Someone came in today wanting to change their oil and was looking for the rolling oil drain pan, but it was nowhere to be found, at least in the Automotive Committee area or on that side of the warehouse in general. Anyone seen it or know what happened to it?
If youâre talking about the tall one, I believe it got removed because it damage/ leaking all over the place? Not 100 sure all the details on it.
Thanks. Thatâs a bummerâŚI hope it wasnât just because someone left the stopcock open.
My understanding is that it came from people not respecting the fact itâs shared, and shoving towels and other things into it to try to stem little leaks and causing more and more issues. And people not properly emptying it afterwards, which is its own issue admittedly, but never that oil was sitting in it making any leaks worse.
Yes thatâs correct, there was a split that formed around the spout due to people continously shoving paper in to the spout to keep it from leaking out. I tried to fix it but it was beyond repair.
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Sam are we going to replace it? (I hope so)
If we havent picked a new one yet I could help with that.
We need a better way to empty it:
Rolling stand that the oil drain pan can sit on
Correct height for common containers like 5qt jugs
Spout that points down so the jug doesnât need to be moved as the drain valve is opened or closed.
Built in drip pan
Easy way to see the drain pan is empty.
Log sheet so users can confirm they took used oil with them and report when they find oil left in the drain pan from previous user.
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I admire your enthusiasm in the customers that use automotive!
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Could look into a pneumatic pan. We had a few at the shop I used to work at however I do recall there being a large amount of spit back as the tank got emptied. Also high chance a good chunk of the dms user base couldnât figure out how to operate it thus leaving oil inside anyway.
The pan we had is pretty dummy proof. Considering how long we had it plus the fact the spout had been replaced in the past which caused that split to start Iâd say we got our moneys worth out of it. Also it was plastic. Harbor freight sells metal containers for $60 https://www.harborfreight.com/5-gallon-oil-drain-dolly-90582.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12144811130&campaignid=12144811130&utm_content=117789307398&adsetid=117789307398&product=90582&store=422&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAvoqsBhB9EiwA9XTWGdvdbdlN_M0Orfc9vt3oQnFECof76SG16qCFGTfJ0DQaI9sXcQFtQRoCAyIQAvD_BwE
But with the reality of fluid transfer, when draining oil from one reciprocal to another you are going to have some form of drip or a mess regardless. In the past automotive hasnât necessarily always had the provisions to clean up thus said mess. Sam has been doing a great job stocking the area with towels and gloves.
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I bought the last âoil drainâ on wheels when I was chair of automotive several years ago. I opted for small to âencourageâ people to take the oil/fluids with them. A larger storage container would contribute to âthat wasnât mineâ kind of reply when time to empty it.
Those air transfer units are NOT without their unexpected oil spatter abilities.
At the end of the day, we have a small population of members that care enough to ask. And then there are the customers that are not on talk and donât give a rats A$s about making a mess or breaking things.
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Agreed.
Actually, that 2x4 cube/riser/whatever-it-is, is a perfect heightâŚI used it all the time for just this purpose (rolling drain pan sitting on riser/cube draining into original oil gallon jug. Only thing Iâd add is 4 recesses to accept the wheels so it was less pron to sliding around while draining.
Did you mean to say ass?
The problem is people will always leave oil in an enclosed container and thatâs a recipe for disaster. But I am working on a solution that will be easy for people and be able to keep track of who leaves their fluids.
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Sam,
Good luck with that and I really hope you are successful! This is one of those situations not limitied to âautomotiveâ where one needs a âmagic wandâ of sorts to resolve what should be a no brainer.
Common courtesy and cleaning up after a visit seems to get left outside the door to the Makerspace
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