Hose Type size and fittings copper hih

[lapeer20m]

if you have a return line that cycles veggie back to the tank, and you operate 100% of the time in a warm enviroment when you want to use veggie you might get away with not actually heating the tank. I've been contemplating converting my vw over to veggie and not having engine coolant lines submerged in the tank.

You would have to do a test, and figure out how fast fuel flows through your fuel lines when the engine is at max rpm. I estimate that for every gallon of fuel a diesel engine burns, it returns 10 gallons to the tank, so there is a lot of fuel cycling going on. If your using your plate heat exchanger that looks like this:



you should do an experiment: figure out what the flow rate is for your fuel. using the heat exchanger with your engine up to temperature, measure the temperature of the wvo before/after it goes through the heat exchanger. With 1 or 2 heat exchangers you may be able to heat your fuel up enough that you don't need to actually heat the fuel in the tank.....although the fuel in the tank will heat up after a few hours of driving because you're returning hot wvo to the tank all the time.

another thing you can use in conjunction to other heaters are 110 volt "band heaters" they only take like 100 watt or something, and are designed to heat liquid inside of a pipe. They look like this : These can be handy to have on the wvo line just before it enters the injector pump.

[lapeer20m]

a universally handy place to tap into fuel lines on a diesel is the fuel filter. the steel or plastic fuel lines use crazy flare fittings or something that's i am not able to easily find. However, almost all fuel filter housings have NPT threads going into/out of them. Usually 3/8 inch, which is a little less common than 1/2 or 1/4, but most hardwares have that size.

i think that on my dt360 i cut the fuel line, which was hard plastic, then slipped the proper sized rubber fuel line over top of the plastic and secured a hose clamp. Hose clamps made for fuel injection are best...they are much less likely to leak any air into the system.

i've used both "flexible" copper as well as rubber fuel line. The rubber is a lot easier to work with. One huge advantage of the copper is that if it gets cold and fuel gels in the line, you can heat it up with a torch. If you're gonna use band heaters, you should have copper or steel in the section where the band heaters are located as they will melt rubber or plastic.

if i didn't mention it yet, you should also install at the very least a primer bulb on the diesel fuel line. the kind of primer bulb you find on an outboard boat's fuel tank is perfect. Wal-mart sells them for pretty cheap. I prefer them to an electric primer pump. Having one of these on your veggie line would be handy too, but not as critical as it is on the diesel side.

[dlor1]

I would do a HIH system if your going to do veggie. Your typical day's settup will always work most days. If you travel a lot I think even one couple hundred mile haul will pay for itself money and time wise. Being that you can run veggie instead of petro. I have a 3/4 coolant line with a 3/8 copper fuel line inside.

[dlor1]

Well on my cummins that works. You need to check for yours. check out the site biodiesel.infopop.cc veggie section good diagrams and info. do a search before you ask questions they don't like repeat threads.