I know it's not great for a diesel to sit idling for extended periods of time, but.... I'd like to stop pulling juice off the grid to brew my biodiesel. If I wired up an inverter to my car and ran the car to power my drum heater and air compressor, how much fuel would the car burn during the process, say one hour?

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

Short answer: Not much.

Long answer: What are you accomplishing by being "off the grid" for one hour and instead burning fuel (emitting CO2, NOx)??? It's bad for your engine, and it is worse for the environment than just using electricity like any sane person would do.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

Unfortunately there is no final solution for moving a vehicle around. You cant create energy without using more energy to do so.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1987 300D Sturmmachine
1991 300D Nearly Perfect
1994 E320 Cabriolet
1995 E320 Touring
2001 Eurovan FOR SALE
1985 300D car, sold and missed.
OBK #42

You also have to watch for the power draw from the compressor. No need in putting heavy stress on the charging system

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RRGrassi


70's SPM #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

06 VW Jetta TDI 210K miles

03 VW Golf TDI 5 speed 372K Miles

RIP--Lost in fire...82 300D 322K was My Daily Driver-On the search for a w126 now...

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 350K

Very little emissions--using b100 to produce b100. Seems like a win/win. My car idling on b100 for an hour while I run a compressor has got to produce less emission than the coal fired plant my utility buys from, no?

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

Depends on which plant you draw from. Emissions can be FAR more closely controlled on a power plant than a car.

You are aware that using B100 will emit MORE NOx than using petro diesel right?

The amount of CO2 that a coal fired plant (if that's even what is used to provide the energy for your area) to produce enough watts to power a generator for 1 hour is undoubtedly less than what you are emitting when running a DIESEL engine for the same amount of time.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

First of all, you would need a MASSIVE power inverter to run a heater and air compressor, second, it would destroy/drain the car's electrical system and battery in a few minutes. These cars have small alternators and generate a measly amount of power at idle, and a rather small amount even rev'd up (65A or less, you'd probably need about 250+) Thus, probably a bad idea.

Use the outlet on the wall, thats what its for.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 75k - mine - (OC-80,500)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 6k - wifes (OC-10k)
'01 E320 Wagon - 157k - mine (OC-160,000)
'89 420SEL 166k - mine (OC-167,000)
'01 E320 - 167k - dad's (OC-171,500)
'07 E350 Wagon - 130k - dad's (OC-132,500)
'01 SL500 - 48k - dad's (OC-52,000)
'09 E350 4matic Sedan - 123k - Brothers (OC-127,000)

Ok, I'm convinced.

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.