Fuel oil and diesel are actually the exact same thing, but two minor, yet key differences:

• Fuel oil is not taxed for road use and it has red dye in it to indicate if it’s improperly put into vehicles to skirt taxes.

• Historically, diesel used to have more strict requirements when it came to sulfur content than fuel oil. Fuel oil used to have >=2,000ppm sulfur in it and increasing standards mandated diesel at be low sulfur at 500ppm. Ultra low sulfur diesel then was mandated at 15ppm. At this point, everything is ultra low sulfur.

There is a small pipe above the fill that was probably where a button whistle was, if it ever existed.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing is improperly installed. In other words, the button whistle may be the only vent and there may be no associated main vent with weighted cap. Cases like this are very dangerous because the tank can’t vent fast enough while being filled and can lead to tank failure.

Not saying that’s the case here, but the amount of leaking can also be indicative of back pressure from inadequate venting.

There are a few things going on here.

First, the fill connection is 1.5” threaded pipe. These connections are very prone to leaking during fill because the threads wear out over time both on the fill box and the fill adapter. “Modern” fill adapters use rubber rings to ensure a good seal during fill. 1.5” adapters do not have these.

Also, when this stoop was constructed, the fill box was not properly installed. The adapter connection should not be parallel to the ground. The scenario you see can lead to the oil flowing back when the hose from truck is disconnected.

Also, the pipe to the tank may not be pitched corrected. So when the fill is complete, some portion of the oil may flow back to the street when the hose from truck is disconnected.

Also, the stain on the wall may be due to two factors. One is the fill box connection leaking when during fill. Another is the fill box/pipe can be cracked inside the masonry. The masonry over time soaks up the leaked oil.

The stay dry was most likely put down by the oilman as this fill is clearly a bad leaker. It’s a fairly common, though undesirable scenario.

When they have them, Deke’s in Germantown.

Used to always be in menu, but now it seems to come and go. So be sure to check ahead of going.