Pumping oil from 55 gal drum into 250 gal tank - shop heater

Hi Folks, A friend of mind has a shop that he's heating with something like used oil or old hydraulic fluid (I think that's what he said). Anyways, he has a hand pump (back and forth type) that he's been using to transfer the oil from 55 gallon drums into their 250 gallon main tank (which is presumably connected to their heater unit). The hand pump is pretty tiring to operate (plus he's not a huge guy). He said after about 5 pumps he is starting to feel it, and it takes about 100 pumps to empty the 55 gallon drum (according to what he told me). I was curious if anyone had any clever (and cheap, most importantly) ideas to make this a little easier for them. I had suggested a sump pump, connecting a bicycle to the existing pump (except that this pump isn't fully rotary, you pull it the lever, push it back, pull it again, etc.... back and forth :P ) They had some method for using their fork lift also, but when the shop is full of cars, they can't maneuver it back there. Open to GRM suggestions ! Thanks everyone :)

I know it costs, but easy button. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200510829_200510829?cm_mmc=Google-pla--Fuel%20Transfer%20%2B%20Lubrication--AC%20Powered%20Oil%20Pumps-_-22649&ci_sku=22649&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CJuA8tHJsLMCFUid4AodOF4AKw

Cheaper option http://www.buy.com/prod/fr1604-tuthill-fillrite-7-gpm-pump-12-24vdc-diesel-fuel-oil-transfer/223791674.html?listingId=156107216

we always used to use a pneumatic operated drum pump where I used to work. not sure on cost. I see harbor freight has a few but lower gpm.

Old power steering pump and an electric drill.

Does the shop have a lift? Put the drum on the lift, get it higher than the tank, get a bit of flow going and let physics do the work for you.

edit: Ok... saw the bit about an occasional lack of room. Would probably go with a rotary pump from Northerntool then.

Ian F wrote: Does the shop have a lift? Put the drum on the lift, get it higher than the tank, get a bit of flow going and let physics do the work for you.

edit: just saw your edit, hehe. I'll mention the rotary pump idea to him also

that's a good idea. I'm pretty sure they have lifts, and they have a forklift, but the forklift can't get back to that corner of the shop when they are full of cars, and the regular lift(s) might not be near enough the tank (if they don't have cars on them at the moment).

I'm pretty sure that as long as the hose inlet in the drum is higher than the outlet in the tank, the horizontal distance between the two shouldn't matter.

Ian F wrote: I'm pretty sure that as long as the hose inlet in the drum is higher than the outlet in the tank, the horizontal distance between the two shouldn't matter.

that makes sense, I'll pass that idea along to him also, thanks Ian

PS pump tied to a old belt drive electric fan motor?

Or lift somewhere else in the shop and siphon with a long hose

An electric motor turning something like this? I forget what it is called.

But instead of the pneumatic cylinder in the picture it would be connected to the handle on the pump.

e_pie wrote: Old power steering pump and an electric drill.

I like this idea. I might even go as far as to hook it to a dedicated electric motor instead of a drill.

Two ideas.
1) Seal the 55 drum real well except for a pipe going to the bottom of the drum and an air fitting. Pump air into it via shop air and the oil will flow out. I'm not sure, but I think those drums will rupture well below 100 psi.
2) Seal the 250 gallon drum (put a valve on the output line and the line between the two drums). Pull a vacuum on the 250 drum. Open the valve between the two drums and the vacuum will pull the oil.
1 is easier by far but does have the risk of a HUGE mess. I do a smaller version of 2 when I collect veggie oil from one of my collection points. I pull 15-20 in vacuum and it'll pull jello through a coffee stirrer no problem.

Ok, a third option: The most viable option? SBC oil pump like the one this guy made here.

Rotary barrel style pump is what we use at work.

I can move oil at a rate of about 200gal/hour with one.

I use it a lot - we go through about 12-15 barrels of oil per winter, maybe 1/3rd of which are gleaned from other shops. Meaning, I go out there with the pickup and pump the stuff into barrels myself.

The air- and electric-powered ones look nice, BUT. That doesn't help when you're out in the field, and the act of pumping into the heater tank usually takes longer for the oil to go through the strainer than it does for me to pump it. We have a big yellow barrel funnel that we use, I usually just clamp the hose to the side, pump until the funnel is full, walk away for a bit, pump a little more, etc. So it's not something where we can turn the pump on and walk away from it.

We're kinda anal retentive about keeping debris from getting into the tank. It'd be just about impossible to clean out.

thanks guys ! those are some great and creative ideas. Exactly the stuff I was looking for. I sent him a link to this thread so he can read for himself if anyone contributes any other ideas.

How thick is heating oil? Would a fuel pump work? It would have the advantage of being able to be dropped down in the tank so it wouldn't have to self prime.

I'm not sure exactly how thick this oil is that they are using. I think he said it was something like old hydraulic fluid. However, I have no experience with hydraulics so I know nothing about weights that it might come in. He did say that the hand pump he's using (in the picture at the top) "will handle up to 30w oil". Since they are on a budget (hence why they are using this oil to heat the shop), I wondered what the least expensive type of pump might be that would do this reliably, as often as they would be filling it up. Knowing nothing about it myself I said "could you use something like a sump pump, or would oil be too thick for it...or just a very bad idea?" But I'm sure he's open to any ideas. He said that complete solution around $100 would be perfect, but $300 would be much too much. In case that helps narrow things down any. Possibly even a hand pump that wasn't as difficult to operate might be a viable option too. I guess the one he's using gets really tiring very quickly.

My old boss had a small pump set up that was a small electric motor attached to a scroll style pump that has a garden hose attached at each end. He pumps from a 250 gallon tank to a 55 gal drum that sits on its side feeding his oil burner.

put an air fitting on the top of the barrel... make a cap that seals tightly and has a tube that goes to the bottom of the barrel, which is hooked up to a hose that goes to the tank you want to transfer it to... put about 5psi of regulated compressed air to the air fitting and the pressure will push the oil thru the hose to the tank..

FWIW, I used a lever style pump to transfer a barrel of 70w racing oil. The barrel was outside. It was about 10-15F.

That. Sucked.

The rotary pump is both faster and easier than a piston pump. Just like the engines

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tls/3308480840.html

Air operated double diaphragm pump would make easy work of that.

These air operated Gracos are great drum pumps, oughta move 55 gals of the heaviest oil in < 10 mins

CL it

great ideas, thank you all

fasted58 wrote: http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tls/3308480840.html Air operated double diaphragm pump would make easy work of that.

That's a good deal. The diaphragm pumps I use at work are high dollar.

http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-drill-powered-pump-98384.html

DONE....

donalson wrote: http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-drill-powered-pump-98384.html DONE....

and you might only use up 5 or 6 of them in the process of transferring the contents of a single barrel- and probably just as many Harbor freight drills..