Used Engine Oil

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sacentre

Used Engine Oil

Post by sacentre »

Dear All

Probably a non-starter this one but has anyone got any ideas for using up/getting rid of old vehicle engine oil?

I change my own engine oil periodically and apart from keeping a bottle of the old stuff for oil blacking purposes, I take the rest (about 4 liters at a time) to local garages where it is collected by proper waste disposal companies.

If I was living in a cold country I'd be using a waste oil heater to heat my workshop but since I live in the tropics, this is hardly an option.

Can anyone suggest any use I could put it too that would use it up - some kind of burner maybe - that wouldn't cause a lot of pollutants.

Regards

Trevor
diyer
Posts: 350
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2003 4:32 pm

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by diyer »

The waste oil heater is what came to mind when I saw the post title.


You said, " ... apart from keeping a bottle of the old stuff for oil blacking purposes" ....

Trevor, what is oil blacking?

diyer
"When you have both a secret government and an open government -- you have a secret government."
webowser
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2004 9:43 pm
Location: Cincinnati Ohio

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by webowser »

http://www.journeytoforever.org/biofuel ... h/me4.html has information about building a waste oil heater.

Bill
clemm17
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:18 am

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by clemm17 »

Ive used it on fence posts and things in the past. Years ago I used it for weed killer.
I still use a small portion of it on chains and things like you mentioned.
Nowdays about the only legal and generaly useful use is to recycle it or burn it in a heater. It can be cleaned and reused but the equipment to do this is extreamly expensive and not worth it unless your a recycler. I save mine in a 55 gallon drum. When its full I will send it to a recyler. Sounds like your already doing that on a smaller scale.
sacentre

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by sacentre »

I should have said "metal blacking", I guess - heating metal components to red heat and then dropping them into old oil gives them a nice black annodised look.

Trevor
Orrin
Posts: 307
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 12:24 pm
Location: SE Washington State, near Moscow, Idaho

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by Orrin »

Get in touch with your department of ecology and ask them for the names of oil recyclers.

Our county takes used motor oil as a service for do-it-yourselfers.

We live in agricultural country and there are a number of farmers with used oil heaters in their machine shops. They're begging for oil.

Orrin
So many projects, so little time.
Mike in Michigan

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by Mike in Michigan »

Used oil can be cleaned real easy........IF you can get your hands on an old, but still working cream separater as used on small dairy farms in the past. I grew up on a farm in West Virginia, we milked 2 to 6 cows depending on how many my grandmother wanted to "fool" with. I got quite intimate with that old Delaval cream separator. When I joined the US Navy, got assigned to the USS Ranger CVA-61. Working in No.3 Main Machinery Room and got detailed to service the Lube Oil Purifier. The Petty Officer is telling me how the ship was still using the same, original lube oils from when the ship was build in 1953 (this was 1968) and how we had this great machine that purified the oil. We finally get to this miracle machine....Made in USA....by Delaval. Nearly identical to grandma's cream separator except it was almost three times as large. I know where there is one available in Michigan if interested.
UnkaJesse
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:29 pm
Location: Tennessee, Obion County, Town of Troy

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by UnkaJesse »

At the GM&O railroad, all of the used engine oil was recycled by forcing it through a stack of diatomaceous earth and then heating it to drive off any diesel fuel or water that might have got into it.* Like that recycled oil that the Gurley Oil company sold, it smelled terrible, but worked just fine.

Used filter "socks" from the locomotives were burned in barrels by the yard hands and car knockers to stay warm in the winter.

Unka(*Well, maybe not in that order, it HAS been a long time)Jesse
"The same hammer that breaks the glass, forges the steel" Russian proverb
Rough Cutting

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by Rough Cutting »

For many years we have used our oil by painting or spraying it on our out buildings. My observatory is shingled with cedar shakes and used oil has been brushed on a few times and it now has a nice chestnut brown color.Not a fire or health hazard, and preserves the wood from rain and sun.
Gerry
Rex B

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by Rex B »

Around my house and driveway I have quite a few walls built of railroad crossties. In places these walls are 6 feet high. Once every year or two I spray used motor oil on them to freshen their appearance and keep the bugs out. I use a cheap siphon sprayer. I do it when it is hot and dry and not likely to rain, so it soaks in all the way before rain can wash any off. Makes those 25 year old crossties look like new ones.

Now that i think of it, it would probably be a good idea to coat the supports under my deck.
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Flybynight
Posts: 704
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:27 pm
Location: Beaver Dam,AZ

Re: Used Engine Oil

Post by Flybynight »

Boy times have changed.
My Dad used to put it around the area to keep weeds down.
Armed Men are Citizens, Unarmed men are Subjects.
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