Dealing with dirty diesel oil

[Duncan]

Has anyone got a good pump or pumping system for changing their oil?

I have what I thought was a nice little pump, but it spewed dirty oil on me and the cabin today.
It looks like this:


LINK

I was all set up nicely: cushions out of the way, plastic covering the sole, a round, shallow plastic tray on top of that, shop towels to hand, you probably know the drill. I find this a pretty dicey procedure, holding and pumping and trying to keep the two hoses where they should be, etc.

Anyway, I had great peace of mind until the lower (output) hose gave way under the pumping pressure, and spewed (maybe a cupful). That spew, of course, got me from the knees down, as well as everything else in sight.

Anyway, long dirty story. It's mostly all cleaned up now, but it kind of spoiled my afternoon, and I'm sure there's a better way to do it.

Anybody ready to point me in the right direction?

Maybe something like this, only a bit smaller? It looks steadier and better made anyway.



LINK

EDIT:

Or maybe this one - looks like the right size, anybody use one?



LINK

[David van den Burgh]

We bought a Tempo Oil Boy when we bought the boat. Great tool. Works perfectly, and it's about as clean as you can get with an oil change. It appears to be discontinued, but here is its replacement (I think): http://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-7400-Lite ... 245&sr=8-1

[Ray Garcia]

I use the Pela (last one pictured). It is not speedy I imagine due to hose size, but it is very easy to use. 2 quarts take about 10 minutes to drain from the oil fill. Warming up the engine a bit helps things out.

[bottomscraper]

I also have a Tempo Oil Boy, works good but a bit slow with the smallest extraction tube.

Defender shows a "Marpac" pump that looks similar in 2 sizes"
1.05 Gal # 300290 http://search.defender.com/?expression=300290
1.70 Gal # 300280 http://search.defender.com/?expression=300280


It looks like West Marine has a similar thing as a house brand item in two sizes:

2.85 qts # 11097714
6.9 qts # 11047123

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... &langId=-1

I also had a "Marina Pro" pump. It worked great for one season,
it died and repair parts are almost as expensive as a new one.
Too bad it was a nice pump when it worked and I liked the shape
better, if they want they can send me a new one and I might
recommend it. They were total jerks when I tried to contact them.

[riveredge]

West Marine sells a good canister/suction pump. I took a diesel class at Mack Boring recently and the instructor said the commercially available pumps all have tubes that are too small to suck oil efficiently. He suggested getting a piece of copper tubing from Home Depot (the size used for refrigerator ice machines) and taping that to the larger plastic tube on commercially available oil suckers. I haven't tried it but it sounds good.

[Jeff and Sarah]

I had the small red hand pump you mentioned and few things have caused to me swear so much in my life. That thing was good for nothing. I then bought the West Marine pump/canister (the larger size) and it has been great. Draing all the oil from my engine only takes a few minutes and it is big enough to hold the total oil capacity for my engine and transmission. It seals very well too so it's easy to store the oil until it can be recycled. West also has a satisfaction guarantee so you can return it at any time if it doesn't work well for your application. I kicked myself for cheaping out the first time around.

[Warren S]

Those work great for pumping diesel fuel out of a contaminated tank. I think it really is designed for fuels rather than heavy oils. I do on the other hand have the canister pump from West Marine. It works so well I also use it on the car rather then jacking and crawling under.

[Duncan]

Thanks, all, much appreciated!

I was offline yesterday, but I had seen David and Ray's recommendations before I headed out. I ended up in the local swindlery by the afternoon, and they had three versions sitting right by the cashier (ya reckon these guys are watching my web traffic?).

Anyway, these were the Oil Boy successor (rebranded as a Pela product), the Pela 6000, and the Pela 2000. I got the Pela 2000, which the cashier also recommended. I'm going to try it out fairly soon, since I'm due to change the oil again soon. (I only get about 2/3 of the oil out on a change, and the latest change was way overdue anyway).

With respect to the "little red pump", I guess these are good for some things, but this one has ruined a comfortable old pair of shoes, a nice (newer) pair of shorts, and most of an afternoon.

Thanks again for your comments, which were very helpful (as usual). Bottom line, it seems like most people say the Pela products are good for the application.

[MikeD]

Duncan, when a similar incident happened to me a couple of years ago, I also replaced mine with the same Pela model you got. After I changed the oil in the boat, I was so excited at how easy it was, I went home and changed the oil in my lawn mower and snow blower as well! I think you'll really like it.

[Sea Hunt Video]

I also have a Tempo Oil Boy, works good but a bit slow with the smallest extraction tube.

Defender shows a "Marpac" pump that looks similar in 2 sizes"
1.05 Gal # 300290 http://search.defender.com/?expression=300290
1.70 Gal # 300280 http://search.defender.com/?expression=300280

Has anyone purchased the Marpac Fluid Extractor From what limited research I have been able to do, it looks like the top of the line fluid extractor was made by Moeller Marine. They discontinued their product because they say they "could not get parts".

It looks like the Marpac Fluid Extractor that Rich referenced above is almost the same as the Moeller Fluid Extractor.

My little Yanmar 1GM only has about 1.5 qts (or less) of oil. The small one seems like it would be more than sufficient.

Any practical, hands on experience with the Marpac product

[bhartley]

We have the larger capacity Marpac (purchased from Defender) and have used it for oil and diesel. A worthwhile investment!

[Sea Hunt Video]

We have the larger capacity Marpac (purchased from Defender) and have used it for oil and diesel. A worthwhile investment!

Bly:

Thanks. Any particular reason you went with the larger capacity Marpac I am guessing it was for diesel extraction.

[bhartley]

Since Pyxis stays in the water year round and we don't come close to using 13 gallons of diesel a year (we only add 5 gallons at a time anyway), the option to empty the tank for just a few dollars more made sense.

It doesn't get stored on the boat so the size (height) difference between the two models didn't matter.

[Paul D.]

I had the previously shown little red pump and it did work for the last nine seasons but not without serious risk of oil spillage in the galley, large amount of worry and oily hands and thus everything else. Boy I came close to major environmental disasters. I cannot recommend it for one who wants to change oil frequently as it does not encourage it.

I too will be looking for a new oil change system and have heard of the copper tube system. The $41 Defender piece looks like the one for me. I cannot justify an electric system and I have fully outgrown the old Jabsco red pump.

[Gary M]

When my friend's Perkins 4 108 was out of the boat he removed the oil drain plug and had a machinist drill and tap it with pipe threads.

He used these threads to install a high pressure hose that leads to a conveniently mounted extraction pump.

Now when he decides its time to change oil he can just turn on the pump and start filling old oil cans.

To fill with new oil he just reverses the direction of the pump and pumps new oil back in.

It works incredibly well.

The filter is located next to the pump and has room to place a pan under it to eliminate the mess.

Now its so easy to change oil, he never hesitates doing it.

Of course if you can reach your oil plug you don't have to wait for the engine to come out of the boat to remove the plug!!

If I had an inboard I would not hesitate to install this system.

Gary