Does WVO destroy plastic, metal or rubber?

[KC10Chief]

My neighbor who by the way has never converted anything, says that used vegetable oil has some sort of acid in it that is highly corrosive to plastics, metal fuel lines and rubber fuel lines. I'm curious if there is any truth to this. I was planning to use a length of rubber hose attached to the filler neck on my tank. My tank is made of plastic and I'll be using some metal fuel lines. Just curious.

[ParadigmCrime]

Im pretty sure he's thinking of BioDiesel which has been known to eat CERTAIN hoses (but is not damaging to metal).

Ive had no problems, and have never heard of this problem.


You should be fine. Ive been running my bus since June on veg oil, no problems at all.

[Demonknight]

If I remember right, it used to be a type of rubber would break up..however since the early 80's the makeup of the rubber used has changed and its no longer a problem. I'll look around for a link with the story on it.

Edit: sorry, mid 90's... and heres a link to a very good site about bio-deisel/wvo

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_vehicle.html

[the_experience03]

Viton (and probably some other name brands as well) is the rubber substitute that's supposed to be pretty immune to veggie oil, ethanol, etc.

[paul iossi]

Back in the early seventies when the government banned leaded fuel, there were some problems with the rubber compound used on carburator needles and also problems with the plastic floats absorbing fuel, it took a couple of years for everything to get refit with updated parts(different compounds of plastic and rubber) , since then their haven't been any problems. The auto manufacturers had enough warning to change to compatable materials for gasohol, but a pure methanol fuel system takes a complete refit with compatable materials.
Cummins official policy is that the new ultra low sulfer diesel is compatable with their fuel systems, and it should be, afterall europe has been using ultra low sulfer fuel for several years and the refineries add a lubricity addative of some kind to meet the enginme manufacturers spec. That still doesn't address WVO but I imagine that any veggie oil (no animal fats & acids) will cause no harm, and if it did it would attack the rubber components(hoses) and that can be cured by changing to a hose made of something that is compatable,IE food grade synthetics.

[adamanderr]

biodiesel is a strong solvent and wvo aside from what cleaning chems it may be tainted with will seep from just about anything over time especially sitting in a rubber hose with almost 180 degrees. you need to use viton or high hydroflouricarbon( not sure i spelled right) rubber. natural rubber and coolant hose is a no. it also reacts with many metals , i've heard the most is zinc and copper. aluminum stainless steel and black steel are supposed to be alright. google biodiesel infopop and search for reactivity, i should already have had my similiar question answered. not abig deal for say 8000 miles but will attack metal of engine components and lubricants. cheers