Homemade Oil Extractor

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I rigged an oil extractor from an old chemistry lab vacuum pump, a 5 gallon pail with a gasketed lid and suitable lengths of hose. One hose connected the pump's suction port to the pail and the other was a length of 1/4" hose which reached down the dipstick tube.

It ran slowly and when I closed the throttling orifice to increase the suction, the sides of the pail collapsed so I know the system was quite free of air leakage.
15 torturous minutes of extraction yielded barely a pint (16 oz.) of oil. I was stumped.

The oil I had collected resembled semi-dissolved jam. 'Twas all shifty and wavy, not like plain, familiar oil sloshing in the bottom of a pail.
I had a heart attack.

Pulling the drain plug saw the oil drain normally.
The pail I had used for my extractor was clean. It had been 1/4 full of floor cleaner but rinsed out perfectly.

I must try this extractor again as I need it for another car. This was an experimental run.

Perhaps the 1/16" inner diameter is simply not big enough for effective oil suction.
Maybe a thinner walled 1/4" tube would work better.

I'm still wondering about the appearance of the "drawn pint" because it was from a dealership's oil change.
They used a Volvo filter alright but heaven only knows what kind of oil. Some kind of "motor honey" quieting agent came to mind.
 
Pics of the extractor????
wink.gif
 
I have a vacuum extractor that was designed for boats. It's a metal 2 gallon can, with one hose. There's a pump that attaches to one of the holes in the can. After about 20-30 pumps, you release the squeeze clip on the hose that stuck down the dipstick, and the oil gets sucked out. Your setup should work the same way as long as the hose doesn't touch or get stuck to the bottom of the oil pan.,,
 
My extractor uses a hard wall type of tubing so the tubing wall doesn't collapse under vacuum. also makes a big difference if the oil is slightly warm vs cold. Also if it is too hot of oil the larger tube connecting the hard tube will collapse and you get next to nothing then.
 
The oil tube for suction on my medical evacuator is 3/16s and warm oil is rapidly sucked out of sumps on small engines, brake reservoirs and the like.
 
get the oil hot..My Honda oil tube wont accept a 1/4" suction tube so I went to the hardware store and found a 5/32" brass pipe that I then elongated to fit, it works but needs hot oil.
 
if you can clean up. try your device on water first. if it can't even suck up water then you've got an issue.

all extrwctors use a ridgid container. if your pail is collapsing i dont think its adequate for this job
 


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