# Used motor oil - can it be re-used again?



## joefrompa (May 2, 2011)

Hi all,

I go through about 8 gallons of motor oil a year between my cars. This routinely goes to the recyler.

Sometime in the winter, I had a sheet of paper which had gotten a little used motor oil on it. I threw it in the wood burning stove with an ongoing fire, and it slowly lit up....and then kept burning for quite some time.Reminded me of an old-fashioned torch, in that it didn't burn out of control or flash up like lighter fluid or gasoline or something, but just slowly burned evenly.

I know my mechanic uses used motor oil in a specially made furnace which filters it out before burning it like #2 heating oil.

I was wondering if there's any way to use this to my advantage in the wood burning stove? Not as in "soak my kindling in it next to the stove" but something conciously planned out.

Yes, I realize it's a wood burning stove. However, we put waxes/paraffins/pitch/dirt/sap and God knows what else in there - and my one very limited experience shows me that it might be worth experimenting to increase the burn-time/energy output of at least some materials.

Has anyone ever dealt with this idea before? 

Joe


----------



## pen (May 2, 2011)

The standard answer would be most manuals state not to use any accelerants.

My real reason, would be if that sucker didn't start drafting right away and the smoke came into the house it would stink one heck of a lot worse than paraffin or newspaper.

pen


----------



## Backwoods Savage (May 2, 2011)

One more use for used motor oil is to fill the lawn roller with it rather than using water and anti-freeze. Or you could also use sand like I did. 

As for using the oil in the stove, that is not for me.


----------



## joefrompa (May 2, 2011)

Hi Pen,

Agreed on that, I'd prefer to throw it in with a hot stove to ensure the oil ignites readily. Motor oil is actually not that immediately flammable - you can't just put a match to it - it needs a pretty good amount of heat and oxygen. But then, as far as I know, it burns relatively well.

I don't consider it an accelerant, though I'm not flammables expert, I just think of it as something with alot of BTUs residing in it. I guess like the right wax product.


----------



## Fsappo (May 2, 2011)

I remember reading once that back in the old days that folks would burn coal and have some kind of gravity fed rig that would slowly drip oil on the fire so it would burn hotter.  Pretty sure it was pretty common in NYC back in the day.


----------



## jeff_t (May 2, 2011)

Farmer friends used to have a big old woodstove in their old shop. They had a small drum up in the rafters with a small diameter copper tube and a shutoff valve running down to the stove. Once they had a fire going, they would turn the oil on to a very slow drip. There was no smoke and no smell with a hot fire going, but I wouldn't do it in my house.


----------



## joefrompa (May 2, 2011)

Hmmm, maybe I finally found a use for those old, ratty, dirty t-shirts I save in the rag drawer. Dip em, let 'em surface dry, and toss em in


----------



## Fsappo (May 2, 2011)

jeff_t said:
			
		

> Farmer friends used to have a big old woodstove in their old shop. They had a small drum up in the rafters with a small diameter copper tube and a shutoff valve running down to the stove. Once they had a fire going, they would turn the oil on to a very slow drip. There was no smoke and no smell with a hot fire going, but I wouldn't do it in my house.



Yup, thats exactly like the set up I heard about.  Same with me though, never would use something like that in my house.  Probably.  But with waste oil, the idea is interesting.  Maybe.  Probably not though.


----------



## firefighterjake (May 2, 2011)

Would I do it with my own woodstove? Nope . . .


----------



## joefrompa (May 2, 2011)

Jake - Do you know if motor oil is explosive in a ventilated space? I know it can spontaneously combust in a closed environment, but i'm thinking it doesn't have a tendency to explode - only ignite and flame.

Hmm, thinking about how I'd experiment with this in a way that would be safe and let me slowly learn the best way to use the oil without creating a mess or endangering anything...

Joe


----------



## woodsmaster (May 2, 2011)

jeff_t said:
			
		

> Farmer friends used to have a big old woodstove in their old shop. They had a small drum up in the rafters with a small diameter copper tube and a shutoff valve running down to the stove. Once they had a fire going, they would turn the oil on to a very slow drip. There was no smoke and no smell with a hot fire going, but I wouldn't do it in my house.



 + 1


----------



## fishingpol (May 2, 2011)

I don't want to steer you down the road, but Youtube has videos on waste oil drip feed stoves.  I'll have nothing further to do with the outcome of this thread. :roll:


----------



## Thistle (May 3, 2011)

I've never burned it except to light a stubborn brush pile once or twice.I wouldnt use it inside my house.Use it as bar/chain oil,except when milling or the temp outside is below 25 or so.Then I use the cheapest vegetable/olive or canola oil I can find.That's usually free if you talk nicely to a local restaraunt or two.


----------



## joefrompa (May 3, 2011)

Thanks. I give all the credit to you, whatever comes out of this 

Ok, so first, I'm talking about a fairly small sum of oil in the grand scheme of things. So it's not going to provide meaningful additional heat to the house - so the next question to me is can it provide some sort of interesting benefit to restarting things or getting things started up in the first place.

My guess is that a bit of oil would help kindling burn longer - easing the transition into large pieces. So, if I feel like it, I may try some things out where I soak 4-5" of pine kindling in a coffee can of used oil and then let them "dry" (not dripping), then try it out where half the kindling is untouched and the other half is well soaked. 

As far as I can tell, this stuff doesn't light readily and once it does, it gives off heat slowly and evenly. So I think the advantage would be allowing kindling to last much longer and provide more "starting heat" to get the stove up to temp.

We'll see, plenty of time left to try this out and, frankly, I might try this out outdoors first - see how the wood reacts in a firepit.

If I can someone find a way to keep this oil on hand and use it up every year, I will be very happy. I hate dropping it off at pep boys


----------



## firefighterjake (May 3, 2011)

joefrompa said:
			
		

> Jake - Do you know if motor oil is explosive in a ventilated space? I know it can spontaneously combust in a closed environment, but i'm thinking it doesn't have a tendency to explode - only ignite and flame.
> 
> Hmm, thinking about how I'd experiment with this in a way that would be safe and let me slowly learn the best way to use the oil without creating a mess or endangering anything...
> 
> Joe



I don't believe it would be explosive . . . even in a confined space . . . but I'm still thinking I wouldn't want to put waste oil in my woodstove. Honestly, I'm very leary of what I stick in my woodstove -- pretty much newspaper, some occasional cardboard and wood . . . I can count on one . . . maybe two hands . . . the times I have used any wax or parrafin based products (commercially made or made by myself) in my woodstove . . . I just figure it keeps things "cleaner."


----------



## hilly (May 3, 2011)

I think recycling a non-renewable resource seems like the best plan.


----------



## benjamin (May 3, 2011)

+1 on the drip stoves if you're heating a farm shop with barrels of waste oil.

Not so much if you're talking about inside the house with a few gallons/year, not worth the hassle/risk.

Absolutely no way unless the fire is already burning nice and hot, and you're going to keep it going full blast.


----------



## btuser (May 6, 2011)

Babbington burner.


----------



## Czech (May 9, 2011)

I'm not suggesting this and figure I'll get jumped on a bit...

I'm a biomass burner and have a 50 bushel crib in my garage that gets filled with pellets and corn. I mix in waste oil, either cooking or motor, not a lot but enough to coat the fuel (say a couple few quarts). I primarily do this to keep the dust down when bucketing from the crib to the stove. To me it adds some 'free' btu's and does keep the dust down, I've never had a problem and I really have a hard time believing it is a safety issue.


----------



## midwestcoast (May 9, 2011)

benjamin said:
			
		

> +1 on the drip stoves if you're heating a farm shop with barrels of waste oil.
> 
> Not so much if you're talking about inside the house with a few gallons/year, not worth the hassle/risk.
> 
> Absolutely no way unless the fire is already burning nice and hot, and you're going to keep it going full blast.



Agree on that. 
If you really wanted to do this there are established methods to get good combustion (with way lower emissions) that I don't imagine you'd get with just oil soaked wood.  Burning, and mixing with diesel for use in vehicles are both EPA recommended disposal methods for circumstances where having it "recycled" is not possible. I use the quotes because I believe most waste oil is filtered and burned in industrial furnaces at high temps.
Is the benefit really worth the trouble for the amount of WO you generate? 
If you're using it to help prolong the burn of kindling that means you're using it in a somewhat cold stove. therefore you are going produce elevated and likely massive amounts of at least some of the emissions associated with waste oil combustion like Sulfur compounds, Nitrous compounds, Halogens and Heavy Metals (including some of the nastiest like lead, chromium, cadmium, and maybe arsenic).  
Again is it really worth it just to get some kindling to burn a little longer? For the time & effort to soak and dry the kindling couldn't you just collect and make some more?

FOr clarity: The Heavy metals produced are likely the same no matter the combustion temp and will probably show up in the ash produced as well. In the normal recycling stream I believe the metals are mostly removed prior to burning in the industrial furnaces.


----------



## bigdaa (May 12, 2011)

I work at hazardous waste incinerator were we handle thousands of gallons of used motor oil from auto and truck repair shops.  There is a serious health hazard due heavy metals contained in the used motor oil.  These  heavy meals come from the various metal alloys used in today's engines and from the various additives use in making special lubrication products.  
When used oil is burned, some of these heavy metals (especially lead, cadmium, mercury)  become volatized, end up in the smoke.  Most of the metals end up in the ash and if applied in a garden could be taken up by the vegtables & fruits where they could be ingested.   There is also a concenr about used motor oil being transdermal (pass through the skin).  Today's manufactoring process pulverize materials so fine that the oil wil help these ultrafine particles pass through the pores of your skin and go directly into the blood stream.  
All of these heavy metals are highly toxic to children and people with weak immune systems.


----------



## Hass (May 13, 2011)

hilly said:
			
		

> I think recycling a non-renewable resource seems like the best plan.



Most places to drop them off at "recycling" places, give them off to oil burners, if you recycle them at a shop, they more than likely burn them.
My dad has an oil burner, and got all of his from local guys, auto shops (used to get it from a motorsport shop until they closed up, would get 4-5 55 gal drums of it every few weeks).

It does make quite a bit of soot though.


----------



## burntime (May 13, 2011)

I was going to say the same thing.  All the metals in the oil can not be good...


----------



## hilly (May 13, 2011)

Hass said:
			
		

> hilly said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's no good! I take mine to the municipal recycling center. I think I'll try and find out what they do with it. Thanks for the heads up.


----------

