Oil Changer

[SpaceCoaster]

Has anyone had experience with the various 12V oil changing systems that one can purchase at places like West Marine? I'm thinking of purchasing one to make things easier on myself. I'm wondering if these things are worth the expense. The two models that looked interesting was the portaquick and the flat-tank version by Rule.

I hope everyone's surviving the winter OK. Hang in there, you're almost out of the woods.

Jorge

[Mariner]

I used to use one on the last boat. It was pretty slick as compared to the messy process of pumping by hand with one of those leaky plastic deals.

The key to getting it to work right is properly warming up the engine before hand. The first few times I tried it, the pump couldn't move the thick oil. After researching it a little bit, I found that by getting the engine up to operating temperature, it emptied the oil pan very quickly. For adding oil back in, I always stuck with a funnel and just poured it in.

On our Albin, there is a hand pump built into the engine, so I use that.

[Pitou]

I use the Jabsco unit that comes mounted on the top of a 14QT bucket.
Unfortuneately not large enough to empty my sump completely so I bring a 5 gallon gas jug to the dock designated for waste oil only to pump some off before finishing. When pumping off be sure to remove the thin tube from the larger hose as it will blow from the presure and oh boy will you have a mess BE CAREFUL AND PAY ATTENTION! The instructions are thorough and you will be fine / just a friendly reminder.

I had a friend who was familiar with the process the 1st time. You have to put the thin tube down the dipstick tube to reach the bottom of the sump. I had to cut the end on an angle to a point to get past something it was catching on in order to reach the bottom.

As the previous post mentioned / warm your engine and the oil will flow.

[mhanna]

I have a small vacuum type unit (oil boy or something like that) It works but its a PIA and needs to be emptied 2 times during the process, I would not buy it again, but until it breaks I cant see buying anything else right now.

Matt

[robonurse]

I use the "Big Boy". It's a blue can with vacuum pump attached. There is no need to feed the hose into the dipstick tube to the bottom of the sump. The yanmar already has a tube that goes down there. I simply fit the hose OVER the top of the dipstick tube and let the system suck out the oil. I do have to empty the can halfway through but I carry a 5 gallon bucket for that purpose.
Bob J.