Waste Oil Burner

[ri702bill 8,754]

When my FIL was running his Automotive repair Business, he built a waste oil burner per the plans in a Mother Earth News article. He found it worked best with 2 oil tanks - regular fuel oil to start it cold & get it up to temp, then a mix of mostly filtered crankcase oil & fuel oil to run on.

He did not use old gear oil for it at all - the viscosity was too high.

 

He did not service automatic transmissions; he farmed those out to a specialty shop in the next town. That guy bought a Swedish made (Yotul???) commercial forced hot air waste oil unit & ran it on used, filtered ATF. His fuel supply was plentiful. Regular periodic maintainance was required to keep it clean burning. He was hassled by the DEM, but they backed off once the Manufacturer provided the soot numbers... DEM still in business?

Edited February 13 by ri702bill

[squonk 41,942]

We had waste oil burners in a few shops years back. Then some of my customers had them when I was in the parts biz. Biggest thing is what's in the oil. Gas, paint thinners, water raise cain. I'm sure the technology is better today but most of them were more trouble than they are worth. The first one I was ever involved in was similar to what you are building. Had to chip out all the hardened soot every morning. Total PITA

[Pullstart 63,544]

38 minutes ago, squonk said:

We had waste oil burners in a few shops years back. Then some of my customers had them when I was in the parts biz. Biggest thing is what's in the oil. Gas, paint thinners, water raise cain. I'm sure the technology is better today but most of them were more trouble than they are worth. The first one I was ever involved in was similar to what you are building. Had to chip out all the hardened soot every morning. Total PITA

If it all goes well, and it burns hot enough, it turns more into ash.  If I were only that lucky…

[Pullstart 63,544]

5 hours ago, Pullstart said:

 

Yes, I’ve been recording my thought process and reasoning.  I’m fixing for a test fire, before I weld the burner into the tank.  

To summarize it, it was a lazy failure of fire.  I had some stuff to modify and will try again soon.

[wallfish 17,196]

47 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

To summarize it, it was a lazy failure of fire.  I had some stuff to modify and will try again soon.

The one I watched had the burner contained with a large tube/pipe which ran through the barrel they used. Could containment of the fuel vapor be the reason for that? Seems logical.

There's a bunch of them on youtube so I couldn't find the exact one I watched.

[JoeM 7,886]

 

[WHX?? 49,927]

How do you plan on getting rid of the exhaust? Not going to use a gun type burner? 

 

Back when things got slow in the HVAC biz I would go to auto shops to try and sell commercial waste oil burners. The few that i sold the customers were happy ... until they broke. Most problems were related to burning oil with water in it. 

I had a large OTR trucking outfit for customers that I wanted to put them in. They said they didn't have that much since the oil only got changed in 100,000 miles which surprised me. Better off shipping it to a recycler. 

 

I take my tractor drain oil to shops in town that have one. Auto parts places won't take it.  How do you guys get rid of drain oil? 

[Pullstart 63,544]

10 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

How do you plan on getting rid of the exhaust? Not going to use a gun type burner? 

 

I have a few fuel oil burners I thought about playing with, but many people have a fairly simple drip/blower system that works well.  
 

I have a complete overhead radiant heat furnace setup.  I thought I could hang that tube for about 20’ of the shop, and vent up to that.  It’s all 4” heavy wall pipe.  I’ll vent out the side wall through a thimble, to prevent any holes in my new steel roof.

[ebinmaine 69,728]

29 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

How do you guys get rid of drain oil? 

 

We have our local Mennonite auto mechanic place that does all our vehicles maintenance and repair. 

He still takes waste oil 🛢 

[Ed Kennell 39,754]

28 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

How do you guys get rid of drain oil? 

Chain saw bar lube

Mower deck coating

Trailer deck sealing  (50/50 oil and diesel )

Brush and trash burning igniter

[JCM 9,923]

1 hour ago, WHX?? said:

 

 

I take my tractor drain oil to shops in town that have one. Auto parts places won't take it.  How do you guys get rid of drain oil? 

Transfer Station in town takes it. Just need to put your phone # on the jug. And of course you need to be a resident. I donate quite a bit of it.

[lynnmor 7,482]

I take my waste oil to an Amish farm where they burn it to heat a very large barn.  A local auto repair shop has a waste oil burner and had numerous problems till he learned that synthetic hydraulic oil just would not burn.

[Handy Don 13,087]

Like others, the shop that maintains my cars takes it upon my promise that it is strictly dino or synthetic motor oil.

Legally in NY, any licensed auto repair shop must take used motor oil, but they can refuse any they believe has been adulterated. 

[Andy N. 2,237]

On 2/13/2025 at 6:49 AM, Pullstart said:

I’ll call this the brainstorming phase picture.  

 

 

 

 

I'll call this "what I expect to see when you're finished" picture! 

 

[squonk 41,942]

Back in the day (Napa ) if you sold oil, you were required to accept used oil. Guy brings in about 30 qt. bottles of used oil!  I sell him one of those oil change container drain thingies. Next time he comes in with that full and about 20 bottles of used oil!      

 

6 hours ago, WHX?? said:

 

 

Back when things got slow in the HVAC biz I would go to auto shops to try and sell commercial waste oil burners. The few that i sold the customers were happy ... until they broke. Most problems were related to burning oil with water in it. 

 

All of my customers who installed the waste oil burners that hung from the ceiling always had a ladder sitting there. Some even attached it to the framework holding up the burner. Prolly for hitting the reset!  

 

One shop I worked in had these crappy burners that were installed on the floor. The dealer owner was a ski fanatic but he spent more time in the lounge than on the slopes. He comes in one day 3 sheets to the wind. One of the burners was "over firing. "  He was wearing this fuzzy ski sweater and decided to check this thing out. He opened the door to it and FOOP!!!!!!  

[ebinmaine 69,728]

More foops!!!!

[mrc 859]

my local auto parts store is an old timey kind of place.  they have a full machine shop out back.  they have a waste oil furnace.  they gladly accept my used oil

[ebinmaine 69,728]

7 hours ago, mrc said:

my local auto parts store is an old timey kind of place.  they have a full machine shop out back.  

 

I miss those types of shops....

 

[mrc 859]

and the shop is only 1 mile from my house.  am i a lucky guy or what?

 

just as i was finishing plowing the last storm my C160 8 speed (my plow tractor) seemed to be moving too slow.  so on friday i decided to look at it because i knew we were supposed to get another storm this weekend.   and sure enough as i type this it is snowing again.   first i changed the belt.  nope, that did not fix the problem.   the problem was the roll pin had broke in the gizmo that the clutch spring attaches to.  although i had an assortment of roll pins i did not have the proper diameter size pin.  a quick trip downtown to the auto parts store and wolla i had the fix in my hands.   the C160 is back in action and ready for duty!   i showed the shop owner 3 roll pins that i had selected from the drawer.   he just said  "see you saturday at choir practice"    choir practice is code for come on down saturday after i close and have a beer or two.  no charge for the pins.  his dad started the business in 1953.  sadly the owner is now 71 and none of his kids wants to carry on the business.  they also make hydraulic hoses out back.   all the construction guys, farmers etc who need hoses go there.  they do not sell fuzzy dice or much auto air freshener though!

 

i do not buy from rock auto or any online auto parts place because i value this local business sooo much.  once this place is gone it will be gone for good.  

 

sorry to hijack the thread

 

regards

mike

 

 

[ebinmaine 69,728]

5 hours ago, mrc said:

downtown to the auto parts store

 

A long time ago in a land far away I went to a store that was similar. 

 

I believe it was Cowan Auto in Greenfield MA. 

They were well out of my normal area at the time but had the capability of replacing a bad bearing in an alternator of an 80s or 90s vehicle I had then. 

The guy was an excellent tech. The machine shop was old and glorious. 

He knew exactly what to do and how but that bearing fought him tooth and nail. 

What should have been a 5 to 10 minute job took him 45 because he eventually had to cut the inner part off. 

I figured at the hourly rate then I was still money ahead and I was happy to keep using an otherwise good alternator. 

 

When I got the invoice he had still charged me for the initial estimate of a few minutes work even though it occupied several times that. 

 

To him... it had become personal.  

That  bearing was NOT going to defeat him....

 

 

 

 

[lynnmor 7,482]

4 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

A long time ago in a land far away I went to a store that was similar. 

 

I believe it was Cowan Auto in Greenfield MA. 

They were well out of my normal area at the time but had the capability of replacing a bad bearing in an alternator of an 80s or 90s vehicle I had then. 

The guy was an excellent tech. The machine shop was old and glorious. 

He knew exactly what to do and how but that bearing fought him tooth and nail. 

What should have been a 5 to 10 minute job took him 45 because he eventually had to cut the inner part off. 

I figured at the hourly rate then I was still money ahead and I was happy to keep using an otherwise good alternator. 

 

When I got the invoice he had still charged me for the initial estimate of a few minutes work even though it occupied several times that. 

 

To him... it had become personal.  

That  bearing was NOT going to defeat him....

Back in the day when men were men and women were glad of it, a good auto parts store had all of the internal parts for an alternator.  I never bought a complete unit and rebuilt many for others.  Now we are compelled to buy alternators that come from who knows where.

[adsm08 2,390]

16 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

Back in the day when men were men and women were glad of it, a good auto parts store had all of the internal parts for an alternator.  I never bought a complete unit and rebuilt many for others.  Now we are compelled to buy alternators that come from who knows where.

 

Up just past Snyder County, where the men are men and the sheep are scared, there is a guy in Sunbury who still does it. Or at least he used to.

 

There's another guy about two hours west of us that does it too. Can't remember the name. I sent him one S/G unit and he rebuilt it for me. I sent him another a few months later and he couldn't get the part it needed.

[Pullstart 63,544]

It’s been a while since an update.  I took the weekend off for family stuff.  I did my first actual test fire yesterday and had a couple hours of pure bliss as it lit up and took off!  Huge success!

 

Momma gave me some input on shop location.  A spot I had not thought of, but makes the most sense.  Go figure!

 

Videos coming soon.

 

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 12:02 PM by Pullstart

[Pullstart 63,544]

For whatever reason, a lot of people run oil through an open tee.  It’s like a cheap sight glass.  I decided to make use of one of my 100 1-7/8 hitch balls and make it a funnel with an open drip.

 

 

[WHX?? 49,927]

Please don't tell me you are going to put a hole in my nice metal roof for a vent!