Idk gen, i looked into the whole home brew bio. I think you would have to be nuts to go through all that hassle, work, investment, danger etc. Besides that having to get rid of the lye or glycerin or whatever it is you have to get rid of. My cousin runs WVO in his Vdub all he did was put a warmer in the tank, has a bench for filtering and getting water out. To me that may be viable given the steady source of veggie oil (hes manager of a resturaunt) but for the average joe i dont see it as a viable alternative. Where as i live/ work on a ranch, theres plenty of WMO around we have even built a few oil stoves for the shops and we still have plenty around. Just have to be careful whats in it, obviously injection pumps dont like antifreeze, brake cleaner, brake fluid, metal shavings etc lol

Im not saying everyone should run WMO either, i do because i have a ton of it, and it requires no mods. But just like the WVO if its not around, you cant very well run it.

 

Yeah, WVO is a hard thing to come by in a smaller town. Here in LA, there's a restaurant every other building. WMO is a good solution too.

I don't run BioD, so don't have to deal with lye, methanol, glyc, etc. I don't want to deal with the fire hazard of bioD. Too dangerous.

All in all, it's not that much work to put in those components. Either you can buy a readymade kit, or just do research and you can find heated filterheads and other parts pretty easy online. I once converted a Jetta with a buddy in a long weekend. With a truck, it's easy as pie, but with my van, it's a little harder because there isn't a lot of space for the components.

With my van, I calculated my mpg vs the investment cost vs amount of driving I do, and it was only about 6000 miles of driving on WVO before I covered the cost of my Veg system.

 

that was about the same amount i had to drive for my wmo station. but the thing thats nice about my setup is there is no reoccurring costs. no new filters and such.

 

Good point. WVO filtration stations and WVO systems each have filters that require changing every x number of miles. It all depends on a variety of factors. I have three filters on my station (20 micron to 6 micron to 1 micron) and one 6 micron Baldwin filter on my system.

regardless, filters are negligible. Also, I occasionally heat my veg containment unit, so there is a negligible amount of electrical power that could be factored into the cost of operation. I'm currently converting that electrical to solar so it's off the grid.

 

My fuel is filtered through a centrifuge. No filters at all just scrape out the crap and reassemble and good to go

 

My bad gen, i was thinking you were runin bio. My system was free minus the filter heads and filters i have a 20 and a 2 havent changed em yet, figure when the top barrel is full and the bottom empty it will be time to change them lol

 

Oh no i'm not deterred at all. i'll be running WVO minus the costs of adding pointless workarounds into the factory fuel system.
Thanks for the input though!

 

You can brag when you are over 80,000 miles on grease.

I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm trying to help. Running grease thru your factory fuel lines, factory selector valve, factory tanks, and factory fuel filter will mess up your fuel system, and that doesn't even factor in the damage you'll do to your IP, injectors, and engine if you don't heat your WVO.

I totally support your decision to use WVO. I can help you with getting components too if you want my help, just PM me.

 

I've got 70,000 miles on wvo on my 87 f250. I use the stock tank but have changed the lines to fuel injector hose as standard hose gets soft and mushy.
I centrifuge with a home made Acme Juicer.
I think the key is to do 3,000 mile oil changes and have good heating elements; Hot-fox pick up tube, heated filter, 29 plate heat exchanger and 30 amp 12v in-line heater. Also don't be impatient an switch over too soon, a fuel temp gauge is handy.
Use an electric fuel pump.
Clean the injectors with Sea Foam or Lubri-molly by recirculating it in a 2 liter soda bottle. My IP lasted 50,000 and already had an unknown amount of miles on it.
I spent about $2,000 on my system and estimate I've saved over $25,000 in fuel costs.
For me, the hardest part is finding oil as there is often a lot of competition for it.
My system is portable and most of the miles were on the road. I have a 1600 watt inverter and two 6v golf cart batteries to power the centrifuge.

 

bio-d, I'd really enjoy seeing some pics of your setup, if you've got any.

 

I'll try to post some pic's but not until this weekend. You can go to my wife's blog www.veggievoyagers.blogspot.com and look in the archives july 2006-may 2007. that was our first 24,000 mi circle of the us and canada all except 150 miles on svo (wvo) except also bio-d or diesel for starting and clearing the lines.Also check out www.biodiesel.infopop.cc (note cc not com
there is a bio and a svo section.
Mike

 

I've run 40k miles on WVO in my '92 F-250 dual tank. go to biodiesel.infopop.cc SVO forum and and the Ford vehicle section for particulars. Be prepared to spend 100 hours learning about WVO collecting, filtering and conversion details.

The 6.9/7.3 are well suited for WVO conversion, EXCEPT the Standadyne DB-2 injection pump. When switching warm veggie oil into a cold ip, the oil would thicken and not lube the main shaft leading it to overheat and seize and then snap in half. This happened to maybe 10% of F-250's. To avoid this I recommend heating both the diesel and the WVO. This ensures the ip is brought up to temperature asap before switch over. I run both my tanks through a 3"x8" flat plate heat exchanger.

Using the stock dual tanks I created a two-tank system by merely adding the FPHE. Cost was < $200 total.

 

Waste motor oil is trash. I've never heard of anyone running it getting any kind of longevity out of fuel systems. Go ask a local diesel shop what their warranty is on injection pumps with WMO run through them.

I don't understand why you would be worried about a fire hazard with bio. Being careful with the lye is the only action that poses real hazard. The only way a fire will start is with improper wiring, same way with wiring up a heater on the truck. I built a bio reactor, there's no way it could explode, run a 220v water heater element on 110 and it will never get hot enough to need a thermostat. I plumbed a vent that a garden hose can be run outside to vent. With all new pipe and steel paid for, my processor only cost me $250, cost per gallon is about $1 and it goes down if you buy in bulk.

The glycerin by-product can be composted and used as fertilizer, or an effective weed killer. There's no reason to be worried about it, it's less volatile than gasoline. Methanol isn't much different than gasoline either, don't huff fumes and it's good. I built a small shed to house my reactor in simply on the off chance something goes wrong and I don't burn up my dad's torino or mustang. This small chance of something going wrong is why we will never have an attached garage either, don't want a burned down house because of a car.

It's up to you, I'd do bio, and not worry about temps as well as no fuel line plumbing. Either are great for these high compression motors.

 

I just can't fathom why this would happen. Let's break it down.

Let's pick the best case scenario: Phoenix AZ in July.
The truck is parked in 100 deg weather. The driver starts the truck. Drives until the engine is up to operating temp. The IP is easily over 100 deg F and warms with the operating temp. The grease warms with the coolant system, let's say up to 180 deg F. The driver switches Diesel to warm veg. The difference in diesel temp to WVO temp is 150 and 180 deg F respectively.

Conclusion: 30 deg F will not be any appreciable difference to cause real harm to the IP, even with a significant viscosity disparity, because the IP is warmed by the ambient heat of the engine.



Worst case scenario: Lambeau Field, December 31, 1967. -50 deg F windchill.

The driver gets the truck up to operating temperature (assuming they are not a ditz and haven't blocked up the grill). The heat from the engine warms the IP from a frigid -50 deg, to operating temp [let's say] around 180 deg F. The diesel going through the fuel lines is frigid, and prone to gelling. The WVO lines are heated with HOH coolant lines, up to 180 degs. The driver switches from 0 deg Diesel to 180 deg WVO, into a 180 deg IP.

Conclusion: 180 deg F will not be any appreciable difference to cause real harm to the IP, even with a significant viscosity disparity, because the IP is warmed by the ambient heat of the engine.



Not only that, but the theory would only make sense if for Diesel. The fact that the oil is warmed by the coolant lines means that it has an advantage to staying viscous into the IP. If the IP was running cold (which it doesn't unless you are making the mistake of running WVO on a cold engine), then wouldn't the congealing of the Diesel be more likely, rather than the congealing of a vegetable oil already given a 180 deg head start? Were you running Crisco or something? This would be very unlikely with a normal Canola, soybean, or other typical liquid WVO.

 

No biggie to me. I just liked the safety and economy of WVO. I weighed the Pro's and Con's 8 years ago, and picked the upfront cost of doing a dual tank heated kit.