started back with WVO blends

[odie]

After about 3 tanks or pure diesel and BioBor, I'm back to trying WVO blends...

I poured about 5 gallons of WVO/RUG 85/15 ish mix into my nearly empty tank.

After about 3-5 minutes of idling, the engine suddenly sounded a little quieter and smoother.

I'm guessing that's how long it took to burn the diesel already in the lines and filters.

Maybe I'm just hearing things...that placebo effect

[R Leo]

...my cars all run significantly quieter on biofuels (WVO or biodiesel). It doesn't take much WVO or bio mixed with diesel to reduce the noise either.

FWIW, I stopped running WVO until I could get a handle on the fungus issues and rework the filtering apparatus to utilize my new 115 gallon storage tank.

[odie]

I think my fungus/algae came from my drums.

I had washed them out real good before using. But I don't think I fully dried them. I drained the water out and then filled with WVO.

So all my drums had some water drops and such left. The filtering drum, storage drum and mixing/serviceing drum.

When I transfered from filter-to-stroage-to-mixing drums, I put the suction hose all the way into the bottom. Thus water and fungus may it's way thru my process.

When filling up the car, My barrel pump sucked off the bottom, so any water, sludge, algae, fungus, etc was sucked up first and thus made it's way to the car's fuel tank.

I have since changed to a shorter pick up tube, about 7-10 inches off the bottom. Anything that falls out of the oil will always stay behind in that barrel. After a few cycles as the crud layer builds up, I will drain or pump out all the crap at the bottom of the barrels and start over.

[RichMason]

I'm preparing my first tank of blend. I filtered 3.5 gallons out of my drum tonight and I'm going to go 70/20 kero/10RUG with polar service added. Have you guys had good experiences with more than 70% wvo? I would prefer to run the max possible. It's dropping back into the 30s this weekend so maybe less is better.

[odie]

I would start with no more than 50% WVO in your first blend and see how it goes. Especially in the winter.

I assume you are running 100% OEM stock ?

[TwitchKitty]

Start at 70/30 WVO/RUG. As the seasons progress toward higher average temperatures decrease RUG to as little as 10%. Add Power Service Diesel Kleen and Biocide.

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&f=159605551&m=637101556

Put some of your filtered WVO in the refrigerator and or freezer to see what to expect at low temps.

I carry a couple gallons of diesel in a jug in my trunk. I will run the car out of diesel and add a gallon to get me home. Then fill-up with blend.

When running experimental fuels always carry spare filters and tools to change them.

I added an electric pump back at the tank outlet. I recommend this for anyone experimenting with fuels.

If you haven't cleaned the screen in your tank it would be a good idea to clean it before you start experiments. Ask for the Orings at the MB dealer. One for the screen and one for the sending unit.

[odie]

an electric pump is always a good idea. Not 100% essential, nice to have.

I always carry a 5 gal can of diesel with me. If the car starts running poorly and I suspect my blend is too thick I can thin it out immediately.

Extra filters are a must. I usually just remove the inline filter and shake out the gunk and reuse it. But that was when I had alge problems. But I think thats mostly behind me now.

[RichMason]

Good tips. Is the electric pump wired to run constantly when the car is on? Will just a simple Facet pump work?

[TwitchKitty]

I have a switch under the dash to turn the pump on and off. It is really easy to take power off of the MB fusebox. Look at the back of the fusebox under the dash. I forget which circuit I wired into. Pick one with a large fuse and light load. Some of the circuits have dual ratings depending on how the car is equipped. Use a fuse that is listed on the panel for good form.

It was easy for me, my car has a manual roof and no seat heaters.

I started out just running the pump when I thought I might need it. Now I turn it off sometimes when I think about it like on the interstate.

I have seen the question raised that the electric pump may be bad for your factory lift pump. It may be, I don't know. The MB pump is not like a fuel pump on an American car. It has little rubber one-way valves. It may have a diaphragm, I haven't seen one.

[odie]

I wired my elec pump into the rear window defroster power source. It is a 25 amp circuit. The pump runs whenever the car is turned on. The defrost switch does not affect the pump. I added a toggle and in line fuse back in the tail gate too so I can turn it off if desired.

I have double fuel lines, one is a bypass, so any extra fuel pressure will loop back around and not "force" the lift pump. My elec pump set up only moves fuel to the inline filter and then back around to the tank. That way the lift pump is only "lifting" fuel about 1 foot instead of 10+ feet.

[TwitchKitty]

Originally Posted by odie

I have double fuel lines, one is a bypass, so any extra fuel pressure will loop back around and not "force" the lift pump. My elec pump set up only moves fuel to the inline filter and then back around to the tank. That way the lift pump is only "lifting" fuel about 1 foot instead of 10+ feet.

I like this idea. Does your bypass hook in after the primary filter and go to the existing return to the tank? After the primary filter to after the cigar hose?

[RichMason]

Odie,

Can you post some pictures of your bypass loop and/or describe exactly where the t's are?

[coachgeo]

If your blending WVO in diesel watch out for clogged filters etc. Keep some spares in the car. Myself and others have found that blending filtered WVO with diesel you get something that seperates out. Something that seemed not to be there prior to the addition of the diesel. We have not decided what it is yet or if it is seperating out of the diesel or the veg. oil. Not sure if this happens with kero. So far it DOES NOT happen if blending with RUG. (Regular Unleaded Gasoline)

[odie]

here is a schematic I posted on another WVO forum. I had to work at it a while to get it down sized so this forum would accept it I seem to have lots of problems posting pictures here. Something about size limits...

The OEM fuel return line is not used.

Fuel flow is.... Rear T - Pump - HIH - Front T - OEM line - Rear T - repeat.

The OEM lift pump takes heated fuel from the Front T as needed.

The OEM tank flows fuel into the Rear T as needed.

If the elec pump fails, fuel flows Rear T - OEM line - Front T ...and bypasses the elec pump and HIH.

Fuel return from the engine/IP is always HIH

[RichMason]

Against your advice, I tried to run 80/20RUG last night and clogged my filters pretty fast. I'm going down to 70/30RUG today and I'll have 5 gallons of diesel ready to dilute further. Looks like you are running HOH heat for your set up odie. How about Twitchkitty - any heat in that system?