Suggestion for filtering WVO - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Ganaraska · #1 04-24-2005, 12:37 PM

You can make a cylinder shaped filter element by taking 2 solid ends, connecting them with steel rods an inch or 2 apart, and winding wire around and around the resulting armature. Believe it or not, this is what the 1958 and earlier Mercedes diesels had for a fuel filter. The fuel squeezed thru the spaces between the wires and when it got dirty you took it out and washed it off.

I wouldn't suggest this for a final filter but if you made one of these you could catch almost all the gunge and make your good filter last a lot longer.

No reason you couldn't make the armature of wire mesh and wind it with wire.

whunter · #2 04-24-2005, 10:00 PM

Nylons make great filters.
If your wife wears them first, they are free.
My wife wrecks a pair every week.

ak300td · #3 04-25-2005, 01:30 AM

Bummer. I don't think I know anyone that wears nylons!

#4 04-25-2005, 01:31 AM

Clothes from the 2nd hand store (old shirts) work okay as well.
I use paint filters for mine..then run it through a car filter post biodiesel reaction.

TonyFromWestOz · #5 04-25-2005, 08:37 AM

Nylons and other stretchable material does not make good filter material as, when the material stretches the holes in the weave open up and let bigger particles through.
Cotton and polyester shirts are good, but what rating are they?

I bought a 5 micron bag filter for my WVO filtering. It cost me Au$8.50 and are readily available. If the filtering starts to slow down, you can wash it out and use it some more. I wash mine up to 10 times each before I consider them too far gone for use as 5 micron, I then use them for coarse filtering, prior to the replacement 5 micron filter.

As I "cold filter" my oil, the effective filtration is many times better than 5 micron, due to the oil having to pass thru the accumulated solid oils which have been retained in the filter.

The filtrate and tallows are used in a mix with sawdust, packed into milk cartons and used in my wood fired home heating system.

Tony
The Wizared of Oz.

ak300td · #6 04-25-2005, 11:32 AM

Tony! What a great idea!!!!! Does it burn well? Leave any residue? Has anyone tried burning glycerine (from biodiesel?)

TonyFromWestOz · #7 04-26-2005, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ak300td

Tony! What a great idea!!!!! Does it burn well? Leave any residue? Has anyone tried burning glycerine (from biodiesel?)

Yes, I use that also. There is a GLUT of biodiesel byproduct available to me. I use only 80 - 100 litres a year and about 1 tonne of hardwood sawdust. It is the start of Autumn now and I have aprox 40 dozen litres of my "firelogs" ready for winter. I have a suppply of around 2 dozen milk cartons a week, and clean up around the sawdust bin at a local workshop, making Jarrah furniture, so the sawdust has been seasoned well. It absorbs the oil and byproduct readily and changes fron the reddy brown of Jarrah to a blackish colour, when mixed. I mix it to a loose consistency, which clumps when squeezed, but breaks apart easily ehwn pushed by finger. (Just like good soil does when the moisture content is "just right" for seeding.)
Must go and put another "litre firelog" on the fire.
Tony

#8 04-26-2005, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyFromWestOz

Must go and put another "litre firelog" on the fire.
Tony

Do you have a 3.0L stove?
Got a turbo on that thing?

J. R. B. · #9 04-26-2005, 07:41 PM

Any thoughts out there about using a Lubri-finer from an old semi-tractor? I just pulled one from an old Freightliner that had a 400 Cummins diesel in it. I haven't had time to experiment with the thing yet. For those who don't know what a Lubri-finer is, it is a huge oil filter that is mounted externally from the engine on semi trucks. Oil is transfered to and from it with some rather large hoses.

whunter · #10 04-26-2005, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. B.

Any thoughts out there about using a Lubri-finer from an old semi-tractor? I just pulled one from an old Freightliner that had a 400 Cummins diesel in it. I haven't had time to experiment with the thing yet. For those who don't know what a Lubri-finer is, it is a huge oil filter that is mounted externally from the engine on semi trucks. Oil is transfered to and from it with some rather large hoses.

A friend in DFW is running his short haul Peterbilt on WVO and final filtering it through a Lubri-finer from a vented 225F heated tank.
He loves it.

Note:
His house/shop WVO diesel generator is the WVO tank heater.

The furnace in shop and house are WVO also.

Power company hates him.

J. R. B. · #11 04-26-2005, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whunter

A friend in DFW is running his short haul Peterbilt on WVO and final filtering it through a Lubri-finer from a vented 225F heated tank.
He loves it.

Note:
His house/shop WVO diesel generator is the WVO tank heater.

The furnace in shop and house are WVO also.

Power company hates him.

Thanks whunter. You just gave me another boost of enthusiasm. Good for the power company it's time they take it in the shorts instead of us little guys.

Legal Eagle · #12 04-27-2005, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neumann

I use denim "jeans" which involves cutting off the legs, sewing the bottom closed and sewing in a ring (hard tubing, slice of a PVC pipe, whatever) and dropping the "sock filter" into a cut hole in the top of a 55 gallon drum lid that is 1/2 inch smaller than the top opening of the "sock filter" ring.

I bought 6 0r 7 pairs of barley used "levi's" for $.25 a pair at a yard sale and had a friend do the sewing. Cheap, reliable and easy to assemble.

Another method using the jean legs was to turn them inside out, fold the bottom of the leg a couple of times from bottom to top direction then fold into a ball in a sideways direction and then use a hose clamp to bunch the folded "ball" together, turn right side out and you acheive the same as the first mentioned type of filter but without sewing. I cut a hole into a piece of plywood and then screwd the top of the leg into the plywood. Fold the top of the leg over once or twice and you will have a good surface for the screws to hold on to. I would cut 3 or 4 holes into what over you use to suspend the sock filters over the barrel. The more holes with sock filters means the more you can filter at one time. Each of my leg filters will hold about 2.5 to 3 gallons of oil when filled to the brim

Just keep it low tech and you'll be happy.

Supposedly the jean material filters will filter to about 5 microns. The MB spin on filter is 10 micron if I am not mistaken.

Yup ! MB spin on 10 micron. Another option for those not given to the "Levi" solution is the filter bag, as available here:
http://www.mcmaster.com/ page 329 right down to 1 micron if that is where you want to go. Always nice to have options, however the jeans thing is interesting and economical too.

lietuviai · #13 04-27-2005, 03:14 PM

MCMaster has so many to choose from.

Which ones would you suggest?

PatrickW · #14 04-27-2005, 10:03 PM

Would coffee filters work?

- Patrick

whunter · #15 04-27-2005, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatrickW

Would coffee filters work?

- Patrick

YES.
They will work.

:EDIT:

They work ok for preliminary filteration, not final filteration.

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