I finished my new filter and storage setup for the UCO I am burning in my car. I'm currently running a mix of diesel, UCO, used motor oil and kerosene.

Previously I was filtering using a t-shirt draped over the top of a 5-gallon bucket, out a hole in the bottom of the bucket into another bucket that contained a 5/1 micron 7x16 bag filter, through the bottom again into a third bucket to collect the filtered oil. Problems with this setup were that I could only filter about 1/2 gallon at a time, the T-shirt clogged quickly and I had to lift off the two upper buckets to get at the filtered oil in the bottom bucket. This led to many spills, and it was a struggle to keep enough filtered oil on hand.

The new setup consists of four stacked buckets with basically the same function as the old bucket stack, with the following differences:

1. The top bucket contains a few layers of chicken wire over the inside surface of the bucket which support a pillowcase inside the bucket such that you can pour about 4 gallons of oil in the bucket at a time. The oil filters through the sides and bottom of the pillowcase. I bought a few used pillowcases at a thrift store for 99 cents each - there is basically an unlimited supply and the price is right.

2. I went from the 5/1micron 7x16 bag filter to a 1-micron 8x34 bag filter, which can hold about 5 gallons of oil at a time. I had to use 2 stacked buckets with the bottom cut out of the top bucket to support the larger filter.

3. The bottom bucket is an old chlorine powder bucket that is larger than a normal 5 gallon bucket. I estimate it holds 7-8 gallons. I set the other 3, smaller buckets on top of the lid and there was enough room alongside them to insert a PVC pipe through the lid to draw clean oil from. I bought a 12V utility pump from Harbor Freight to pump the oil out of the bottom bucket into a 55-gallon plastic barrel.

Last night I filtered about 25 gallons of oil and didn't spill a single drop.

__________________
-Dave

Here is a picture of my setup.

__________________
-Dave