Vegetable Oil SVO WVO waste cooking oil as biofuel

[zachmaxon]

sun,

when you connected your rubber hose to your stock steel lines did you just slide the hose over and put a hose clamp on or did you secure it some other way. seems like there's a lot of ways folks like doing it, and not many suggest just clamping the hose over the steel. what do you suggest?
also, instead of HIH would pipe heater tape with a toggle switch in the cab to turn it on & off work to pre-heat the WVO lines? Sorry if these questions seem silly, I'm just trying to go through all my options...

thanks

[SunWizard]

when you connected your rubber hose to your stock steel lines did you just slide the hose over and put a hose clamp on or did you secure it some other way.

Yes, from yesterday:
The hose matches the pipe its fit over, if you are cutting the metal and clamping a hose onto it like I did.

seems like there's a lot of ways folks like doing it, and not many suggest just clamping the hose over the steel. what do you suggest?

Its been fine for me for >5 years. Some put 2 clamps on each if they are worried. The best and by far most expensive would be to replace all lines with stainless braided lines with the ends crimped on (buy from a hydraulic hose making shop) and no hose clamps.

[zachmaxon]

sorry, i edited a quote earlier after you responded...another question
also, instead of HIH would pipe heater tape with a toggle switch in the cab to turn it on & off work to pre-heat the WVO lines? Sorry if these questions seem silly, I'm just trying to go through all my options...

thanks

[SunWizard]

sorry, i edited a quote earlier after you responded...another question
also, instead of HIH would pipe heater tape with a toggle switch in the cab to turn it on & off work to pre-heat the WVO lines?

No, most heat tapes are designed for 110 volt and won't work at 12. Even if you find some specially made for 12, they draw way too much power for only a little heat, which can overload and wear out your alternator. You would get more heat by bundling the coolant lines so they are touching the fuel line and insulating well.

[zachmaxon]

I think I almost completely understand the system now. The one thing I'm having a hard time figuring out is the fuel pressure setup. I'm not seeing where the needle valve is in the picture. Is it connected somewhere with the brass T? It looks like there are a few reducing couplings coming out of the top of the T with a compression fitting stabilizing the clear tubing that goes to the gauge, but I can't really tell. I guess I'm just not seeing something. Could you help explain this to me in a little more detail? Thanks for putting up with a newbie

[SunWizard]

I'm not seeing where the needle valve is in the picture. Is it connected somewhere with the brass T?

It goes anywhere in the line leading to the gauge to restrict the pulses. Mine is in the tee right before the compression fitting that connects to the very small line going to the gauge.

[zachmaxon]

when you primed the veg line do you just use the primer on the lift pump? i'm also assuming you prime all of the fuel routes that need it?
is there a fitting that could be attached to prime (and bleed air?) to the coolant and fuel lines? any suggestions would be nice...would mike's '97 set-up work well for priming/bleeding air? Just find the high point and put in the bleed valves?
what would you suggest for a temp. gauge the way you set it up? pressure gauge?
also, is there a reason you're using a goldenrod filter head (filter too?) instead of cim-tek?

[SunWizard]

when you primed the veg line do you just use the primer on the lift pump? i'm also assuming you prime all of the fuel routes that need it?

I put air pressure in my WVO tank through the handy tire valve stem I used for the vent. This pushed WVO through all lines and filters to where I had the line open and in a jar just before the IP.

.would mike's '97 set-up work well for priming/bleeding air?

I don't know his setup, but mine is super easy.

what would you suggest for a temp. gauge the way you set it up? pressure gauge?

Cheap ones from any auto parts store, but get the wide 180-270 degree sweep ones.

also, is there a reason you're using a goldenrod filter head (filter too?) instead of cim-tek?

That is what I started with and then switched to cim-tek since its bigger. You might read this thread again, all or most of the above is mentioned several places in this thread, plus more you might need.

[zachmaxon]

Thanks sun,

I went back and read through everything, took a while, but saw stuff i missed when i first read through it! I didn't notice it before i had questions about that stuff...funny how that works.
One other question, does having brass 90* T's coming out of the valves do anything to inhibit fuel flow? that's what i have right now but if i need to roound the angles out where the veg is going through i'd rather know now than put it all together and have to take it apart again....

thanks!

[SunWizard]

One other question, does having brass 90* T's coming out of the valves do anything to inhibit fuel flow?

Not much, since the flow is only a few gallons per hour. I have some 90's on mine, and most others do too if they are under the floor since its tight. The main thing to avoid is sharp bends in the rubber hose where it could kink eventually after being hot. And also make sure they don't rub against anything since the vibrations will eventually wear a hole in the rubber.

[zachmaxon]

sun,
probably been asked before, but is the fphe after the filter for any specific reason other than cutting down the distance before the IP? could you hypothetically put the filter after the fphe for extra heat through the filter? do you think it's o.k. if diesel goes through a fphe?

[zachmaxon]

Sun, I just got the system installed! It went fairly well, took a good 3 days to get it done. I intend on putting up photos of the finished product and maybe some videos. I have a few questions now that it's running. i have a t right after the stock diesel filter where my veg enters that gets pressure when everything's on diesel, it flicks between 15 & 25 psi (probably because of the pulses you talk about). does yours do that as well? also, when you prime with your fuel pump plunger (if you ever do), when the lines are primed does your pump start sounding like it's releasing air after a dozen or so pumps? i hope i explained that well enough. I haven't tried it with wvo yet since it's pretty cold in Northwest Iowa right now. I have the lines primed with diesel and am going to wait until nicer weather until I load it up with veg (I should have a 150-200 gallons by then...

1996 Dodge 2500
50 gal. aluminum tank/toolbox
HotFox fuel pickup
HIH fuel line to manual valves (like sun's frybrid diagram)
Standard Diesel Filter, 2 Micron Cim-Tek (soon to be a heating band, either from Fattywagons or a Wolverine)
40 plate heat exchanger before injectors

(pretty much same as suns except the fuel pickup)

I haven

[SunWizard]

sun,
probably been asked before, but is the fphe after the filter for any specific reason other than cutting down the distance before the IP?

Yes you would have little to no heat in the important first 10 miles after switch over if the filter is after FPHE.

do you think it's o.k. if diesel goes through a fphe?

Yes if it has at least 2% bio or VO for lubricity. No advantage to heating diesel.

[SunWizard]

it flicks between 15 & 25 psi (probably because of the pulses you talk about). does yours do that as well?

No since I added the needle valve to stop pulsing.

also, when you prime with your fuel pump plunger (if you ever do), when the lines are primed does your pump start sounding like it's releasing air after a dozen or so pumps?

Never needed to.

[zachmaxon]

SW,

I have a purge question. It seems like from your purge operation that VO is left in the veg filter and fphe after purging? Is the VO just purged out of the diesel lines? If so, what about the vo in the lines the few feet after the fphe? When you switch back to veg, wouldn’t this not be to the proper heat before it hits the injectors, especially if it’s partially hydrogenated and cold out?
Could I just purge all the veg out of all the lines by switching the tank to diesel and return to WVO? This would quickly purge all the wvo out of the VO filter and FPHE if the lift pump pumps about a gallon a minute (is that accurate?). Then, if I time things right, when I switch to veg at the right temperature when I want to run it, I could wait 15 or 20 seconds for the diesel in the veg lines to return back to the diesel tank before I switch return to looped veg. This would have to be timed fairly accurately of course, or I’d get veg in my diesel tank. I hope that’s not too confusing. You’ve probably thought about this much more than I have and probably have a good answer.

My main concern is the unheated veg in the line from the FPHE to the T after the D2 filter…

Thanks a bunch SW