FWIW-The Bosch "Yellow Book" technical manual for their in-line IPs claims that the most damage to pumps is caused by particulates in the '5 to 7' micron region.

We get into the nominal vs absolute rating for filters. A filter rated for 5 micron nominal stops about half of the particles larger than 5 micron. I just ordered filter bags and decided to try 1 micron bags. I saw one post where someone said they use two bags at a time, one inside the other.

I biocided this past spring and had to replace a couple of filters, then I started using the B2 49 cetane fuel instead of my 50 cetane AMOCO and I have been seeing the black fleck's of stuff and replaced a two pre filters then one main spin on filter

Now for thefunny side, :D I forgot to keep an eye on the filters, and was getting ready to head out of town on an errand this morning. :rolleyes: I pulled out of the garage and was headed up the street when I realized I forgot by wallet and turned around headed back home. Durring the 2 mile ride back to the house the car started losing power and running poorly, and died as I pulled into the garage. I tried restarting car and it would just start then die. I got out and looked under the hood and saw my prefilter full of black crap, so having spare prefilters and one spin on filter on the shelf I did a quick change and car runs great now. :cool:

I can't believe I forgot to keep an eye on the filters as I knew the B2 was cleaning the tank and the rest of the fuel system for me. Guess it's because I only go through a tank of fuel every 5 weeks. :o

On the good side this afternoon a local tractor repair shop has cleaning facilities for injectors, pop tester and shims. The owner said he said he can adjust to with in 2 Bar/30 PSI and do all 4 for $75, if I only wanted them set to 7 Bar/100 PSI it would only be $50. I guess I'll be letting him do the injectors shortly to 2 Bar. :D

You need to add biocide to every tank of WVO, it's a smorgasbord for a variety of things that will grow matts of slop and clog the filters.

I would always add enough diesel fuel to discourage the growth of "algae" (a variety of fungus, algae, and bacteria), otherwise you will be changing filters constantly.

WVO will not disloge stuff from the tank, diesel fuel tanks are generally pretty clean. WVO will, however, encourage all sorts of growth in there, especially on the upper parts in contact with air!

Filtration will not help, the problem is stuff growing in the tank itself.

Peter

Randy, why not pull the Racor filter off of Nellibelle and put it in line ahead of the prefilter on this car? The Racor has a clear bowl so you can see what's in there + a petcock so you can drain it easily.

Well, after writing a novella of a thread my server kicked out and I lost it so try try again (although briefer).

First off the goo will not drain out a petcock but adhere itself nicely to the filter mesh.

I would have to agree with psfred unless you are perhaps running your blend with unwashed BioD mixed with WVO in which case There are alternate scenarios which I will touch on later.

WVO is not the solvent that Biodiesel (B100) is and shouldn't (I say with limited SVO experience) kick up the crud (and yes American petrodiesel is very dirty and will deposit lots of crud in your tank) the way BioD will. SVO however is a very appetizing food source to much be enjoyed by roving microbes. Fungal blooms can happen and are possible in petrodiesel as well as BioD, so give the buggers a food grade oil with no toxics to munch on and they will oblige. They can be hanging in your tank not doing much (sorta like a staff infection) and then you give them some nice fryer oil and they are all over it. Time for biocide, or at worst case scenario cut open your tank and shovel out the mushrooms (what are those Japanese mushrooms you put in a jar and let grow like an aby-normal brain). This is not as common in a two tank system as you are usually starting with a clean tank for SVO and so no microbes are present to to take advantage of the situation.

The other scenario if you are running BioD in your blend is in using unwashed or off-spec BioD. If I saw bronzish-brownish crud in my prefilter my first conclusion would be it was glycerin settling out of unwashed/offspec BioD (if you don't wash you need to settle a minimum of 3 weeks unless on the road and your expecting to deal with filter issues).

Another possiblity could be the residual reactants in unwashed BioD (Methanol and potassium/sodium hydroxide) mixing in your tank with the WVO (onboard biodiesel processing!) instigating a partial reaction in your tank causing glycerin to form and drop out into your filter.

Try the biocide first. If you are using BioD in your mix make sure it is washed. I always carry a box of prefilters and the appropriate wrench on board at all times. it just makes life easier, but I only have problems when I am using someone else's (commercial even at times!) BioD instead of my own homebrew, or I am on the road and not taking the time to wash.

Blooms? OMG! Good thing I'm not near Orlando! :D

The B100 I'm using is commercially produced, ASTM certified biodiesel. I have no idea how long it is washed, or anything specific other that it comes from a BD production facility near Houston.

If it is a fungus/algae, it seems like 5-10% RUG added to the WVO would make the mix pretty daggone uninhabitable to the little beggars.

I agree with Leo, at a little RUG to the tank and watch those buggers run & hide :D

Seems RUG kills just about anything it touches

Oh hell, are you sure about this? You mean I didn't need to spend $18 at the boat store yesterday? I got some biocide, it reminds me of cattle insecticide, measures the same way, maybe it will protect my car from worms and fleas too.

I might just do that....next time I get to see Nellybelle for more than 5 minutes.

R

I have no experience with either...yet.

After the filter change and screen cleaning tomorrow, I plan to cut the filters open and see what I can find.

I think I will NOT add any RUG or biocide after the filter change. But I WILL keep records of how much WVO & miles drive until the another clogged filter problem surfaces. Just to establish a true base line.

Next filter change, then I'll start with 5-10% RUG and see how long it lasts again. Longer? The same?

It's going to be a long term experiment, unless I keep clogging filters fast.

How much biocide did you get for $18? How many gallons does it treat? Could still be cheaper than RUG. But the RUG would help with thinning and lowering viscosity for the IP.




Either way I will probably start adding 5-10% RUG to my blend and see how long until the filters & screen clog again

Today at lunch, I took my collection of clogged filters and I went to see my pals at Austin Diesel Injection Service. After a brief deliberation, the jury is in and the mystery material is rubber...probably from my fuel lines. According to them, it is NOT algae/fungus et al...

They suggest changing out the fuel hoses with a biodiesel-compliant replacement tubing. Meanwhile, I'll be more scientific about just glugging in some B100 and hoping for the best when blending.

I got a quart and I think it said an ounce to 40 gal? or about 640 gallons/qt. I already add RUG at about 20%, I don't measure it, just eyeball it in 5 gal buckets. Started and ran fine this morning, thermometer said about 46°F.

My filters don't look anything like the pictures R Leo posted. It was really running with those filters? :eek:

Thats sounds like a great price for biocide! should last a long time.

I wonder about Leo's rubber problem. Is it the lye or methanol in bio-diesel that caused the fuel hoses to deteriorate and clog the filters? Or did the veggie oil cause the break down?

I hope veggie oil didn't cause that.

What kinda fuel lines are bio-diesel or veggie safe? I had assumed that if regular fuel lines are good enough for diesel or gas, nothing else is gonna hurt them. guess I'm wrong.

I wounder if the inline filter and screen caught all the rubber? If so your main filter is probably still fine.

Fuel containing higher conentrations of methylated esthers (ie +B20) cause that sort of rubber degradation.

Viton hose should be biodiesel safe. You can get it here (http://www.smallparts.com/) in small quantities. I'll be putting an order in soon. Anyone want to bulk buy?

It may also be available from your local auto parts hut since most engines built after about 1995 should be able to tolerate mixtures of methanol in their fuel.