Will a 55gallon drum of methanol fit in my trunk? - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dwayneb · #31 03-05-2007, 10:27 PM

I just went outside, grabbed an empty 55 gal drum. It will NOT fit down into the trunk! I have an 83 300D. I buy my methanol by the drum and get it in my 83 diesel Ford Ranger. Unloading it from a truck can be tricky. NO WAY are you going to be able to get that into or out of a car. In the first place, the merchant you are buying it from will not load it into an automobile.

I admire your initiative for making your own biodiesel. You will figure out a way to get the methanol.

Here's an idea, go to this forum,
http://www.biodieselnow.com/forums/54/ShowForum.aspx

and ask some of the folks there for help. They are all biodiesel folks and someone is surely from Atlanta. I am two hundred miles away or I would get it for you.

nerys · #32 03-06-2007, 12:49 AM

Hmm maybe I am thinking something different what exactly is methanol (will google it :-) I had just assumed it was "like" WVO ie some kind of otherwise safe fluid. Is this stuff highly flammable? or like vOil where its only flammable under the right conditions IE if I toss a blow torch into a vat of vegetable oil its gonna put it out.

I had assumed methanol was the WVO equivalent for gas cars (this flex fuel crap) but above you mention your 300D and Biodiesel.

Ahh I just looked it up and its for MAKING bioD out of WVO wow why in the world do you need sooo much of it ?? how much BioD are you making?

sedecrem · #33 03-06-2007, 01:21 AM

Methanol is highly toxic. It can cause brain damage, blindness ,rot your liver and all sorts of other mean and nasty things. It can be absorbed through your skin or you can breath the vapors. The vapors are explosive, it burns very readily, burns hot and you can not see the flame. No supplier in their right mind is going to sell it to you if you show up without a proper vehicle to carry it safely.

A number of dangerous chemicals requireing careful handling are involved in making biodiesel. Work your way up slowly making progresively larger batches as you learn. You are a young man with a lot of life ahead of you, and you have a lot to loose if you get ahead of yourself and make a mistake with some of this stuff.

I applaud your enthusiasm. Making biodiesel is fun, and there is the potential to save some money on fuel. But if you are going to make it you must be careful and pay attention to what you are doing.

Best wishes

Sedcrem

Rashakor · #34 03-07-2007, 12:32 AM

Waohhhh! alot of misinformation and misconseptions in this thread.

First there is no way in hell, that you can load a full 55gal drum on the back seat of a car! there is no way!

Now, on the other hand there is absolutely no problem putting 500lb in the trunk of a car. i know it because i do. When i go for biodiesel at a pump in fortworth TX i drive to the place with nine 7 gallons jugs.
So when i fill up that is 63 gallons plus the 16 gallons of the car's gas tank! The car feels heavy but those springs don't really have a problem with it.
Now a way to transport the methanol could be to reduce the size of the containers...

Now a common sense comment for Nerys: methanol is an alcohol like ethanol or isopropyl. go to the store and buy a fire starter bottle or a bottle of pharmacy alcohol and check how easy it is to set them on fire!!! Now imagine the same thing multiply a 1000 times and you imagine the effect of a drum of methanol (fire starter!!!!) igniting. or even better if you are talking about the flex fuel "crap". go get a gallon of E85 and check how it ignites with a spark!!! you may be up for a rude awakening to the physical reality, my boy!

justinperkins · #35 03-07-2007, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rashakor

Waohhhh! alot of misinformation and misconseptions in this thread.

First there is no way in hell, that you can load a full 55gal drum on the back seat of a car! there is no way!

Now, on the other hand there is absolutely no problem putting 500lb in the trunk of a car. i know it because i do. When i go for biodiesel at a pump in fortworth TX i drive to the place with nine 7 gallons jugs.
So when i fill up that is 63 gallons plus the 16 gallons of the car's gas tank! The car feels heavy but those springs don't really have a problem with it.
Now a way to transport the methanol could be to reduce the size of the containers...

Now a common sense comment for Nerys: methanol is an alcohol like ethanol or isopropyl. go to the store and buy a fire starter bottle or a bottle of pharmacy alcohol and check how easy it is to set them on fire!!! Now imagine the same thing multiply a 1000 times and you imagine the effect of a drum of methanol (fire starter!!!!) igniting. or even better if you are talking about the flex fuel "crap". go get a gallon of E85 and check how it ignites with a spark!!! you may be up for a rude awakening to the physical reality, my boy!

Lots of people have said that the main reason a full 55-gallon drum is a bad idea is because it won't fit in the trunk, therefore putting all the weight on the edges of the trunk instead of evenly distributed throughout the entire flat surface of the trunk like you do.

nerys · #36 03-07-2007, 03:29 AM

"Now a common sense comment for Nerys:"

No worries man totally my bad. I had incorrectly assumed because of the name (I did not know what methanol was) that methanol was the WVO equivalent for gasoline engines (I thought this because of the quantity he wanted)

Now Waste Vegetable Oil is NOT overly dangerous so I had again incorrectly assumed that the same applied to this what I thought was an equivalent for gasoline!!!

My fault for not googling methanol first! I am well aware of how DANGEROUSLY alcohols can be ESPECIALLY because the flame is usually not visible!!

I have not tried to make biodiesel yet so I never got far enough to know methanol was part of the process. :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

Shorebilly · #37 03-07-2007, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GRIESL

I may have tried that back in high school, too, so I'm not raggin' on you. But, dude, you will kill your benz and do a whole lot more damage in the long run if you stick a can of methanol in your trunk--even if it fits. And if you have friends like I had, someone in the back seat would probably light a doobie and, well, just as good as the rear ending mentioned previously, just a whole lot funnier.

PS: If you really want to save money on methanol cost, you need to look into methanol recovery methods. Plenty of opportunities to blow yourself up there, too, though I suppose. Good luck!

Still laughin' as I think about that......

SB

Shorebilly · #38 03-07-2007, 07:07 AM

I would ask a couple of local Speed Shops about this.....a lot of Drag Racers use Methanol....if they can't get it delivered to them, at a reasonable price to you.....then go and see if you can work a deal with the local racers for a partial drum......or whatever.....

The following is definitely not recommended......but.....if you have a buddy with a pickup......a 12 pack works in WV as an incentive....

SB

spark3542 · #39 03-07-2007, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nerys

"Now a common sense comment for Nerys:"

No worries man totally my bad. I had incorrectly assumed because of the name (I did not know what methanol was) that methanol was the WVO equivalent for gasoline engines (I thought this because of the quantity he wanted)

Now Waste Vegetable Oil is NOT overly dangerous so I had again incorrectly assumed that the same applied to this what I thought was an equivalent for gasoline!!!

My fault for not googling methanol first! I am well aware of how DANGEROUSLY alcohols can be ESPECIALLY because the flame is usually not visible!!

I have not tried to make biodiesel yet so I never got far enough to know methanol was part of the process. :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

Still lots of misinformation in this thread. Let me clarify a few things:

55gal of Methanol will be used to produce 275 gallons of biodiesel. In the summer I'll use a drum in a month. That's only about 6 good batches for me. Rusting drum from sitting too long is probably not an issue.

Heet (gasline antifreeze) is pure Methanol, Iso-Heet is pure isopropyl alcohol.

Windshield washer fluid is mostly Methanol.

Methanol and ethanol are flammable, like gasoline. Handle them like you would gasoline.

"methanol was the WVO equivalent for gasoline engines" That statement makes no sense whatsoever. WVO and methanol should never be in the same sentence with gasoline engine, we are talking purely about diesel fuel alternatives.

Ethanol is a fuel that will act similarly to gasoline, and will mix with gasoline, but has lower BTU content, so mileage will suffer.

In my mind the biggest risk of methanol is that it's odorless, so you may have fumes present and not know it. Gasoline is very evident when fumes are present.

Drums are very difficult to muscle around alone, even your two-wheeled dolly needs to be a sturdy one.

Unless you can get a proper vehicle or trailer for cheap, my recommendation would be to have the $4 meth delivered. It still puts your per-gallon cost of BD to be $0.80 plus lye, or roughly $0.92 total

JackG · #40 03-07-2007, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spark3542

Windshield washer fluid is mostly Methanol.

This is a new one to me

and it's only a buck or so a gallon at WMart

GRIESL · #41 03-07-2007, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shorebilly

The following is definitely not recommended......but.....if you have a buddy with a pickup......a 12 pack works in WV as an incentive....

SB

Six pack works with my buddy with an 82 S-10 in SW VA. Trucks are usually more "tricked out" in WV I suppose. And I have to contend with the vibration in the steering wheel at speeds above 45. But the dude wanting to put the methanol in his trunk is only 18. Since doobage is much more available to an 18 year old, he may have to use a beer to doobie conversion chart and then adjust for geographic location. Just don't light up when the methanol is on board!

Shorebilly · #42 03-07-2007, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GRIESL

Six pack works with my buddy with an 82 S-10 in SW VA. Trucks are usually more "tricked out" in WV I suppose. And I have to contend with the vibration in the steering wheel at speeds above 45. But the dude wanting to put the methanol in his trunk is only 18. Since doobage is much more available to an 18 year old, he may have to use a beer to doobie conversion chart and then adjust for geographic location. Just don't light up when the methanol is on board!

....laughin' so hard that tears are forming.......

SB