A Biodiesel kit that works

[David]

http://ww2.green-trust.org:8383/2000/bi ... efault.htm

These guys are using a skoolie to run with vegetable oil..and it's a working, practical model.

[lapeer20m]

Let me preface this by saying I know almost nothing about injector pumps and diesel engines !

I've thought it through, and this week if all goes well, i plan to have the bus running on vegetable oil. I plan to first use a crude system to prove to myself that it's feasable before i do a complete install.

In looking at the diagram for the system sold above i have one major concern. The return line from the pump to the tank makes a "T" and is connected back to the supply line. If this works so well, how come the manufacturer created the return line? There has to be a good reason or when the bus was built, they would not have installed the 10 feet of tubing that makes up the return line. I'm concerned this could damage the injector pump.

The rest of the system looks simple enough. I'll do my research and development using SVO initially. IF all goes well, i'll begin the process of finding waste vegetable oil and leaving behind the smell of french fries everywhere i go.

I've found conflicting reports on the net as to how damaging vegetable oil can be. I've talked to a few mechanics, and they all seem to think that vegetable oil should be better for a diesel engine than diesel fuel.

[macgyver]

Lapeer,

Do some research on the "Diesel" engine, and you'll find out that the inventor (his name was Rudolf Diesel) had vegetable oil in mind as an original fuel.... I'm not an expert on Diesel engines, so I don't know everything, in fact, I do know very little of Diesel engines...

But, with that said, there are many useful sources of information regarding the use of "Alternative Fuels" for diesel engines, I've read some of them, and vegetable oil is an excellent *RENEWABLE* fuel for diesel engines.

Here are a few links for you to look through...

Rudolf Diesel - Little known facts about him and his engines

Basics of Diesel Engines and their operation

VeggieVan.Org - Biodiesel information and products

Another useful link for SVO fuel

Hopefully, these will be of interest to anyone with a diesel engine... I can only say I wish I had a diesel engine. The cost of the fuel is cheaper than gasoline, and they're just stronger engines... simpler design, less things to break... kinda like the Wankel engine... now THERE'S an engine I'd like to see in a BUS.

-Kevin

[busone]

What ever happened to Ron Morrsion? He was running his but on veggy oil. He used to be a member of the yahoo group until arky kicked him off for saying a diesel bus is better. He has been running all over the country on veggy oli. I would talk to him about his experiences if anybody can find him.

[Steve]

I have his email, I'll send him a message inviting him to share his knowledge

[lapeer20m]

photos soon to come!

Today i got my bus running on straight vegetable oil. I'm in the research and development state right now, but it was incredible to hear her run on something other than diesel fuel.

I'll keep plugging away at it till a get a system that works well.

My intent is to use filtered waste vegetable oil.

[lapeer20m]

Today i heard something for the first time ever. One of those sounds that breaks the cardinal law of diesel ownership. I heard my diesel engine run out of fuel. UGGGGGGGGG. The positive thing is that I learned how to bleed injectors!!

I worked a solid 12 hours on the project today. I don't have a complete system yet. Here is what i have so far: I have 2 separate fuel circuits, each can be turned on/off with its respective 1/4 turn valve. One circuit is the original diesel fuel tank, the second is the line i'm using for the vegetable oil.

I haven't connected the oil reservoir system into the coolant system yet. To heat the oil I've very appropriately been using a handy kitchen appliance "The Fry Daddy" deep fat fryer to heat my oil. Obviously this is just temporary. I've just been running the engine while the bus is stationary. It's a very crude setup so far.

After using all of my available SVO, i decided rather than buying more, i'd venture off to one of the local restaurants to see about getting some WVO. They were just getting ready to empty the fryers when i walked in, perfect timing! They offered me 100 gallons or so they had out back, but i just took 5 gallons for the time being. I filtered it with a 12volt pump and a hydrolic oil filter. It still looked pretty dark after i filtered it several times, but it seemed to run great in the Ford 6.6 Liter diesel.

How exciting. Free fuel !

Tomorrow i'd like to mount the wvo tank and run all the coolant lines ect. I can't wait to take it for a drive utilizing my WVO.

[Steve]

Your making the conversion process sound easy

[lapeer20m]

it is easy ! How come more people don't do this?? In the past three days i quadroupled the knowlege i have about a diesel engine. I still know nothing!

The majority of the project is done using flexible copper tubing and small 1/4" pipe fittings/valves. So far i've spent approx $40.00
Nearly every part I used for the conversion is readily availabe at home depot. I plan to use a plastic 35 gallon drum for the wvo tank. The junk yard should be able to provide the inexpensive heater core i need to heat the oil. Wal-mart sells the engine temp gage that will tell me when it's time to switch over from diesel to vegie oil.

When filtering the oil prior to putting it in the tank, I first tried to poor the liquid through a large heavy duty coffee filter. Do you have any idea how long it takes veggie oil to flow through a cofee filter?? I decided i was far to imatient for that! Next I tried to use a cheap 12 volt bilge pump to move the oil through a hydrolic oil filter, but it didn't have the pressure. Luckily i have a 12 volt 40 psi pump laying around. I simply connected the pump to a garden hose then found a pipe to screw into the center of a hydrolic oil filter. The garden hose was then attached to the filter with a hose clamp. The pump is made for water, but since it was free, i'll see how long it lasts pumping oil. Lots of lubrication !

I only went to one restaurant to find the waste oil. It's amazing how easy it is to find WVO.

How exciting ! A huge smile has been on my face all day.

[busone]

I am really glad to hear how well it worked, that is great news. When I get a bus I want to try to run it on WVO. A lot of people say it is better than diesel fuel, of course the price is the best part. I really want an old diesel car or truck to run on veggy oil. The price of fuel is killing me as it is with a little pickup. I hate to think what it would cost with a bus. Keep us posted on how it goes. I wish I lived near by I would love to help out and learn something.

[PRyberg]

Has anybody tried using the commercially available biodiesel - usually soy oil that has been worked over to run as diesel?

Here's a map of the US showing the locations of commercially available biodiesel.

http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiese ... fault.shtm

When I get my bus (or bookmobile) I hope to run on biodiesel - although WVO sounds awfully good - you can't beat free!

Paul

[lapeer20m]

Update: 4-22-04

Back at my real job today. I work two 24 hour shifts per week.

Yesterday i spent another full day working on the conversion. I got the tank mounted, coolant lines run to the tank, wvo line ran from tank to filter to pump. Spent big money and purchased a $100 diesel fuel filter/heater. I also filtered another 5 gallons of WVO.

Not everything went well however. I spent a very frustrating half-day trying to find an air leak in the main fuel system line. I installed several valves, "t"'s elbows ect and one of the connections were obviously leaking air. I was just about ready to go insane when i finally found and fixed the problem.

It was midnite when i fianlly finished for the day. I had to leave for work at 5 am. uggggg!

What's left? Tomorrows agenda includes driving around to heat up the veggie oil, then prime the wvo line. After that, She should be ready to run on wvo. I still have to run a return line from the pump to the wvo tank.

Total price so far?? Approximately $200. half of that was just for the heated diesel fuel filter. I hate to spend money, but i think it's well worth the investiment.

I have several photo's on my camera i need to upload. I'll do that when i finish the project.

I'd like to come up with a better plan to transfer the used wvo from the container at the restaurant to the bus. Preferably filtering it first, and transfering it directly into the WVO tank.

[busone]

Maybe you can get a self priming 12V pump that will suck the oil out of the restraunt tanks. Then before it goes into your fuel tank it could run through an automotive oil filter. Even if you have to use 1 filter per filling it is still much cheaper than diesel. You will have to be careful though because if there is any water in the oil tank you could mess up your injectors.

[lapeer20m]

my fancy 100 dollar fuel filter is also a water seperator. How efficient are these at removing water? I"m not sure. Before going to the injector pump, the veggie juice also runs through the stock water seperator fuel filter.

[lapeer20m]

Update Friday April 23:

After a significant amount of trouble and several failed attempts trying to prime the veggie line, i decided to install a 12v pump to feed wvo to the injector pump.

I drove around to heat everything up, primed the veggie line, switched over to wvo, and let her run in the driveway for a few minutes to make certian she wasn't going to die immediately. Then i took her for a test drive. Everything seemed to be normal on wvo. She ran just fine for a couple miles. Even powered up a steep hill with 3 thousand pounds of water on board. After a couple miles, the engine coughed, then died. I pulled off the roadway, switched over to diesel, and she fired right up.

Diagnosis: My 12v pump stopped pumping. I think the problem is the vaccuum line feeding the pump. All the fuel lines are copper, except the fuel pickup tube, which is made of rubber. My theory is that as the veggie oil got above 150 degrees or so, the rubber pickup tube got so pliable that it pinched itself off not allowing wvo to flow.

Tomorrow I'll install a copper pickup tube and hopefully this will fix the problem.

When i find more money to spend, i'd like to remove the manual quarter turn valves, and install electric solenoid valves instead.

I altered the original design of the system. I had bad luck getting her to run with the return line plumbed directly into the inlet. Instead I added 2 more valves, and ran a return line to my wvo tank. The return fuel is either returned to the wvo tank, or the diesel tank, depending which valve is turned on. this allows the system to work like the manufacturer intended when the engine was built.