by RustyParts » Sat Nov 02, 2002 8:05 pm
Rob1,
Bulk oil can be a problem if you are trying to use someone else's tracking system. I had a similar problem with our new bulk oil tank and in trying to read the guage on the tank. It does read in inches but, no one could tell me if the guage calculated completely to the bottom or not. The only sure way I had was to take my trusty
12 foot tape measure and stick thetank every ime I needed a reading. When the bulk oil company would come to deliver our oil, I would take a reading BEFORE they start to pump and immediately after they finish. Converting thier pump readings from gallons to quarts and dividing the quarts into the difference in the inches before and after the refill gave me the number of quarts per inch that my tank carries. We have a 550 gallon tall round tank and it calcs out to 31 quarts per inch for me. After checking the before and after readings and pumped quarts for several times, I am quite confident in my quarts per inch number. Now it's just a matter of sticking the tank and multiplying by 31 to get my total quarts in the tank. The guage is close but not as accurate as even the oil company figures. Log your measurements every time your stick the tank through the month along with your in-house system's pad count and you will clearing see any large variances or trends. Also, we use a part number per QUART not oil change to keep our bulk oil more accurate. It also looks better on the customer's repair order to see 5 quarts charged out rather than a single unit of oil. and It will track all of your oil changes under a single part number for easier auditing. Yes, it was a lot of work and maintainence at first to get the bulk oil under control but, after a few weeks, I was able to cut down to sticking the tank just twice a week and my bulk oil and ATF tanks now closely folow my inventory pad figure.