Hi,
today i visited my local chippie and tried to syphon out his used frying oil from his barrel with a hose pipe, but the oil was so thick with the cold that it just wouldn't syphon.

even if it had managed to get it started, it would have taken so long to transfer that i would have died of cold long before i had filled even one of my new 25 ltr containers.

so i would like to buy a decent handpump, a no-nonsense, suck you out of there, pumpthing, but i have no idea which type is best and where to get one. I'm in London.

I believe i have seen pictures somewhere of a pump with a 'T' handle at the top which has a stroke of about 18 inches, i think it was for bailing out boats. this I imagine would be the beast to get me on top suction form.

any suggestions most welcome, as i cannot go to biodiesel heaven until i have sucked my oil from chippie hell.

thanks

stumbler

When I was still regularly making biodiesel, I got the oil out one of three ways:

1. I used a plastic hand syphon pump. It was the pump up and down kind, not the rotary. Mine broke after a few times, so if you get one of these don't hesitate to spend a little extra money to get a sturdy one. I've heard of people having more success with the rotary barrel pumps.

2. I used an electronic pump hooked up to my car. This actually worked very well, but the pump ended up breaking somehow. If you do this, just make sure that you keep the pump as clean and dry as possible after use.

3. I finally resorted to using a plastic pitcher. Although you have to get your hands dirty, this is probably my preffered way of doing it. A pitcher can't break, and it goes faster than you think if you are only getting enough for your car.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably just get a nice rotary barrel pump.

__________________
"There are a lot of pebbles on the beach, but there's a Little Rock in Arkansas."

Logan

1983 300D Turbodiesel
1976 300D Rustdiesel

Make a sucker!
http://vegoilconversions.netfirms.com/newpage1.htm
Can't testify to it myself, but the people on the SVO forums swear by them.
Its basically a steel tank that can hold a vacuum, you suck a vacuum in it at home with an old refrigerator compressor, then suck the oil up with zero effort.

Check the 55 gal drum pump selection at www.harborfreight.com

Nothing makes the price of pump Diesel as worthwhile as skimming WVO with a pitcher :/

Sixto
93 300SD 3.0

You mean I'm the only one who likes to immerse both my arms in used grease that's been sitting outside in a dumpster for a month in my spare time?

__________________
"There are a lot of pebbles on the beach, but there's a Little Rock in Arkansas."

Logan

1983 300D Turbodiesel
1976 300D Rustdiesel

Stumbler-
Harbor freight internet store is a good source and northerntools.com has a good selection too. Don't do what I did. I bought a very good quality and very expensive ($250 on sale) metal fuel pump. I'm sure it will last a long time if I take good care of it BUT it is hella heavy to lift to and from drums. It pumps fast, 15 GPM so I'm in and out of there in 10 minutes (includes set up time) for 20 gallons.

It is 25 lbs and I don't have a lot of upper body strength unless I lean closer to the pump before lifting it up. Do I want oily, recycled WVO on my torso? UMMMMMM No! I'm not that kinky.
Buy a lighter pump that has good construction and auto shut off that protects the pump from overheating. That's a good investment.
Hope that helps.
Frankie

__________________
Frankie
It never ends!
1985 300D Turbo 181K Anthracite grey, "SOPHIA"
1984 300 SD Turbo(sold)
2004 Subaru Forester XT,Cayenne red.

I like your style. I have a harbour freight rotary hand pump; ( 15 gallons / per minute )

But there is nothing more satisfying and quicker than skimming a nice dumpster with a 1 gallon plastic jug!!

__________________
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'81 280SEL

Sold ->

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85 300D-
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I've picked up hundreds of gallons from barrels and dumpsters at restaurants (by permission) using a scoop made from a one-gallon motor-oil jug. I stack up two cubees and hold a transmission-oil funnel (long and skinny) in the top of the top cubee. I've cut off a few inches of the skinny end of the funnel. About eight scoops make a cubee full. I count the scoops and slow down toward the end. I keep the scoop and funnel in a 5-gallon plastic pail with a lid, and always have a rag or two handy. If the level in the barrel is low, I place a rag on the lip to keep my sleeve clean. Keeps it simple. Steve

I've ordered a hand cranked rotary pump for £20 and will see how this goes. whilst i can see the ease and simplicity of skimming by hand, i think that once you have descended about a foot into the barrel it's going to get nasty and i'm with sixto on this.
'that's a stage too keen for me'
i will let you know how i get on. I have to say though, i was suprised jsut how viscous that stuff was, this has me leaning toward making my own biodiesel rather than just mixing in a bit of WVO.

Stumbler-
Better for you if you find a better source with better oil. I'm serious. It's a lot less work, better quality for your car, easier clean up and much faster to filter!! Don't make more work for yourself than you have to.
Frankie

__________________
Frankie
It never ends!
1985 300D Turbo 181K Anthracite grey, "SOPHIA"
1984 300 SD Turbo(sold)
2004 Subaru Forester XT,Cayenne red.

I doubt that you have many in London, but the oil from Mexican restaurants tends to be very clean, as the main thing they fry in it is tortilla chips.

__________________
"There are a lot of pebbles on the beach, but there's a Little Rock in Arkansas."

Logan

1983 300D Turbodiesel
1976 300D Rustdiesel

I agree with Log. One of my sources is Mexican and I love it. Just got some oil from them this morning. It took just 10-15 minutes. Another good restaurant is Japanese. All they fry is tempura and vegetables. Easy to pick out the fried batter.

F.

__________________
Frankie
It never ends!
1985 300D Turbo 181K Anthracite grey, "SOPHIA"
1984 300 SD Turbo(sold)
2004 Subaru Forester XT,Cayenne red.

One of my sources is a Japanese restaurant and although the oil is very fresh, nice, and light, tempura batter flour is very fine and together with cold WVO creates a sludge that can clog filters pretty quickly. I've had a significant slow-down in my filtration times even here in Las Vegas due to the unusually cold temperatures we've had lately, however I am quadruple filtering my WVO: (see attached photo of my setup)

1. Large industrial coffee filter into buckets
2. 74 micron Baja filter (into 55-gallon drum)
3. 10 micron Zee-Line filter/water separator (pumped by rotary fuel pump)
4. 2 micron Racor filter/water separator (in line after previous filter)

Fortunately, I don't have to do any dumpster diving, though - after it cools a bit, they drain it out of the fryer directly back into cubies - then deliver it to my house! (Their 18 year-old daughter also drives a WVO Jetta, so they give me their used oil in exchange for filtered oil for her, too.) I would definitely encourage establishing a relationship with the restaurant owners so they will not mind helping you a little - like putting it back into cubies for you! I think that's really helpful!

This is part of my philosophy: Try to pick little mom & pop's places - the big corporate franchise/chain restaurants don't need any help - and thereby you can really stick it to the man! (At least a little!) Try to help the little guys avoid paying to have their waste oil removed!

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
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Horns:
1955 Selmer Mark VI Alto (55,xxx)
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1964 Selmer Mark VI Tenor (125,xxx)
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well, i collected my first oil today, and boy what a process. i can see that i'm going to have to develop my technique.
first the barrel pump worked fine,but, oh my god my arms got tired. pumping 80 litres of oil was knackering.
then i got oil everywhere and the two little rags i brought along were soon drenched, which meant i had to resort to using my shirt to prevent oil getting on the inside of the car.
next time, i will address the situation like i am about to murder someone in my house! plastic everywhere, and lots of rags, and then more plastic and more rags! and you know what, i might just resort to skimming the oil when the level is high enough. it might be a bit slower, but i'm sure it's going to be easier and cleaner.
now i need to figure out exactly what i am going to do with this stuff and how.
one thing that's been bothering me, is how do i know if the oil has been contaminated with water?

Simple, do the frying pan test. Let a large frying pan get real hot on your stove. Make sure there isn't any water already in there. Then slowly CAREFULLY pour your recycled oil in, about half to one cup. Be ready to jump back. If you get hit by lot of jumping, hot tiny splatters, there is a lot of water in your oil. If there are air bubbles coming to the surface and you hear some popping noises, there is definitely a little bit of water there. No water is when the oil glides around the pan and you cannot see any air bubbles in the oil.
Don't let the heat stay on high too long unless you plan to heat the oil to make filtering time faster. If the oil is too hot, it will start smoking, burning badly.
Lots of people heat the water out of the oil, called de-watering. I place a farm coil heater, heats to a max of 120 deg F = 55C in with 20-30 gal of the recycled oil for 4 hours. You can hear the water evaporating to the top, pock,pock,pock.
If you find the drum lid slightly off the drum after a rainy night or a really foggy spell then the oil is risky, probably has much water in it.
If your source keeps the drum under a shelter, that is awesome!
If you can find a petro-filling style portable fuel pump, it is worth the price. I swear by it except mine is so heavy.

__________________
Frankie
It never ends!
1985 300D Turbo 181K Anthracite grey, "SOPHIA"
1984 300 SD Turbo(sold)
2004 Subaru Forester XT,Cayenne red.