Environmental Nightmare - Oil Changes

Bigplumbs

Bigplumbs

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Once again we are approaching that time of year when many of the boating fraternity will be sucking out perfectly good oil and putting in new oil because that is what they do every year. They will waffle on about it being inexpensive and about Sulphuric Acid and no matter what anyone says they will continue to do it because that is what they have always done. I put it to you that this is irresponsible at an environmental level.. Why, read below

According to Mr Google there is at least 82,000 boats in the UK alone with say an average of 5 ltrs of oil in them each. That is 410,000 ltrs or about 400 m3 or 400 tons of so called waste oil to be dealt with. If we all left it 2 years I put it to you it would not be harmful to our engines and we could half the numbers above.


Perhaps also at say £40 for 5 ltrs of oil and a filter that is £3.28 million income to the industry..... Perhaps this has somthing to do with why the industry encourages us to change every year.


Views please ?
 
My bilge pump often performs better after 20 litres of oil has gone through it and I’ve had many comments about the stunning “rainbow” display around my boat. Should I really limit that for my fellow boaters to every other year....let alone the impact it may have on my bilge pump :D
 
Bigplumbs said:
I put it to you that this is irresponsible at an environmental level..

Views please ?
Click to expand...

Oils in the machinery are least of the environmental issues .Once you have crossed that threshold of the environmental iresponsibility of boat ownership there’s no going back. I mean the plastic , resins etc a , then a few thousand L of diesel , the fumes that produces a drop of oil annually is insignificant to the overal carbon footprint , environmental impact one has boating .

Further more I,am in this camp the marine Diesel engine oil should be changed annually because the oil's additive package deteriorates over time and gets further used up holding contaminants in suspension. This is not related to engine operation just time.

I don’t get much change out £400 on a DIY basis and as said above the old oil in our “ blue flag “ marina is recycled.
Oh I forgot I paint nasty antifoul on the bottom every year and don’t worry about that either .

Weak excuse hiding behind environmental issues for one tiny aspect of the running costs .Makes no sense to me as since the berth alone cost €200,000 it will take approx 450 oil change spends to reach that amount and somehow don,t imagine living to do that many .

More interested in following the manufactures maintenance regime with 1/2 an eye open looking at residue values and future saleability .

Give me a good reason or reasons to deviate from my manufactures oil changes frequency in a boat .
 
Portofino said:
Oils in the machinery are least of the environmental issues .Once you have crossed that threshold of the environmental iresponsibility of boat ownership there’s no going back. I mean the plastic , resins etc a , then a few thousand L of diesel , the fumes that produces a drop of oil annually is insignificant to the overal carbon footprint , environmental impact one has boating .

Further more I,am in this camp the marine Diesel engine oil should be changed annually because the oil's additive package deteriorates over time and gets further used up holding contaminants in suspension. This is not related to engine operation just time.

I don’t get much change out £400 on a DIY basis and as said above the old oil in our “ blue flag “ marina is recycled.
Oh I forgot I paint nasty antifoul on the bottom every year and don’t worry about that either .

Weak excuse hiding behind environmental issues for one tiny aspect of the running costs .Makes no sense to me as since the berth alone cost €200,000 it will take approx 450 oil change spends to reach that amount and somehow don,t imagine living to do that many .

More interested in following the manufactures maintenance regime with 1/2 an eye open looking at residue values and future saleability .

Give me a good reason or reasons to deviate from my manufactures oil changes frequency in a boat .
Click to expand...

Di u say 200,000 Euro
 
Bigplumbs said:
Perhaps also at say £40 for 5 ltrs of oil and a filter that is £3.28 million income to the industry..... Perhaps this has somthing to do with why the industry encourages us to change every year.


Views please ?
Click to expand...

Not sure who pays £40 for 5 litres of oil - but not me.

If you want to neglect your oil changes you will be among many other boaters who do so.

I left my kad 32 until 120 hours once and the oil removed was noticeably very black and horrible.
I did fewer than usual hours last year so depending on the oil colour when I check it tomorrow will probably wait until reaching 100 hours since the last oil change. That will be a little over the year.

Oil is cheaper than metal so changing it annually is no bad thing.
 
Whitelighter said:
I won’t be changing the oil this year. Or next. Oil change intervals are looooooong.

But then I don’t have volvos
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DD ,s old DD,s really need quite a bit of care As I am sure you know due to there mechanical injectors under the valve cover over time the lube oil gets thin with diesel fuel leaking past the plunger & fuel rack rod . It's the nature of the beast so to speak .
So if anything consider more Fq lub not longer changes as it’s being washed in diesel .
 
I was being slightly flippant.

That said according to the manual such that it is for the marine version oil interval is 250 hours.
Road versions are way higher if you assume a reasonable average speed (mileage based rather than hours).

Our pair of lovely’s don’t use that much oil either - and that is a Detroit feature
 
Portofino said:
Oils in the machinery are least of the environmental issues .Once you have crossed that threshold of the environmental iresponsibility of boat ownership there’s no going back. I mean the plastic , resins etc a , then a few thousand L of diesel , the fumes that produces a drop of oil annually is insignificant to the overal carbon footprint , environmental impact one has boating .

Further more I,am in this camp the marine Diesel engine oil should be changed annually because the oil's additive package deteriorates over time and gets further used up holding contaminants in suspension. This is not related to engine operation just time.



I don’t get much change out £400 on a DIY basis and as said above the old oil in our “ blue flag “ marina is recycled.
Oh I forgot I paint nasty antifoul on the bottom every year and don’t worry about that either .

Weak excuse hiding behind environmental issues for one tiny aspect of the running costs .Makes no sense to me as since the berth alone cost €200,000 it will take approx 450 oil change spends to reach that amount and somehow don,t imagine living to do that many .

More interested in following the manufactures maintenance regime with 1/2 an eye open looking at residue values and future saleability .

Give me a good reason or reasons to deviate from my manufactures oil changes frequency in a boat .
Click to expand...

In addition to this, engine oils are designed to be used and constantly or regularly heated and cooled as not only do they coat moving components they also remove contaminants and hold them in suspension and either break the solids down with the heat, but they also evaporate many of the liquids off with this heat and in a moist marine environment this is crucial to maintain the oil and its effectiveness.
By not running your engine and heating your engine oil you are storing up masses of moisture and degrading it much more then running your engine flat out most days, and it is why manufacturers give hourly engine hours and time periods for changing the oil.
 
Could be considered an irresponsible post perhaps.
It’s is absolutely cruicial you change the oil every year or on the recommendation of hours, which ever comes first. On most engines at least, certainly.
If you really want to be environmentally conscious...don’t own a boat.
I tend to feel I can offset it by working in the renewable industry. Coincidentally this allows me to sample and record oil condition on occasion. I can tell you that without doubt, the average engine in a marine environment has some work to do. Most don’t fair too well and break down their ability to lubricate properly pretty quickly. The less seldom used engines in particular don’t do well. Hence the caviat of “which ever comes first” that we see the OEMs state.
The trick is responsible disposal of oil and what happens after it leaves your engine.

All the above said, I totally respect your regard and concern on the matter and fair play.
A matter particularly close to my heart and worth taking seriously.
 
MartynG said:
Not sure who pays £40 for 5 litres of oil - but not me.

If you want to neglect your oil changes you will be among many other boaters who do so.

I left my kad 32 until 120 hours once and the oil removed was noticeably very black and horrible.
I did fewer than usual hours last year so depending on the oil colour when I check it tomorrow will probably wait until reaching 100 hours since the last oil change. That will be a little over the year.

Oil is cheaper than metal so changing it annually is no bad thing.
Click to expand...


Oil in Diesel engines will always be black.. That is no gauge in a Diesel engine
 
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If you have your oil sampled and analysed each year this will tell you if it needs replacing and, importantly, will also allow you to see if certain elements are increasing, e.g. Lead from white metal bearings, whereas simply binning it all every year such wear could go unnoticed.

Testing by Finnings only costs ~£25, so for me half the cost of the oil I would otherwise use.

I do agree that if you are going to change it each year then better to do it in the Autumn and ideally just after the engine has had a good run and is still hot, so as much as possible of the contaminants are still in suspension, rather than settled out in a sludge layer at the bottom of the sump.
 
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