vegetable oil

[Jon Wildsmith]

no real logic to it

Ah, now I understand those sorts of decisions, it's the logical ones that throw me

 

[nathanrobo]

I'd take a look at your frying pan Then think about the polymerisation on valves, Pistons, Piston groves, Piston rings, and your bore. Not to mention the inside of your injection pump (£2.5K to replace if it's nailed), even a rebuild could cost between £300 & £1000 plus hours and hours of work...

Jon's got a point! Getting used vege oil down to 50ppms of water is not easy, in fact for that matter getting down to 500ppms would be a challenge for many. Then there's filtering... a little known fact is that on a single pass 'full flow' filters remove only 70 - 80% of microns at their rated value. So that leaves the other 20 - 30% which you can see as you want to be down to around 3Mu absolute and with really good eye sight you can only see particles of 50 mu.

Biodiesel maybe - if it's very very well made. WVO? Not unless you don't mind risking your LC! http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=63&t=9675#

 

[BigAlan]

Ok so I am going to ask the usual stupid question.

I have a Colorado auto on a W plate, perfectly standard diesel motor, I also have an account at Bookers, can I simply purchase veg oil there, walk outside and tip it in my tank?

Ok in this weather perhaps not but in normal circumstances could I?

Would I need to do anything to the motor.

Thanks
Alan

 

[Ben]

yes Alan you could!

but as youve mentioned it wouldnt like it in the cold weather were currently having.

in the summer then you could run 100%. but at this time of the year id say 50/50 would be ok. but id start with a mix of say 60% diesel to 40% and see how you go. id also only put say 10litres in to start with and see how it goes. that way if it starts running poorly on it you can just fill the tank up with diesel.

ive been caught out a few times lately, mainly because i put a load of 90% veg oil in and because of the cold weather the truck got slower and slower until it was really lacking power. made it to work just, then stuck 20 litres of diesel in and she was fine again afterwards.

but dont be tempted to say stick a lot of veg in the tank and then a load of diesel. you really need to put them both in a can and give it a good shake to mix it thoroughly.

it can be hassle, but it does save money, especially if you do a lot of miles.

tesco and asda are currently the cheapest places, its coming out at 90p per litre.

if your lucky you might find a pallet load at bookers, which is almost past its sell by date, and if your even luckier one of the drums has split and leaked all over the other drums on the pallet.

my mate bought a pallet load, worked out at 75p per litre.

should keep me going for a few weeks.

oh and welcome to the club.

 

[BigAlan]

Thanks for the swift reply, I have a five gallon container here which I could half fill with diesel and then mix the oil with before putting it in the tank.

Usually I run the truck and when I get to just below half full I fill up, so I guess from your reply just sticking say five litres in and running around is not the best idea.

Would I need to change the fuel filter more?

Thanks
Alan

 

[Ben]

no sticking 5 litres in and running around is not a good idea at this time of year.

ive experimented by getting 2 bottles and half filling them both with veg and then topping up with diesel.

the one bottle i shook vigorously. the other bottle i gave a gentle swish, in an attempt to recreate the effect the diesel and veg might have if there both just poured into the tank separately.

i then kept an eye on the bottles over the next week and what i found was that in the bottle that had been vigorously shaken, the contents were still mixed together with no signs of separation. but in the other bottle the the veg and derv had clearly separated.

so i think its important to put them both in a can and give them a good shake before pouring it in the tank.

this is only while were having cold weather though, in the summer i run 100%veg so just pour it straight in the tank.

you will find that for the first few thousand miles running on veg that the filter will need replacing more often than normal. you will also notice that it will be quite black inside. this is because the veg oil seems to clean all the crap out of the lines that has built up over the years.

i found after changing them a few times, after that they are fine.

all that ive written here is referring to putting new veg oil in a standard truck. you can get around the cold weather by fitting different heaters which are available, insulating all the fuel lines, and fitting another tank. so you start on derv and switch back to derv a few minutes before turning the engine off. with this sort of setup you could run a much higher percentage of veg oil even in the cold weather.

all depends how far you want to go with it really.

then theres also waste veg oil filtering, which i havnt personally tried, but others on here have and do, and save a lot of money on fuel.

 

[BigAlan]

Ben

Thanks for your input, I think I shall wait until it warms up, I only do about 4k miles a year anyways but every little helps.

Alan

 

[Ben]

your welcome.

 

[karl webster]

Just for a little input.
Im putting 20pounds diesel in the tank,a splash of petrol then filling with used oil

Got a xplate audi a6 2.5tdi running on 100% bio but added 10pound of deisel to tank today.

Karl

 

[Bat21]

Just for a little input.
Im putting 20pounds diesel in the tank,a splash of petrol then filling with used oil.......

Are we still talking wvo here Karl or used engine oil?

I have heard before that if you inadvertently put petrol in your diesel tank, you can get away with it by mixing it with engine oil...... obviously not with today's common rail engines though

 

[karl webster]

Hi Paul

Im on wvo with the cruiser. I know that diesel has the additive in this time of year. Just started adding a touch of petrol to it. Seems to start better on these colder mornings.
Thats only my opinion tho, I dont want everyone filling there trucks with petrol

Works great at the min.

Karl

 

[Michael Montgomery]

Converted my 80 series successfully to run on pure used vegetable oil. I have a two tank system on my vehicle which is a must to have the system work all year round without any problems. Better than mixing the oil and diesel as I was doing before. Stopped this as it has too many complications.

I used the company DieselVeg based in Wolverhampton. Clive the owner is wonderful in knowledge and support. Highly recommended. Been using the system for 6 months and had no problems as long as the kit is fitted correctly and also the used oil is filtered through the set process. The kit is very clever and is a brilliant setup


http://www.dieselveg.com/

Any questions please ask.

 

[karl webster]

I have ran the two tank system in the past and will do again when i decide that im keeping a truck.

Ive used diesel veg and all good

karl

 

[nathanrobo]

Been making biodiesel for years! My 100 series runs on B100 bio 365. I use cetane booster all year round to bring the power back up to BP standards and coldflow for when the temperature goes below minus 5 ish.

Without the cetane booster she's a little lumpy, with the booster it feels slightly more lively and very smooth.

Biodiesel runs in almost any diesel vehicle (I know folks with >100K miles on 2010 vehicles) without any modifications, burns cleanly and lowers emissions. Made from WVO it costs me less than 25 pence per litre including chemicals, energy etc. So you can be smug about the environment and the cost even driving a 4.2TD

I know it's slightly off topic, but bio is so worth a look at!

 

[karl webster]

Totally agree nathan.

Use it in audi tdi v6. I may turn to bio one day. Add it to my list of things to do that i never get through

Karl

 

[nathanrobo]

Just having my new BD processor built... GL Eco, with 4 tanks all with conical bottoms, heating elements ball valves pumps etc.

First tank sits above another tank, raw veg oil gets sucked into the top tank, heats and drops out into the bottom tank (which has a 200 micron drum strainer in it). Tank below heats oil to dewater.

Next is the main processor for glyc washing, reacting, glycerin separation (inc. centrifuging) and demething. Final tank water washes, dries via a spray bar, pass through a corny keg packed tight with hardwood shavings and final centrifuging. Then dispense via polishing / drying pots to get water <80 ppms

I should be able to process 350 litres in 5 - 6 hours which means one saturday every two months

Total cost under £1K mostly funded by the sale of my old Goldenray 120 machine, bit of a result?

 

[Ben]

Just having my new BD processor built... GL Eco, with 4 tanks all with conical bottoms, heating elements ball valves pumps etc.

First tank sits above another tank, raw veg oil gets sucked into the top tank, heats and drops out into the bottom tank (which has a 200 micron drum strainer in it). Tank below heats oil to dewater.

Next is the main processor for glyc washing, reacting, glycerin separation (inc. centrifuging) and demething. Final tank water washes, dries via a spray bar, pass through a corny keg packed tight with hardwood shavings and final centrifuging. Then dispense via polishing / drying pots to get water <80 ppms

I should be able to process 350 litres in 5 - 6 hours which means one saturday every two months

Total cost under £1K mostly funded by the sale of my old Goldenray 120 machine, bit of a result?

 

[nathanrobo]

Ben

I'm picking up the tanks, condensor, eductors etc. tomorrow afternoon. Once I've completed the build in a week or so, I'll take some pics and post them.

It's all very simple stuff! If you diy a Landcruiser, you can build a processor for sure!

 

[Ben]

ok thanks, id like to see the setup.

it does sound complicated.

is it just for filtering used veg oil, or is it for turning it into bio?

 

[adrianr]

Set up described would turn it into bio.