Sorry for the questions. Thanks

Le_Kirk

How old is your tank and it's pipework? It might be a BSP fitting rather than metric. If you drain the pipework, which you will have to do to remove/replace the fitting, there will be air in there when you open the valve. Somewhere, usually at the highest point of the pipework feeding the boiler (maybe a pump), there should be a bleed screw. Undo/release/remove this screw until all the air is gone and oil flows freely. Be prepared for a couple of false starts (flame failure) until all the air in the pipework has worked its way through the system.

mwddrwg

Le_Kirk wrote: »

How old is your tank and it's pipework? It might be a BSP fitting rather than metric. If you drain the pipework, which you will have to do to remove/replace the fitting, there will be air in there when you open the valve. Somewhere, usually at the highest point of the pipework feeding the boiler (maybe a pump), there should be a bleed screw. Undo/release/remove this screw until all the air is gone and oil flows freely. Be prepared for a couple of false starts (flame failure) until all the air in the pipework has worked its way through the system.

Thanks for the advice. The tank is about 12 years old I reckon as the boiler is around the same age. Was installed before we moved in. I reckon it is a metric joint. Will try a 10mm one.


Thanks for confirming my suspicions about the air getting in. The pipe from the boiler comes up by the external wall into a kind of pump (I think) which looks like a small metal cylinder with a glass dome. It then feeds the boiler from there. Do you think that this is where I'll find the bleed screw? Sorry, no pics to clarify what I mean


Thanks

Le_Kirk

Air will go to the highest point and it sounds like your cylinder with a glass dome is the place to start looking. If the pipe goes up hill after that, you need to carry on looking and find the highest point.