Best way to clean out oil extractor after use?

[patrickkidd]

Hi there! I bought the west marine oil extractor to change the oil on my universal diesel M25:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--manual-oil-changer-2-9-quart--11097714

It's an excellent product, no doubt. But I'm wondering what the best way to clean the extractor and it's tubing is after I'm done? I want to be able to store it without worrying it will leak oil into the lazarette, and I also want to use it to pump out remaining dirty water from my bilge.

Thanks!

 

[Warren Milberg]

I mix up about a half gallon of warm water and Dawn liquid and suck it through the pump, followed by clear water. Cleans up nicely.

 

[Gunni]

Hold the extractor hose over your head and give the bottle a few pumps. Remove the hose, coil the line, stuff the tail into the end fitting and put the entire assembly's in a drywall bucket or plastic tub. Get a wet-dry shop vac for maintaining your bilges, plumbing, and sea water strainer. Don't contaminate an oil extractor with that stuff, you compromise the ability to recycle oil and fuel with water and antifreeze.

 

[slaume]

You really don't want to use an oil extractor to pump out your bilge. Even if you do clean it out there will still be some oil residue. Emulsified oil is still oil. Maybe not according to BP but the Gulf residents might care to disagree. If you are going to clean out the pump every time you use it, where are you going to dispose of the residue? The better option might be to put a plug in the hose and then double bag the pump or even dedicate a dry bag to it. There are lots of other simple pumps to clear out your bilge if that little bit of water bothers you. You can make a very simple pump by putting a couple of lengths of hose on a fuel bulb. That would be easier to deal with and could be kept just for the bilge or head if the need ever arises
.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Another option is to rinse with a little diesel fuel and throw the mix in the recycle tank.

If you insert the tube to the fuel tank bottom when you pump, you enjoy the added benefit of ensuring any water in your fuel tank is removed.

If you "hold it over your head and give it a few pumps", I'd suggest you do so only when no one is around to take a movie. Might be embarrassing.

 

[patrickkidd]

There are lots of other simple pumps to clear out your bilge if that little bit of water bothers you. You can make a very simple pump by putting a couple of lengths of hose on a fuel bulb. That would be easier to deal with and could be kept just for the bilge or head if the need ever arises
.

Thanks for the tip. I wanted to dry the bilge to clean it out as well as be able to test for water leaks elsewhere in the boat since I've recently fixed a couple in the exhaust line and head sink line.

 

[berner73]

Agree with the advice above; dedicate the oil extractor for extracting oil.

Our boat is deck stepped so there's no reason for water in the bilge, which I expect to be clean and dry. Otherwise, there's a leak somewhere. If there is any water or aqueous liquid left over from cleaning/winterizing, I've found this to be the best tool to extract it. No idea how effective it is for painting as I picked it up specifically for the boat. Cost about $10 bucks and is so small that it stays on board year round. Just toss the painting pad attachment and underneath leaves a narrow point (about 1/2") to get into tight spaces. Only holds about 5 or 6 oz. per pull, but very effective at getting every last drop w/o any 'back flow' after pulling up the water.

http://www.amazon.com/HomeRight-C800771-Quick-Painter-Edge/dp/B003IHVALK

 

[Ken Cross]

Beyond what the bilge pump can get I use a car washing size sponge. It picks it up quickly and it's cheap.
Ken

 

[Warren Milberg]

I don't know much about the West Marine oil extractor mentioned by the OP, but my high quality Jabsco hand utility pump is advertisied for, and I use it for, moving just about any fluid from A to B. I don't care for the idea of dedicated pumps on my boat or I'd wind up having one for water, oil, transmission fluid, anti-freeze, diesel fuel, ad infinitum. The pump cleans up nicely as I posted above, dries out over night, and it ready for the next fluid shortly thereafter. I have never had any problems with the pump inadvertently mixing fluids. Perhaps the West Marine pump has different characteristics.
http://www.amazon.com/Jabsco-33799-...dp/B000O8F1SE?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

[Gunni]

Warren: I have one of them too. Your pump is completely different than the extractor pump; which both removes and stores the fluid and is difficult to clear of waste streams that should not be mixed.

 

[patrickkidd]

http://www.amazon.com/HomeRight-C800771-Quick-Painter-Edge/dp/B003IHVALK

I received this pump today and it is a wonderful little tool. Very tight, cheap, and effective. Thanks!

 

[Ukeluthier]

I think using the extractor for pure oil only, and then storing it "dirty" in the garden shed after emptying the used oil into a container for recycling is the easiest and most ecologically sound method. Trying to clean it just produces emulsified crap that is impossible to dispose of responsibly. If you put an oil-absorbing sheet under it for storage, it will catch any drips.

 

[Pat]

We hooked up a hose and brass coupling that hooks up from the hose out of the oil pan to the extractor pump hose....changing oil is messy....but this way you get all the oil...the pumped oil ends up in a empty 1 gal. water jug which we take to the City of Wichita's oil dumping/ hazardous waste dump here in Wichita....when emptied, everything goes into a plastic bag with a twist tie on the closed bag and it spends it's summer bagging in the dock box but no mess.....Pat

 

[Pat]

I mix up about a half gallon of warm water and Dawn liquid and suck it through the pump, followed by clear water. Cleans up nicely.

Great idea....Pat

 

[SFS]

I mix up about a half gallon of warm water and Dawn liquid and suck it through the pump, followed by clear water. Cleans up nicely.

What do you do with the oily soapy water and the rinse water that are now contaminated?

 

[Warren Milberg]

I clean the pump once a year when I change the oil. By that time, I have also a plastic bag full of used oil filter and some oil caught in the changeover process. That bag, and the soapy/oily water from the pump, go to the Toxic Waste Disposal facility in my county during my annual trip there.