What's wrong with used motor oil?

[Mingara]

Festive Greetings to All

Now I know that this thread subject has been worked before, but perhaps not this specific... so here goes.

I've recently read in earlier posts that used motor oil should not be used as bar oil. However I was told a couple of years ago that used motor oil was okay because the oil and any contaminants are thrown from the bar during use. I have been using used motor oil for about a year with no problem but reading this site it seems there maybe good reason for me to re-consider. What is the worst that can happen from using used motor oil as bar oil in my Dolmar 120si.

Thanks in advance.


Cheers All

 

[Lawn Masters]

Used oil is bad because the dirt in it, can be like pouring sand in your engine block.

As for other effects, why pollute the planet? its safer to use bar oil, or biodegradable stuff that wont poison the woods.

 

[whatsnext]

I would disagree with just about everything Lawn Master just posted because your used oil should not be that 'used'. However, used motor oil is a known carcinogen so why would you want it spewing off your bar and then entering your lungs? You might be imune by why risk it.
John...

 

[eyolf]

I know from first-hand experience that used oil causes problems...I used to use the stuff, starting in the days of thumb-button pumps and gear-drive saws. No problems there, but I started having troubles with my first "modern" auto-oiling saw, a Homelite. The oil pump plunger got so sloppy in the bore, it couldn't move enough oil. The next saw, an Echo, started plugging up oil filters, and it also developed the same oil pump syndrome.

I learned that used oil contains various by-products of combustion, dirt, and even some acidic compounds, all of which were hard on the oil pumps. I suppose its possible to conclude used oil could contribute to reduced bar and chain life as well.

besides, bar oil is available for $3-$4 a gallon. That's pretty cheap.

 

[Marco]

possibility of chunks of crud damaging the oiler would be my biggest concern on your Dolmar 120si or any other saw with a gear drive oiler. I'm thinking of trying waste oil in a couple of old XL Homelites I have. I have strained the stuff and put it in a 30 gallon barrel to let it settle out. Using a barrel pump abit from the bottom to get it out. Just read another thread here that stated a XL12 isn't worth $20, so I wouldn't be out much if I screw it up.

 

[Lakeside53]

damages the oil pumps... messes up everything, and for many of the reasons already mentioned. Also, try working on a saw that's had used oil in it - it ends up like a tarry layer over eveything, including me, and stinks, and 'cos I insist on cleaning it all off, you end up paying more.... sometimes a lot more if it really make me mad.

 

[spacemule]

Some guys are so tight they couldn't pass prune juice if they were french kissing a leaf blower. This is not a good thing.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

besides, bar oil is available for $3-$4 a gallon. That's pretty cheap.

Bingo. Enough said.

 

[Bob Wright]

Festive Greetings to All

Now I know that this thread subject has been worked before, but perhaps not this specific... so here goes.

Cheers All

I got about the same from this post as the first time it was asked. Pretty much the same answers. DON'T USE IT. I can ditto the tearing up of Echo oil pumps and the little O rings in them. Bar oil is cheap...Bob

 

[davefr]

I won't consider used motor oil for the simple reason that's it's a known carcinogen. In addition, it can have acidic by products in solution.

However I can't buy in to the arguement that the crud in used motor oil will tear up the saw's oil pump. That's what automotive oil filters are for. If used motor oil is full of abrasives then I feel sorry for the vehicle it came out of.

Maybe used ATF fluid would be a better then used motor oil since it doesn't have compustion by products mixed in.

 

[CNYCountry]

However I can't buy in to the arguement that the crud in used motor oil will tear up the saw's oil pump. That's what automotive oil filters are for. If used motor oil is full of abrasives then I feel sorry for the vehicle it came out of.

True, the oil filter filters out particulates in oil headed up to bearings and so on, but it doesn't guarantee that there isn't crap in the bottom of the oil pan or far more likely, that your oil drain pan didn't have crap in it from the outside of the oil pan, drain plug, oil filter, or any place else.

My father drained oil with about 500 miles on it out of his brand new F-250 and gave it to me to put in my oil leaking winter beater POS Neon. He does not have a dirty garage. I poured some in and then had to fish out a dead spider 1/4 the size of my hand. What else was in there? Of course you can strain it, but is it worth the trouble/mess? I would not use used oil in anything I cared about!

 

[Mr_Brushcutter]

I wouldn't use mainly beacuse i work in environmental areas so why be more destructive than you need to be? Using moter oil would get my EIA thrown in the bin for doing the job and my COSHH form would more than likely forbid me from using it. (COSHH& EIA are UK health and safety stuff).

Also if your workinging in someones garden and all this used moter oil is being thrown off the end of the bar into their fish pond and their prize coi carp all die your going to have some very angry customers and most importantly a big bill for new coi. Although i doubt biodegradeable oil is good for them either but its probally better than moter oil.

Why risk using it when bar oil is so cheap?

 

[Simonizer]

Try straight canola oil. (new) It works,...trust me on this one.

 

[TonyM]

Okay, I'm going to come out of the closet. I have been using drain oil in my personal saws for nearly 8 years. I have not had a single problem. I always filter the oil through an automotive filter and into a clean container to remove sediment or dirt that gets into it from the drainage process. My bars and chains last a long time (keeping things sharp has a bigger impact on that than the oil). The oil was good enough to make one more pass through my car or truck without it self destructing, so I think it can make a trip around the chainsaw bar without too much problem. I realize there are acids, and combustion by-products, but so far it has not cause a single issue. Sure, it is a carcinogen, but at the exposure I see, it is a minimal risk. Besides, I am into oily crap more often working on things than cutting wood. You can all come out and bash away, but I think the little extra care to make sure the oil is clean is why I have not had any problems.

 

[scotchguy]

Strange but absolutely true

To change the subject slightly, but just as funny ...

Here in the UK some tight-wads and cheap-skates discovered that you could dose the used frying fat from fast food restaurants with 5% methanol and use it to run your car. The restaurant would actually pay you to take the stuff away.

The trouble was that this system defrauded the government out of their fuel tax which is about 4 dollars per gallon here in the UK. The government therefore cracked down on the practice, issuing some heavy fines and a few weekends in jail. The funny thing was how easy it was to catch the rascals ... the police just pulled over all the cars with exhaust emissions that smelled like a really foul McDonalds!!!!!!!!!

Now, please don't tell the guys over on that other chainsaw chat room … but I hear-tell that if you double up the dose of methanol to 10%, you can run a chainsaw on old frying fat. The beauty of the system is that you don't have to add any extra lubrication. Think of the saving you'll make on that Stihl 50:1 mix you've been wasting your money on!!!!!!!!!!!!


PS If you don't believe my story, check it out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,12188,821350,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2312521.stm

 

[kf_tree]

a while back i tried used oil ...........after about 3 days the saw's were a filthy mess.......so i went back to bar oil.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Okay, I'm going to come out of the closet. I have been using drain oil in my personal saws for nearly 8 years. I have not had a single problem. I always filter the oil through an automotive filter and into a clean container to remove sediment or dirt

Why?!?!?! Is your time worth so little?

 

[bwalker]

Bar is is too cheap NOT to run it. Less than $3 per gallon at Wally World.

 

[rustyb]

I realize there are acids, and combustion by-products, but so far it has not cause a single issue. Sure, it is a carcinogen, but at the exposure I see, it is a minimal risk.

You said "I see". Bingo! There's stuff you can't see that's being flung in to the air that, unless you are holding your breath while cutting, is getting deposited in to you lungs.

Sure, it's probably in minute amounts but it may be more of a risk than you realize......at least long term. Yeah, there's risk in every thing but.....

Then, as others mentioned, there are the ecological impacts......

I don't want to come across here as preaching. I'm not. I'm just making a friendly point that may have not been considered.

I have said it here before & I'll keep saying it,.....these are the reasons I choose to use canola oil. Breathing its vapors are probably not good for ya but, I think it's pretty safe to assume it's not as bad as breathing vapors from used motor oil.

 

[rustyb]

Hi Bwalker,

You mentioned in a bar oil thread some time ago that you'd have to give vegi oil a try. Just wondering if you have gotten around to that yet?

r