I'm in the process of converting my 95 obs to run wvo. I currently have 3 tanks, factory front rear, and a 110 gallon steel bed tank(not installed yet).the previous owner must have had a tank in the truck, cause there's 3 hoses and a sender harness. Connected to the hoses is an electrically controlled switching valve which is functional. There's 2 switches on the dashboard. Factory switch and aftermarket switch which says main or aux. Switch to aux while driving and the truck runs out of fuel.

I have a home filtration system I built out of 3 55 gallon drums. First drum is unproccesed wvo, second drum is filtered wvo 30 microns, 3rd drum is filtered to 10 micons which is final product. I have an electric pump and relocation oil filter kit for the filtration system. Is there anything else I need to do for my home filtraion system? I've been running a mix in both my trucks of about 50/50. No problems.

What all do I need to do to the truck that I left out.

 

looking forward to an answer! I am thinking of converting mine too. I have my first oil source locked in and looking for a few more. Where are you located? Also Are you supposed to store the veggi in steel tanks? Thought you ran the risk of polymerization? What's your current set up on the truck as far as heating the oil and filters?

 

I'm in spring TX. I store mine in plastic tanks. There cleaner than steel. Currently Im running a stock setup in both my diesels. My excursion I'm running 50/50 mix of wvo and diesel. My f350 dually I'm running 80% diesel 20% wvo in the front tank and 100% wvo in the rear. What I do for the dually is fire it up on 80/20 mix then switch to 100% once the engine is fully warmed up. Then 10 minutes before shutdown I switch back to 80/20 to purge the system. I'm going to do the full conversion soon on my f350 but with diesel being $4.12 a gallon now I'm forcedto run wvo in a stock truck.

 

Well, the biggest problems I see with your plan include putting WVO in a steel tank and the issues associated with 'blending'. Mixing WVO and diesel has had very bad results for many, many people. I know, I know - we read the 'success' stories all the time - but keep in mind those with the biggest problems seldom come back and talk about it (especially the type who will post that I dunno what I'm talking about...).

Anyway, hydrogenated oil and animal fats tend to separate from diesel 'blends' - so when ya start your truck up cold in the AM, the first shot of fuel is thick, gooey, fatty, VO. If ya get this thru the fuel filter, it will not atomize properly at the injectors. The resulting globs of 'fuel' do not fully burn and leave nasty carbon deposits behind. The mode of failure we see most often in PSD's is bent/broken pushrods due to the build-up on the exhaust valve stem - of course this is just the tip of the iceberg since the coking in ringland and elsewhere has already produced significant wear on the cylinder walls, etc. Just do a little surfing for DSE - the 'secret' is 1000's of wrecked engines!!

So, using a typical 6way switching valve (like the OE Pollak valves) results in contaminating the diesel tank with WVO since every time ya switch back to diesel tank, all the fuel in the lines, the filter, etc are still full of VO - which is now being returned to D2 tank. The solution for this is to use (2) 3way switching valves like the Hydraforce valves Frybrid and greasecrap use in their systems. This allows you to delay switching the return line until you have 'purged' the engine of WVO. Frybrid even has a 3rd valve option that allows you return fuel back to the suction-side of the pump instead of back to the VO tank while you are running on VO - then you return to VO tank only during 'purge'. This keeps any heat you've added to the oil from being 'lost' by sending it back to tank and makes the oil being consumed much hotter!

Steel tank. In a nutshell, the natural enemy of VO is called oxidative polymerization. This chemical reaction is the natural degradation of VO and begins as soon as it is pressed into oil. The end result of this reaction are long chains (polymers) that look like chicken-skin or fruit roll-up, but it will begin to clog filters looooong before you can 'see' it. The main 'ingredients' that expedite the poly reaction are time, heat, exposure to oxygen and exposure to oxidants like copper, carbon steel, etc)

You don't mention HEAT, but we ideally want to send 160+ * VO to the injectors - this is about thetemp that most VO is the same viscosity as diesel. I prefer some kind of heated fuel pick-up like the Artic Fox (as opposed to trying to heat the whole tank), TIH (tube-in-hose) fuel lines where 3/8" alum fuel line runs inside 3/4" heater hose.

 

Jason - That is some great information. A lot of it I uncovered just by looking at different forums. What I'm having trouble finding is a parts list of just what you need for a DIY system. Basically you need a tank, some sort of pump, Fuel lines that can support VO with some sort of heat exchanger, either using an artic fox system or coolant from the engine, filter and check valves. An actual list of parts would be very helpful. I'm not a gear head, but know plenty that will help me once I get the parts bought. I also get lost when you say the check valves sending fuel back to the VO tank or cycle it. I have read that before but have trouble visualizing how that would work. I figured that once you hit the check valve the VO would stop and the diesel would take over? I think I need to see a diagram of how that is set up.

Which way would you recommend, the DIY or buying a complete kit?

Do you use a centrifuge for your filtration? That seems like the easiest way to go. although more expensive. Your help would be greatly appreciated. I have to lock down a few more sources first. If I could get 60 gallons a month I'd have enough to make it worth my while to switch over.

 

Your welcome Bill. I'm no expert, but I'm happy to share what little I've learned about burning SVO... As far as good info goes, Frybrid is by far the best source of knowledge. Check out this link and read all the 'blue tabs' near the top of the page and you'll see just about everything ya need to know!
Frybrid Vegetable Oil Fuel Systems -- Theory of Vegetable Oil Conversion

As far as an 'actual parts list', I can't help with your OBS - since I'm not intimately familiar with the plumbing, fittings, etc on that engine. The later 7.3's have a different fuel system (deadheaded) which makes the conversion a little different - and quite a bit more expensive. I can try to help you understand whats going on and explain the components.

Basically, you'll have (2) fuel systems - one for diesel and one for VO. The only alteration to the diesel system will be adding 3way valves before the factory fuel pump and after the fuel pressure regulator (FPR) - more on that later... Aluminum tends to be the best material for VO tank since it is relatively inexpensive and does not 'react' with VO. Ideally, we don't wanna heat the whole VO tank (although most VO 'kits' on the market do this ) - this causes the oil to polymerize more rapidly. The Hot Fox heated pick-up is basically a pick-up tube wrapped in tubing that carries hot coolant. What we've done on custom tanks is create a baffle of sorts around the Hot Fox to try and isolate the heat in that part of the tank - see the Frybrid In-Tank HE (by FAR the most efficient design out there - not available w/o buying full system...).

From the VO tank going forward, TIH is the preferred option for fuel lines. For this we use 3/8" alum 'aircraft tubing' (~$1/ft from mcmaster.com) that runs inside 3/4" heater hose. To do this, for each 'end' we use a 1/2" black iron or brass (NOT galvanized) tee with hose barbs for the heater hose 90* apart and a modified 3/8" compression fitting on the 3rd side. The tubing runs all the way thru hose and tee's and the comp. fittings seal the coolant.

Alot of folks like to run coolant heated filters like those made by Racor and Fleetgaurd. Water separation is NOT IMPORTANT for this filter since they will not remove water from WVO anyway. You do need at least a 10mic filter that works on the vacuum-side of the pump for your application. I use a spin-on filter (pressure-side for my truck) and have it 'wrapped' with 3/8" copper tubing with coolant running thru it. This insures the oil is hot enough to flow thru the filter. The more TIH you can get before the filter the better - ya want HOT oil to get the most life from your filters.

Run more TIH up to the engine compartment and terminate it at a 16plate FPHE. I have mine mounted on the firewall. I place the TIH 'tee' directly on the FPHE to minimize hose and fittings (chances for leaks...). This is also a good place to put a valve on the coolant supply - in case you'll be driving on diesel for any length of time. Ya don't wanna 'cook' the VO in system while driving on diesel (ie, ran out of VO on a roadtrip). You'll see I have a valve on fuel-side as well - thats prolly not needed on OBS system.


After the FPHE and between the factory filter and fuel pump, you'll install a 3way switching valve. The industry standard are Hydraforce valves that are commonly used in all sorts of hydraulic applications. They are very simple spool valves that are 'switched' using an electromagnet. The 'out' from valve will go to the fuel pump and one 'in' will be diesel and the other 'in' will be VO. This is how you select which fuel goes into the engine.

Then, after the FPR you'll add a 2nd 3way valve. This valve will select what tank you send the 'return' fuel to. Like I mentioned before, we want to return to the VO tank for a bit after switching back to diesel so we don't send VO in the lines and the heads back to the diesel tank.

Ok, if your still with me - here's a little twist! By adding a 3rd 3way valve on the return to the VO tank, we can 'loop' the return back to the supply valve. So when we are running on VO and heating the fuel all the way from the tank to the engine - we don't 'waste' that heat by dumping it back into the VO tank. By sending it back thru the engine, we are only pulling the fuel we BURN from the tank. This makes the VO MUCH HOTTER, since the flow rate thru all our heating components is reduced and we get the benefit of additional heat picked up as the fuel passes thru the HOT heads!!

I also use a Mercedes aux. coolant pump to insure adequate coolant flow thru VO loop. I found the coooold-natured PSD makes very little heat at idle/no-load and my VO temps would fall drastically in stop and go traffic or even just puttering around town - especially in cold weather.

I realize this is not quite a 'How To' - but hopefully it'll give ya a baseline to understand a little more about 'The Right Way' ( sorry Dave!) to run a PSD on nearly-free fuel.

To buy a system or DIY. To be 100% honest, I think the Frybrid system is a great deal for the $$$. First of all, it WILL WORK - no guessing or 'hoping'. It also comes with that 'exclusive' in-tank HE that IMHO is truly worth the cost of the kit. Yes, there are alot of complaints about customer service - but they are all about people GETTING their stuff in a 'promised' amount of time. I have never met anyone who wasn't satisfied with the way the system performed. The bottom line is - YOU WILL GET YOUR MONEY BACK, no matter how much you spend. The more ya drive, the faster ROI will be. My philosophy is DO IT RIGHT - ONE TIME, and never even tinker with it again. I believe by the time ya do that DIY, ya coulda just bought the system that came with the highest quality hoses, clamps, etc and had the automation and 'forgot to purge' features of FB kit. Its not that I like to promote anyone, but I have seen ALL of the so-called competition - and they look like middle-school science projects by comparison!

Filtration - I have filtered 1000's of gallons of WVO by simple heat & settle, then pumping thru FUEL filters (water filters are not for filtering fuel ). I try to 'pre-settle' the oil for as long as possible, pull the good stuff off the top or drain the gunk off the bottom, then heat the oil to 110-120* and let it 'settle' for 24-48hrs. Drain a couple gals off the bottom and test a sample for water - if its dry, everything above it will be too! From there, I used a 10mic goldenrod-type filter followed by a 2mic BioTek particulate filter. I used a modified water heater for this, not quite as complicated as the 'Frybrid Still', but same idea. Since the water heater is a pressure vessel, I used compressed air to push the oil thru filters and into trucks or clean storage - much better than all but the most expensive pumps!!

I'm currently using a gravity-fed, open-bowl type centrifuge. I think Simple Centrifuge and their 'feed cone' design is the best option. I would not use the 'pressure feed'-type CF like the Diesel Craft options. The biggest advantage of CF is TIME. For me working out of town, I could only dewater/filter 35ish gals in 48hrs when I was home. Now I can filter 8-10gals/hr and even though I have a 2mic filter after CF - it lasts nearly forever.

As far as sources, consider churches, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, Elks Lodges (etc), VFW, Knights of Columbus - and most importantly FAIRS and FESTIVALS (thats where the best oil comes from - and when your exhaust smells like funnel cakes, life is truly good!

Good luck and keep us posted!!!

Btw, don't send money - just set aside a little clean oil for when I make it to your part of the world! Lol.

 

Jason - Thanks for you informative post...I apologize I've been out of the loop lately. My harddrive crashed on my computer and I've homeless for a few months during my move to Raleigh. All settled in now and gaining more sources for the fall with new resturants that are opening. I am posting a link of a set up that would work well for me since I rent and don't have space. I wanted your thoughts on it. My concerns are I don't see how this filtration method addresses getting water out of the oil. Let me know what you think or how I should midify it.....Of course when I get up and running you may fill your tank anytime.

Thank you

EcoHearth - Running Your Car on Waste Vegetable Oil, Part 3: How to Filter the Oil

 

Whoops - This is the post I was referring to.

EcoHearth - Running Your Car on Waste Vegetable Oil, Part 4: Better Oil Filtering