Why does my oil tank whistle?

As oil is being pumped into a heating oil tank from your fill pipe, it displaces air. The air flows out of the vent pipe, which causes the whistling sound.

Where is the whistle on an oil tank?

vent pipe
Your fuel oil tank is equipped with a whistle located in the vent pipe. As oil enters your tank, the air that is present inside your tank is being displaced through a small vent.

How does a heating oil tank whistle work?

As oil flows into the tank, air from the tank gets pushed back out. As the air goes through the vent alarm–located between your tank and vent pipe–it makes a whistling sound. When the whistling stops, the tank is just about full.

What is a vent whistle?

A type of audible overfill prevention device used with aboveground tanks that produces a high pitched whistling sound continuously during the fuel delivery and stops when the alarm level is reached. See also PEI/RP600.

Is it possible to clean the oil whistle?

The risk is not worth the savings. Depending on how the vent is installed, it may be very difficult to clean the whistle. The tank must be installed with both the fill and vent lines sloped so that water from the vent and oil from the fill drain into the tank.

Where is the whistle on my oil tank?

Usually it is right next to the fill port. Sometimes the whistle is actually plumbed right on top of the tank and you hear it whistle through the vent pipe that is right next to the fill. If you have a regular big black steel oil tank, then its on the vent pipe right where it leaves the tank.

What to use to clean gas tank vent whistles?

The fouling that builds up on vent whistles is probably similar in many respects to tank sludge. We suggest the following approach: 1. Pour an 8-ounce bottle of Fuel Right®EP down the vent pipe. This will soften and partially break down the fouling material. Wait at least a day or two and then… 2.

Can you test a fuel oil whistle with an air hose?

I can’t see anyone sticking an air hose into a fuel oil tank to test a whistle. The oil company doesn’t want to overfill the tank, so they have a protocol to follow. You can blow air in to check the vent alarm. but you need to move a volume of air. Robert not a real problem. This is probably the way it went.