Gin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2012
- Messages
- 874
- Fluid Motion Model
- R-31 S
- Vessel Name
- Echo II (2019)
Last week I weighed in on a thread about oil sample pumps and lamented the difficulty I have getting the tubing from the sample pump tubing into the oil sump. My frustration appears to be shared by others. Although I’ve had success using 1/4” line, it has been a challenge each time.
Today, though, I discovered the holy grail solution for sampling the D4’s oil: IV tubing.
I happened to have it from a Christmas tree watering system we no longer use. I grabbed it this morning and took it to the boat, wondering if it would work. The tubing is fairly soft and small in diameter. I thought it might be too flexible to thread down the dipstick tube. I also wondered if it would collapse with suction — diesel oil is thick, even fully warmed up (which I do for my samples). But I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a try.
It was magic. The compression knob on the top of the pump clamped down fine on the IV line (I wasn’t sure if it would collapse the line). I then fed the IV line down the dipstick tub, and it went down like “buttah.” No jamming. No having to to coax and manipulate it into the sump. I never did feel any resistance. Once I was sure I had ample IV line in, I tried the pump. I felt suction right away, and a couple of seconds later up came the oil. The flow was a little slower than with the wider tubing, but it worked great. From the time I opened the engine hatch to when I capped my sample bottle took at most 5 minutes. And zero mess.
I’m not sure where to get IV line. I just happened to have some. Amazon has tubing that is used for oxygen and things like wine/beer making. The sizes look like they might work. For reference, my IV line has an OD of about 3/16” and an ID of about 1/8”.
Hope others find this helpful.
My next step is to send the engine and transmission oil samples to Blackstone Labs. I’m nerdy enough to love all the info they give me on the oil samples.
Gini
Today, though, I discovered the holy grail solution for sampling the D4’s oil: IV tubing.
I happened to have it from a Christmas tree watering system we no longer use. I grabbed it this morning and took it to the boat, wondering if it would work. The tubing is fairly soft and small in diameter. I thought it might be too flexible to thread down the dipstick tube. I also wondered if it would collapse with suction — diesel oil is thick, even fully warmed up (which I do for my samples). But I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a try.
It was magic. The compression knob on the top of the pump clamped down fine on the IV line (I wasn’t sure if it would collapse the line). I then fed the IV line down the dipstick tub, and it went down like “buttah.” No jamming. No having to to coax and manipulate it into the sump. I never did feel any resistance. Once I was sure I had ample IV line in, I tried the pump. I felt suction right away, and a couple of seconds later up came the oil. The flow was a little slower than with the wider tubing, but it worked great. From the time I opened the engine hatch to when I capped my sample bottle took at most 5 minutes. And zero mess.
I’m not sure where to get IV line. I just happened to have some. Amazon has tubing that is used for oxygen and things like wine/beer making. The sizes look like they might work. For reference, my IV line has an OD of about 3/16” and an ID of about 1/8”.
Hope others find this helpful.
My next step is to send the engine and transmission oil samples to Blackstone Labs. I’m nerdy enough to love all the info they give me on the oil samples.
Gini