Is heating oil good for cleaning parts?

[woodchucker]

I have about 20-30 gallons left in my oil tank. Is it good for anything? I know Kerosene is a good cleaner, but I think Kero is cleaner than heating oil.

 

[matthewsx]

Should work, give it a try. If you're not using it for heating your house it would be better than trying to get rid of it another way.

John

 

[piper184]

Kerosene is a lighter product than heating oil (usually) so heating oil would technically not be quite as effective for a solvent. Both are slightly heavier than mineral spirits (paint thinner) that makes a really good solvent.
BUT, you already have it and it will do fine as a solvent, but it won't work quite as fast as the lighter products.

I would definitely use it as a "bulk removal" solvent. Then follow up with something else to take off any remaining residue.

 

[projectnut]

Heating oil is #2 diesel without the road tax. I use it all the time for cleaning parts It does leave a residue so you’ll have to do some further cleaning if you want to paint the parts.

 

[woodchucker]

Heating oil is #2 diesel without the road tax.

I know that, but I was looking for info on using it as a cleaning solvent.

 

[rabler]

I keep a tub of diesel for soaking/cleaning stuff, works well for heavy crud not surface films.

 

[mmcmdl]

Got 175 gallons in the no longer used oil tank down the other house . Plan on using it in the Kubota and truck as needed .

 

[rabler]

Got 175 gallons in the no longer used oil tank down the other house . Plan on using it in the Kubota and truck as needed .

You probably already know this, but - two suggestions:
1) add biocide.
2) filter the fuel going into the truck/tractor, with a water sediment bowl plus filter
You really don't want to deal with the algae/crud that can grow in diesel, especially if there was a bit of water (condensation) in that oil tank. A couple months ago I disassembled the entire fuel tank and system on my father's kubota that had been so cursed.

 

[Jake M]

I have about 20-30 gallons left in my oil tank. Is it good for anything? I know Kerosene is a good cleaner, but I think Kero is cleaner than heating oil.

Take a look at it. Those tanks are notable for being pretty nasty at the bottom. After that, you can clean with it, but it's not ideal. Great for a few things, mediocre for most. But given that you own it... Give it a shot, if it's useful, it's useful. If it's not, it's not. It will leave residue even after it "dries" (which takes a while). You're still gonna need a different

Heating oil is #2 diesel without the road tax.

Not exactly. Every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square. #2 diesel fuel is always heating oil, but heating oil is a big window to hit. It seldom makes "diesel fuel specs", unless you were actually delivered #2 diesel fuel. For cleaning/degreasing purposes, that's probably not relavent, but for other applications, it matters very much.
Nearly all petrolium fuels are not actually a "recipe" for how to make a chemical mix, rather they are performance specifications that can be accomplished in multiple ways, with different proportions of different specific identified molecules, adding or deleting the "expensive" ones based on other demands, and maximum profitability from each bit of crude oil that gets split up into it's component parts.

"Old school" diesel engines were not so fussy. You could still screw 'em up though, depending on what your heating oil consisted of. Especially in more recent years that is not the case any more. Common rail pumps and injectors are typically very opposed to heating oil. There's also the cleanliness standards. You may (or may not- Depends on the day) find serisous filter plugging issues as well. And sometimes there's a batch that works just fine. Bottom line, be careful, be observant, and if there's ANYTHING out of the ordinary- Address it immediately, and do not rule out the fuel source. Modern diesel fuel system parts are very particular, and very expensive.

 

[projectnut]

Take a look at it. Those tanks are notable for being pretty nasty at the bottom. After that, you can clean with it, but it's not ideal. Great for a few things, mediocre for most. But given that you own it... Give it a shot, if it's useful, it's useful. If it's not, it's not. It will leave residue even after it "dries" (which takes a while). You're still gonna need a different



Not exactly. Every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square. #2 diesel fuel is always heating oil, but heating oil is a big window to hit. It seldom makes "diesel fuel specs", unless you were actually delivered #2 diesel fuel. For cleaning/degreasing purposes, that's probably not relavent, but for other applications, it matters very much.
Nearly all petrolium fuels are not actually a "recipe" for how to make a chemical mix, rather they are performance specifications that can be accomplished in multiple ways, with different proportions of different specific identified molecules, adding or deleting the "expensive" ones based on other demands, and maximum profitability from each bit of crude oil that gets split up into it's component parts.

"Old school" diesel engines were not so fussy. You could still screw 'em up though, depending on what your heating oil consisted of. Especially in more recent years that is not the case any more. Common rail pumps and injectors are typically very opposed to heating oil. There's also the cleanliness standards. You may (or may not- Depends on the day) find serisous filter plugging issues as well. And sometimes there's a batch that works just fine. Bottom line, be careful, be observant, and if there's ANYTHING out of the ordinary- Address it immediately, and do not rule out the fuel source. Modern diesel fuel system parts are very particular, and very expensive.

The experiences I've had with diesel engines were definitely the "old school" versions. Our next-door neighbor was the local Standard Oil Agent. In those days the "Agent" was the middleman between the service station operators retail customers, and the corporate headquarters. He supplied fuels and lubricants to the stations, and heating and diesel oil to homeowners, farmers, and construction companies.

In those days #2 diesel and heating oil were synonymous. They both came from the same bulk tank labeled #2 DIESEL. During the summers when school was out, we would ride along in the tank trucks to where the construction companies parked their equipment for building the Interstate Highway system. We would fill the dozers, graders, dump trucks, scrapers, end loaders, back hoes, excavators and anything else that needed fuel. He had 3 trucks, and many times we went back to the bulk plant 3 or 4 times in an evening to get all the equipment fueled up. If there was any fuel left in the trucks after filling the equipment he would stop by a few farms on the way home and fill up their tanks.

The last time I even looked at a diesel engine was about 1980. However, being a slow learner, I just purchased an older (1991) MEP-002A diesel military generator as a project. It's a complete unit but hasn't run in years. Hopefully I can get it up and running without too much trouble.