DIY motor oil capture

[MDSPHOTO]

I know I've seen a bunch of creative rigs to capture the remnants of empty motor oil bottles, but a search proved useless. Can you please post your rigs for capturing the last few drops of motor oil from you empty bottles?

Thanks

 

[38Chevy454]

Not very creative, I just set them on the side so they are slightly angled down toward the cap. Let them sit for a day or so and then drain what is left into my mixed oil jug. The mixed oil is used for small oil cans or similar. So it has motor oil, trans fluid, gear oil, P/S fluid all mixed; mostly engine oil though. The angled sitting works for any size container.

 

[Tony G]

When I was a kid in my fathers garage he had an old fan belt rack to place the cans on. Below the rack was an angled trough that fed into a barrel. We sold the oil at the pumps for less than the regular price in those old time glass bottles in the wire rack.

 

[lakeroadster]

When I was a kid in my fathers garage he had an old fan belt rack to place the cans on. Below the rack was an angled trough that fed into a barrel. We sold the oil at the pumps for less than the regular price in those old time glass bottles in the wire rack.

shop dirt, grinding dust, etc. that settled into the trough would also be added to the mix?

 

[AndrewDouglasBird]

You could build a centrifuge to spin the oil out of multiple bottles.

But really, what's the point?

 

[sawbuck]

shop dirt, grinding dust, etc. that settled into the trough would also be added to the mix?

you must be on the young side ....its used oil for a tired old car...cheap and it saved people money ... wont make things much worse..

 

[bushmechanic]

There are precisely 627,891 different products that accomplish the task perfectly well. Just type the phrases into a search engine, click images, and view the options for purchase.

No need to bother wasting time making something when for $20-$30 you can get something made in the USA, support manufacturing, and just have something that works right out of the gate...

One example is the B.O.B.oil recovery system. Twenty bucks. Another interesting toy is the funnel bracket that drains into a spare bottle, which you can then pour into a recovery system.

The market is full of this sort of thing.

 

[lakeroadster]

When I was a kid in my fathers garage he had an old fan belt rack to place the cans on. Below the rack was an angled trough that fed into a barrel. We sold the oil at the pumps for less than the regular price in those old time glass bottles in the wire rack.

shop dirt, grinding dust, etc. that settled into the trough would also be added to the mix?

you must be on the young side ....its used oil for a tired old car...cheap and it saved people money ... wont make things much worse..

I am 55.. so yeah, pretty young.

I do a fair amount of fabrication / welding / grinding in my shop, and that filth gets into everything that isn't covered. No way I'd want to pour motor oil into any engine that has metal shavings in it....

There are precisely 627,891 different products that accomplish the task perfectly well. Just type the phrases into a search engine, click images, and view the options for purchase.

No need to bother wasting time making something when for $20-$30 you can get something made in the USA, support manufacturing, and just have something that works right out of the gate...

One example is the B.O.B.oil recovery system. Twenty bucks. Another interesting toy is the funnel bracket that drains into a spare bottle, which you can then pour into a recovery system.

The market is full of this sort of thing.

B.O.B. is another open trough design.... "works right out of the gate" Yeah, not so much....

Ya'll must have some surgically clean shops if you're ok with dumping oil that has been sitting in an uncovered container into a perfectly good engine.

 

[sberry]

For the diy guy it is well worth a few seconds to stand there and wait for a bottle to get a few last drops out of than it is to have another piece of equipment with bottles and more shate screwed to the walls to save 1$ in a year.

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

B.O.B. is another open trough design.... "works right out of the gate" Yeah, not so much....

Ya'll must have some surgically clean shops if you're ok with dumping oil that has been sitting in an uncovered container into a perfectly good engine.

The only thing I could think to use the "recovered" oil for would be to put in a small container to brush on to things for assembly lubrication (bolt-flange bearings, shafts, etc).

I do 8-10 oil changes a year and it would probably take me 5 years to get a single quart of oil out of the "empty" jugs; unless you're changing oil constantly and aren't using drums, I can't see how you'd recover much.

The other thing is, it seems like most systems are designed for 1-quart jugs. Can't remember the last time I bought a 1-quart for an actual oil change.

 

[Brian_WK]

I found that castrol quart jugs thread right into my oil fill port on my Subaru. I have one with the bottom cut off so it makes a funnel. Then all I do is open a quart flip it into the funnel and go do something for 5 minutes. When I come back there is nothing dripping out. No collection needed.

Brian

 

[dgunn]

I grew up in my dad's gas station in the 70's and 80's. I can remember draining the oil cans into each other on the work bench. There would be one can on the bench and we'd lean the others into it one at a time. We'd keep the 10w30 separate from the 10-40 and straight 20. I can't recall what we put that stuff into though, probably the service truck.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Cyberbear]

When my dad was a kid working in a gas station, he set the empty oil cans in an angled piece of metal rain gutter and the oil ran down hill into a waiting oil can. He always had free oil for his old model A Ford with a leaking rear main seal.

 

[Tony G]

shop dirt, grinding dust, etc. that settled into the trough would also be added to the mix?

Truth be known the rack was in a closed back storage room. The oil we got out of it was nearly 100% premium oil. This was when there was various levels of motor oil from the same refiner. We had Atlantic Imperial @ .80 a quart & 2 lesser grades. The unused drain oil was a good deal for the guy in a 1962 Chevy that was one step from the junk yard. I guess that the oil could have gotten some contamination but people weren't so pissy pants then as some are now.

 

[flat tire]

I use a mason jar with a hole in the lid that just fits the oil bottle.
I put the oil in a squirt can and use as needed

 

[kbs2244]

A large funnel set into a gallon milk jug at the back of the bench.
A week of over nights if using 1 QTs or one over night if using a 5 QT jug.
The milk jug stuff goes into oil cans for axles, hinges, etc.

 

[bczygan]

Not worth doing.

I only change oil once a year....if that.

And I spill more than I would save, on the exhaust header, when filling.

Bill

 

[lilredex]

When I worked around my local "Imperial Esso Station" in the 50/60's we had a wall rack that looked very much like the one in the picture. One could be easily duplicated by the average DIYer.

Today I use oil from 4 or 5 litre jugs that I invert into a twenty litre jug that just sits there with enough ballast (oil) in it to keep it upright. Don't do too much of that these days.

 

[MDSPHOTO]

Not worth doing.

I only change oil once a year....if that.

And I spill more than I would save, on the exhaust header, when filling.

Bill

I have 3-cars and two motorcycles so I'm doing quite a few changes each year. So to me it is worth doing.

 

[Willie Makeit]

Not worth doing.

I only change oil once a year....if that.

And I spill more than I would save, on the exhaust header, when filling.

Bill

so, in short, you really don't have anything to offer to further this discussion.

gotcha.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

http://www.bob2000.com/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LFKZ9W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Done.

Or you can buy 2" DWV PVC, drill 5 or 6 holes the right size, mount it on a wall on an angle sloped towards a funnel stuck in another empty oil jug.


Tommy

 

[metalhead212121]

subscribing..

 

[bushmechanic]

I am 55.. so yeah, pretty young.

I do a fair amount of fabrication / welding / grinding in my shop, and that filth gets into everything that isn't covered. No way I'd want to pour motor oil into any engine that has metal shavings in it....



B.O.B. is another open trough design.... "works right out of the gate" Yeah, not so much....

Ya'll must have some surgically clean shops if you're ok with dumping oil that has been sitting in an uncovered container into a perfectly good engine.

Hell, I don't do it.

I just give the bottles to someone who does. Let that be on him, not me.

 

[bushmechanic]

so, in short, you really don't have anything to offer to further this discussion.

gotcha.

And that's somehow worse than twenty pages of people trying to figure out how to get fluid from one container into another...

Edit: Removed some things I'm going to explore.

 

[Kevkx125]

I pick one bottle and I put a funnel in it and I take the other bottles and one at a time I place them upside down in the funnel allowing the oil to drain into the bottle collecting any oil left in the bottle.

 

[sberry]

I have 3-cars and two motorcycles so I'm doing quite a few changes each year. So to me it is worth doing.

A quite a few is relative and subjective, I have 25 or 30 engines and don't think its worth it.
How much does one figure they save with service to 3 cars and a motorcycle? It would be interesting to keep track and see if this amounted to a pint or a quart in a year?
Its an ok hobby though.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Maybe I misread the OP's post. I didn't think he meant to use said oil in an engine. I thought he was like me, he just wanted to get all the oil out before tha bottles went to recycling and then dump the oil at the recycling center when my waste oil jug was full...

Tommy

 

[MDSPHOTO]

First of all, Thank you to those that shared their methods for capturing those last few drops of oil.

Also, thank you to the posters who tried to get posters back on track with the topic.

To those of you who felt compelled to offer absolutely nothing to the discussion, questioning my decision, or why its a stupid idea or a waste of time, well, I also want to thank you for posting.

 

[richeyc2000]

I was looking into this a while ago and on here I saw the following images. I can't remember who they belong to and what thread I saw them in but I liked there style. Complements to the designers.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=295802

 

[PeterT]

I have a steel bucket I toss the funnels in. I've been using the 5qt jugs for years and I take a minute to let it drain and be done with it.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I was looking into this a while ago and on here I saw the following images. I can't remember who they belong to and what thread I saw them in but I liked there style. Complements to the designers.

That's pretty cool. IDK if I'd padlock it, though. It would be pretty funny if all the tools the guy who built that owns were out in the open on a pegboard...

Tommy

 

[gonmad54]

That's pretty cool. IDK if I'd padlock it, though. It would be pretty funny if all the tools the guy who built that owns were out in the open on a pegboard...



Tommy

I sent the picture of the cabinet to a friend of mine because the idea is cool but I said the same thing about the lock.


#54

 

[4x4_G30_Sportvan]

Well, the 5 qt oil bottles have a larger neck size that the 1 qt bottles fit snugly in.
Or I just leave the bottle in the oil filler on the sidekick overnight with the hood up. Take it out next morning & good to go.

 

[M10]

That's pretty cool. IDK if I'd padlock it, though. It would be pretty funny if all the tools the guy who built that owns were out in the open on a pegboard...

Tommy

It solves one mystery... I think that is the secret lab where they make Super Tech oil.

 

[Amann34]

I buy the 5 quart jugs of oil as well as the single quart for 6 cuart changes. I lay the containers on the side for a night with the cap on then prop them into one of the 5 quart jugs over night. Naturally i dont grind anything right next to them and it only takes a minute out of a day or two to switch them around. I also made an adaptor on the lathe that fits into one bottle and over the other if that makes sense. That works pretty well but it's size specific to the bottle. I like the mason jar and lid idea. It would keep the dust out. I always have oil for the lawn mower and other such things!

 

[Amann34]

http://www.bob2000.com/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LFKZ9W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Done.

Or you can buy 2" DWV PVC, drill 5 or 6 holes the right size, mount it on a wall on an angle sloped towards a funnel stuck in another empty oil jug.


Tommy

Like that idea!

When I worked around my local "Imperial Esso Station" in the 50/60's we had a wall rack that looked very much like the one in the picture. One could be easily duplicated by the average DIYer.

Today I use oil from 4 or 5 litre jugs that I invert into a twenty litre jug that just sits there with enough ballast (oil) in it to keep it upright. Don't do too much of that these days.

 

[Amann34]

I pick one bottle and I put a funnel in it and I take the other bottles and one at a time I place them upside down in the funnel allowing the oil to drain into the bottle collecting any oil left in the bottle.

Agreed

 

[Amann34]

Might be off subject but when i change oil in my truck i do it after work in thw eavning and let it drain all night. You'd be surprised how much more old oil comes out!

 

[Sh40674]

set a funnel in a jar or a can, or whatever your're collecting into, put the bottle upside down in the funnel.... if youre worried about dust throw a grocery bag over it

 

[dadsEH]

set a funnel in a jar or a can, or whatever your're collecting into, put the bottle upside down in the funnel.... if youre worried about dust throw a grocery bag over it

Nailed it !