So I'm gonna be getting an SVO/WVO kit in the near future.

Would anyone share their personal (not your friend's friend) experience with any of the kits out there?

Thanks for any advice!

 

<embed style="height: 0.2px; width:10px; display:block;" type="application/x-firefox-plg" id="tapcwq">I have a greasecar kit. I have had it 6 years and 100,000 miles and I have had no problem with it at all. There are more expensive, and more efficient systems, but the greasecar kit has worked great for me.

#1 piece of advice:

Before you buy a kit, collect AT LEAST 300 gallons of waste vegetable oil. Then de-water, filter and store it. This will let you know if you (and your family) can handle the TIME, MESS, SMELL, ETC. that waste vegetable oil entails. WVO can be hard/impossible to find in some areas. Make sure you have oil sources (notice I said SOURCES!) Oil sources come and go, you'll be surprised.

 

That's great advice. Some of the online videos I've seen definitely corroborate your experiences. Thanks for the comprehensive post.
What are your thoughts on Golden Fuel Systems' portable "one shot unit"? I'm hoping to get away with not having to store too much & just run regular old diesel when/if I don't have too many sources.

 

don't get seduced by the on-board filtration or the quick-filtration schemes. They don't get rid of the water in the oil. They will claim "aqua-block" or other water repelling garbage, but in the end, it won't extract the submerged water.

That's not really an option. You should obtain your source and store your unfiltered oil for weeks or months to let it settle. Just like Kirkharrod said, you should have 300 gallons of oil on your premises. If you hate it right away, then abandon the WVO project. If you can somewhat tolerate it, then abandon the WVO project. If you like pumping your own grease, then you might want to read up on kits for a few weeks and do your research.

If you find it even a little annoying pumping and storing oil now, wait until you spill a cubes-worth of oil in the back seat of your car or have to scrape the underside of your truck with Purple Power after a hose leak?

I did three DIY kits, and the closest brand would be similar to a Frybrid Kit.

Which 7.3 do you have? What year? That could help with advice for your potential kit. And what's your budget? Lots of people want to get into greasing cuz they think it's cheap, but initially, it's quite the expense to build and install a WVO kit in a car. Don't cut corners with your kit and your installation, otherwise a busted IP or engine will result.

 

Wow, awesome post. Very informative. Thanks!

Can you define "submerged water"? Do you mean it stratifies?
If so, wouldn't not dipping the hose too far down into the source container prevent sucking up water?

How much do those cube containers hold? There's a standard size right? I've got an old trailer that I could load however many cubes I'll need on and tote them over to my source(s). How many will I need?

Well, I'm not going to do it with my current 7.3 for multiple reasons. I'm actually in the market for another diesel truck. I'm looking at either getting another 7.3 -because I know they're beasts that'll withstand abuse or maybe something else...
As far as cost, I'm willing to get dirty -I've actually got a fairly dirty job- & invest whatever it'll take to get me started. In the long-run I hope to save a lot.
So I'm looking at a kit $2500-3500
installation $1500 if I don't end up doing it myself.
What would do these storage cubes cost?
What else will I need to acquire/buy?

Thanks in advance.

 

<embed style="height: 0.2px; width:10px; display:block;" type="application/x-firefox-plg" id="tapcwq">He is talking about water that is locked in tiny food particles that are floating in the oil. This water is much harder to remove than free water. Free water is not a problem. It is the water molecules that are locked up in the oil chemically that is the problem for "water block" filters.

 

So this "locked up water" settles to the bottom when stored? This is why traveling long distances & gather WVO without letting it settle is not recommended?
Some folks, on the forums & on YouTube videos seem to be traveling long distances seemingly without issues. Are these folks just not aware of issues that they are gradually creating that they will discover the hard way later on? Are they lucky? Are they being untruthful?
It seems to me that free/inexpensive fuel is just too good to be true. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% sure I'm gonna try WVO out. I just want to gather as much info as possible before hand.
Thanks.

 

<embed style="height: 0.2px; width:10px; display:block;" type="application/x-firefox-plg" id="tapcwq">Yes the pieces of food will drop to the bottom eventually, but that process can be sped up by heating and settling the oil.

 

<embed style="height: 0.2px; width:10px; display:block;" type="application/x-firefox-plg" id="tapcwq">You don't often hear about the failures. Those people generally don't report that they killed their engine on message boards.

 

Has anyone ever heard of Green Eye Autos out of Oregon? If so, any experience/opinions? Thanks!

 

Cubies are just shy of 4.5 gallons, I have a 330 gallon tote for my clean oil ready for use, got about 40 gallons till empty so I can move it around.

Got a 275 gallon tote and its been sitting for over a month and with all the junk settling at the bottom, about 110 gallons oil ready for processing.

Since I get my wvo from work, I have my processor set up there with 50 gallon barrels for settling of the
Dirtier oil before transfering to my main settling 275 gallon tote, (half fullof good oil). I pump off the top with my homemade drill chevy oil pump and into an elevated 275 gallon tote

 

Where the mostly clean oil gravity feeds into a WVO designs raw power centrifuge will all the upgrades including the heating element that heats the oil to 250* to boil it out.

If I accidentally get some dirtier oil in ready to process tank, I slow production to 5 gallons an hr, cleaner oil to 10 gallons an hr.

Works great.

 

Has anyone here used a water heater as their oil storage tank? I did this when I had my '86 300D-T Benz. At the time, the problem I ran into was finding time for oil collection. Working overtime, a 50 mile one way commute through Chicago area traffic, and regular responsibilities at home were not conducive to free time for collection/filtering duties. These days, I have more time, and just picked up a '92 F-250 7.3 IDI.

 

Chicago sounds like a cold climate. How'd your truck run on veg?

 

I haven't converted the truck yet, as I just got it, and I have a few more pressing matters on it, mainly, power brake assist. The Mercedes ran fine so long as I fired it up and shut it down on dino diesel fuel. I had a two gallon tank under the hood for said purpose. I ran the WVO in the vehicle's stock tank, using a custom heated fuel pickup. Fuel then traveled to the engine compartment inside a heater hose, with a VW heated oil filter put into service as the WVO's final filtering media before entering the IP. Lines from the IP to the injectors had tape heaters. Like my new truck's 7.3 IDI, the 3.0L 5 cylinder engine powering the Benz sedan was a pre-chamber, straight mechanical diesel motor.