Managing an oily bilge.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Yeah yeah, but does it affect the tast of the beer??? ;-)

Not in Texas

[Boracay]

I use the Coopers Real Ale kits and it tastes just fine.

[SVPendragon]

Hi

have you seen the products from clean water solutions?

http://www.cleanwatersolutionsinc.com/products.html

Their microbes eat up the oil so you can discharge the treated water over board. It may take a few days but easier than trying to dispose of waste oil.

The products are available from Defender or Hamilton marine

Andrew

[Richhh]

If you have any sense of environmental concern you wont use detergents to 'emulsify' the bilge oil. Oil thats emulsified by detergents is perhaps more deadly to marine life than 'visible' oil.

Sure, the best way is to use an emulsifying agent such as a caustic or 'modern' detergent / bilge cleaner / surfactant etc. etc. etc. to get the bilge surfaces clean; but, then additionally consider to use an absorbant material to further absorb / extract the oil from the emulsion BEFORE pumping it overboard. Most 'oil-boom' materials are simply polypropylene fibers (fluff), as polypropylene is a powerful 'oleophillic' (oil absorbing) material. Simply wash / emulsify the oil in the bilge, then take one or two of the 'oil absorbers' (take it apart ... unroll it!!!!) put it in the bilge to absorb the emulsified oil. It may take several days for the absorbance to complete. Then if you cant properly dispose the absorbant, let it dry out then simply burn it.

The use of microbes for oil absorbtion is also a very good and perhaps more responsible idea.

On my boat, I have a drip pan under the engine and to make it even easier to clean the bilge, I simply line the drip pan with a thick layer of polypropylene fluff .... the oil get absorbed directly to the pad, any water goes right through, etc. .... and since the oil never gets to the bilge ...... .
:-)

[kushka]

I had a similar problem. When I bought my boat there was sooo much oil in the bilge that it seemed never ending. I ended up using a concentrated bilge cleaner that I circulated by running the bilge pump discharge right back into the bilge. That broke most of it up, and then I used a shop vac to pull most of it off the top of the water. The oil sorb socks aren't too bad if the bilge isn't outrageously dirty.

I took the water oil mixture from the shop vac put it into gallon jugs then took it to the recyling center as waste oil. (It was mostly oil and I figured it was better than the alternative.)

I will be putting a drip pan under the engine this winter.

[Boracay]

The point about detergents is well taken. They only emulsify the oil and one ends up with a large oily mass instead of a small oily mass.
I put in an oil sock this morning (3M Brand, all that is available in Oz) and I'll see how it goes.
The amount of oil is substanially reduced already.

[Alan Wheeler]

Ouch, 3M, great products, but damn expensive name to have to pay for.

[Boracay]

I carefully pumped ot the residue today and found that what remained was a sticky, oily gunk. (Probably what stuffed up the bilge pump).
I lost patience.
I poured in a couple of litres of solvent based degreaser and agitated the whole thing with a good long intermitent blasts from the water blaster.
Pumped the whole lot out into 20 litre detergent containers that my wife found.
Repeated the process.
Took 100 litres of bilge waters to the waste transfer station where (I think) they took pity on me.(Free!!!!)
Poured the lot down their drain.
Now I find that there remains general debris in the bilge.
Bits of wood, rust, spanners, ring clamps, bolts, pieces of wood etc.
It is beyond the reach of my hand, arm etc.
How can I get it out?

[delmarrey]

At most auto parts stores they have a long flex rod (about .8 meters) that has fingers that come out the end with the push button.

I keep one above the cantering stove. I'm always dropping stuff behind.

[GordMay]

Telescoping Magnets and Grapnels:
http://www.mytoolstore.com/kd/kdspec10.html

[Alan Wheeler]

Yep, that's were that gremlin lives. The one that steels the tools and nuts and what have you's. He lives down in that murk. I have the same problem. Probably the same design of bilge huh? Under the rear of the gearbox?? Yep I use one of those cheap magnets on a telscopic handle to pick up the missing bits as well.