Getting oil out of bilges

P

pcatterall

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 Aug 2004
Messages
5,507
Location
Home East Lancashire boat Spain
Visit site
I have related that following a serious oil leak ( about 6 pints)into the bilges I went to clear it up the next week to find a foot of water in the bilges and the oil deposited every where.

There has been much scrubbing and lots of 'Fairy liquid' used, things are a bit cleaner but oil which had got into innacessible crannies is still finding its way back into the bilges.

One of my concerns was/is to seperate the oil from the water so that I can pump out the water and carry the mucky stuff ashore. ( I guess that the detergent shouldnt really have been pumped either?)

I have used oil soaking pads with some success, by swishing them round the bilges, squeezing gently to remove the water then wring the oil out into a bucket. Even so the water pumped out has looked quite dirty.
I would like some expert advice and this might help others in the same position.
Is there a spray that will get into the crannies which can be followed by a jet of water to flush the oil out and is such a spray biodegradable?
Is there an environmentally friendly 'fairy liquid'?
I want to fit one of those bilge oil filters so that the oil is retained and the pumped out water clean. Can anyone comment on these and recommend a good one/ I guess that the filters have to be thrown away, are they expensive.
many thanks.
 
Don't know about biodegradeable but have you tried 'Gunk' in a an aerosol? Spray all the hard to reach places, wash it down with a hose into the bottom of the bilge. Hand bail what you can into a bucket then dump some 'pampers' or other disposable nappies in the bilge to soak up what's left. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Having had a similar experience of late, I decided not to use the oil absorbent pads as I had previously been disappointed with them, so I used my Pela vacuum extractor which sucks up the lot until I could see the bilge bottom.

The I bought a large aerosol can of 'Gunk' from a motor shop and liberally sprayed, sucked, sprayed etc. a few times.

This got me to the point where I could wipe the bilge clean and then only a few residual dribbles where the Gunk emulsified oil crept out from nooks and crannies had to be mopped up over the next day or so. The bilges are now clean, so I haven't had to use more than a little detergent to clean off any solvent film.

The Pela is a convenient way to collect and reach oil in otherwise difficult to access areas
 
Not for this job specifically, but we use ECOVER products on our boat, cleaning fluid for the sea toilet, washing up liquid etc...

and find it to work well... Just a recomendation if you wanted to give this product a try.
 
I had this problem when I bought my current boat - it had obviously had a diesel fuel and engine oil leak at sometime before I bought it. I lifted all the floor boards, and using lots of bilge cleaner and water, scrubbed everywhereand then sponged it all up. Also had to replace all the wooden floor bearers as these were impregnated with diesel and oil, no amount of scrubbing cleaned these up. Doing this has made a considerable difference. I've just two more small places which I have to do next winter.
 
I fitted a Bilgekleen filter to avoid having to fit a drip tray in my bilge. Got to keep my friendly BSS man happy (hi Mike).

This particular make which Mike, a forumee on here recommended, filters oil to within 5 PPM, which I would imagine is pretty clean.

Cost about £55 +VAT for my size (BK1) and I got it from ASAP supplies.
 
I had a fuel leak where I lost about 5 gallons of diesel into the bilges. I managed to get a lot of it out, and then added some hot water/washing up liquid to float some more of it where I could pump some more out (all into drums).

That left some more in the bilges that I could not access, so I got a fuel spill sock from eBay, sewed it into 2 foot lengths, and cut between the machine sewing. This I tied a length of cord and stuffed it into the inaccessible places in the bilge.

So far, no sloshing fuel, and no smell. The socks have soaked up any residual fuel.
 
When we had an injector pipe go, we used the garden Insecticide sprayer. Ours is a 6litre pump up job that sprays via a reasonably long lance at good pressure and fine spray. We mixed up a good solution of detergents and water for spraying into all nooks and crannies. Let it soak for a day and sprayed again with same solution. Next we sprayed with just water to lift anf get it all collected into the bilge. Pela extractor to remove that. Plenty of absorbent cloths on end of stick pushed up under engine and into corners to soak up. Last dregs in bilge mopped out. Real persistent stains were then removed with use of Oven Cleaner, (well rinsed of). Once all clean - we then finished of with a pine scented general cleaner.
 
I have found WD40 great for cleaning oily bilges. I have tried scrubbing and Fairy liquid, commerical bilge cleaner and others but nothing seems to beat WD40 for removing black oil. It seems to remove the stickiness that black oil has and makes it wipeable - the black oil I'm talking about simply doesn't wipe off with normal detergent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top