Club 80-90 Forums

I have bought 10 litres of Biodiesel made by a friend of a friend... I'm told to mix it in with a tankful (another 50 litres or so) to 'increase' fuel lubricity...

Any other benefits, other than using a proportion non-dino-derivative fuel?

Yeah, if it's home made you get to sign up with inland revenue and pay the appropriate duty on the finished product

On 100% at the mo myself, and the engine is so smooth and quiet compared to on diesel, MPG and power are unchanged.

Do read the start of this thread though, Biodiesel will start to strip all the gunk (from the diesel) from the inside of your fuel tank and fuel lines, and deposit it all in your filter, I put a new filter on mine 12 months ago, before I started using bio, and 15,000 miles later no probs.

Oh, and you should grin a little at the concept of running your vehicle, I mean eberspacher on something made from plants


ps.

how much does the 'friend of a friend' charge for this, er, non taxable eberspacher heater fuel

I change the filter every couple of months just so I don't get any embarrassing moments - I get enough without the need for more

I paid £9-00 for it - almost a premium

£9 for 10 litres?
diesel is cheaper! whats the point?

diesel isn't cheaper where I come from (ie the UK). Passed a garage today with Diesel at 96.9

if I had a choice between ULSD and bio for the same price, the question would be why bother with diesel? Even if the bio was marginally more?

Especially if it means the engine lives longer. Low sulphur diesel is more of an unknown risk than biodiesel...

All this talk about buying buying oil from the caterers?

tut tut tut.

I've run my wife's car and my own on nothing but USED vegoil for a few years (if you don't count the diesel used during warmup - around 4 litres per month) and it's all been old oil collected from the local pubs for free and simply filtered. Everybodies a winner - pubs are so pleased with the arrangement I get a free (soft!) drink with my visit. no trouble with ethics of using food in engine, no old oil getting dumped or tipped down drains. all containers recycled or rrefilled. Zero road miles. no chemicals the list goes on....

Nothing difficult about filtering it, just pour in the used oil, let gravity do it's thing and then hand pump out the fuel. No heat, expensive pumps or plumbing.

And now customs have withdrawn the need to register if producing small volumes (less than around 2,500 litres per year but still awaiting the official announcement so may change) my fuel will cost me the price of a few filter socks every year. Hmm that will work out to about 50p per tank or less!!

By the way, don't be fooled by this Bio-Power stuff. It's not biodiesel. It's a secret recipe of vegetable oil and essential oils.

Blimey, I turn my back for 5 minutes...

mister smith wrote:@ Swampy,

no disrespect, (just dont want you to destroy your engine mate ) but the whole 'mix it with white spirit' thing is a crock of 5h1te. White spirit will only thin it out, temporarily. It will separate again quickly.

Hey, none taken. I'd rather be told straight if I'm wasting my time.

If the white-spirit-thins-the oil method is a bad one, then I'll see if I can get one of those Heat Exchangers installed. The 2-tank system you described sounds like a cracking idea, though. I've seen some kits listed on the dieselveg website.

It'd be nice to sling the starter tank under the floor of the van to save space. I've got my waste water tank on the left, I've space to fit a diesel-starter tank on the right. I'd have to check if that's legal (can't think why not).

Does this mean that the www.bio-power.co.uk site is wrong, as their method talks of adding solvent such as paint thinner to wvo?

without checking, I think this is in their guide to making your first batch of biodiesel to see how it all works. This isn't what they sell.

hey guys,

just veggin, interesting what you say about c&e, sounds too good to be true.

You need to dewater your used veg oil you know?
What you are doing may work, but the water left in (there will be some) will do serious damage long term. esp. to the injectors.

I know if you let the veg stand, preferably warmed, it will seperate out some of the water, but it's the 'suspended water' thats the problem...

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html#water

Thanks for the tips re water. Ive crackle tested a few samples and never had any water. I have used the same system for years and no probs whatsoever with the injectors.

My theory is this. firstly the oil I collect has hardly been used (perhaps once or twice for shallow frying). It is a lovely golden syrup colour and totally clear so no water or fats from cooking. Next I only collect from places that understand the importance to me of having the containers air tight at all times. So my oil is saved either in my containers or cubees with the lids firmly shut so no condensation or rain can get in. Then there's settling, I rarely do this though - there's no point since there's usually nothing to settle out. Then filtering. Then...this bit is key...after filtering, the oil is settled in the drum and since there are no longer particles in the oil, there are no longer solids for any suspended water to 'stick to' (I learned that part in meteorology class) so any water that has got this far should be lost to the bottom of the drum. Next the oil goes into the tank and on the way to the engine it goes through a heated filter. This again should separate oil from any water that may be left. There is never any water to drain from the bottom from my filter.

Now, obviously I don't want to damage my injectors so this is why I pay so much attention to getting decent used oil in the first place. I had to work at finding just a few places like this as you'd expect! If you can see any flaws in what I'm doing, please do let me know - I'm a scientist so always experimenting in order to get things right and happy to take on board any good ideas.

Also thought I'd mention...my heat exchangers arrived today. I've been working with an ali fabrication factory to create a top notch heat exchanger specifically to my design for vegoil purposes. This has been prototyped and proven to work VERY successfully. The first order from the production line has come through today. You'll note that the unit itself has a small footprint but is tall to maximise heat output from small area. It also has sensibly designed hose fittings - no trouble fitting it into a corner because the fittings don't shoot off all over the place.




price £49 plus £4.50 delivery

Very nice at the price it looks too..

and any additional heat-sink for the cooling water in a rear-engined TD, is a welcome mercy - however marginal

Now, can you make one with an immersion heater in it too, for instant heat when connected to the glow plug relay (or a duplex)

Looks just like a proper one doesn't it HaryyMann

Nice one MR Smith
it's TUV certified too.

I'm really not diggin the instant heat malarkey, there are so many heat sinks to overcome. Not saying it can't be done though...My friend Stephan has done it for many years in his T2. He uses longer glowplugs (length and time) along with electric and coolant heat in the filter and glow plug injector heaters. And of course the plate heat exchanger.