Veg oil/fuel filter confirmation

[Tom]

Hi guys,earlier tonight i noticed that after 3k i literally lose all power and start stuttering the boost drops off with this loss of power.. Im pretty sure i've done a shit job of filtering my veg and consequently blocked the fuel filter. Is that what everyone else would say?

[Anton]

Yes, thin it and new filter

[Dum-Dum]

New filter and if your on pure veg in this weather id throw in 5l of petrol

[ally406]

Yes, fortunately it only takes a couple of minutes to stick a new filter in This time of year straight WVO can be difficult. I blend with 25% misfuel and filter to 1 micron. Also there is a heat exchanger at the base of the filter housing. Modify the termostat so it runs full time, this will prevent fats forming on the filter and plugging it, particuarly at this time of year.

[Tyronnster]

i had issues with it freezing so don't scrimp on thinning it

[Tom]

New filter all sorted! Going to finish this last bit of veg, run it right down then go through half a tank of diesel, then start mixing in veg here and there

[Piggy]

50:50 during winter...consider also inline 12v fuel heaters

[Anton]

No need for 50:50 at all. Either 20-30% diesel or 5-10% petrol.

That's suitable for -10c.

[Piggy]

never use petrol...it dries seals

[Anton]

Hasn't in the 80,000 miles I've used it.

[Piggy]

Ive got a spare pump here for you matey!!

[ally406]

I would respectively disagree with both of those points. Petrol will not degrade the seals, if you go on to any biofuel forum you will find it is common practice to blend petrol with biodiesel or SVO/WVO this time of year. I have never seen a report of petrol causing problems. Tests prove that 10% petrol halves the viscosity of vegetable oil. Indeed, many car manufacturers will state in their handbook that a certain percentage of petrol can be used to winterise diesel fuel (although not so much these days with the advent of common rail).

Again with 12v fuel heaters, the general advice on any biofuel forum is that they are a waste of time. The amount of current you have to draw at 12v to make any significant difference is huge. You have a flow rate of around a litre a minute. There are systems that use glow plugs to heat the fuel, but they are complicated and they have question marks over their safety. Why bother when you have a coolant to fuel heat exchanger already built in to the filter housing from the factory? All it needs is a simple modification to the thermostat and you have fuel heated to 45 degrees within 2 minutes of starting, plenty hot enough.

[Mattcheese31]

I would respectively disagree with both of those points. Petrol will not degrade the seals, if you go on to any biofuel forum you will find it is common practice to blend petrol with biodiesel or SVO/WVO this time of year. I have never seen a report of petrol causing problems. Tests prove that 10% petrol halves the viscosity of vegetable oil. Indeed, many car manufacturers will state in their handbook that a certain percentage of petrol can be used to winterise diesel fuel (although not so much these days with the advent of common rail).

Again with 12v fuel heaters, the general advice on any biofuel forum is that they are a waste of time. The amount of current you have to draw at 12v to make any significant difference is huge. You have a flow rate of around a litre a minute. There are systems that use glow plugs to heat the fuel, but they are complicated and they have question marks over their safety. Why bother when you have a coolant to fuel heat exchanger already built in to the filter housing from the factory? All it needs is a simple modification to the thermostat and you have fuel heated to 45 degrees within 2 minutes of starting, plenty hot enough.

this ^^^^^^^^^^the guy knows his shit, i agree totally . .

[Tom]

I would respectively disagree with both of those points. Petrol will not degrade the seals, if you go on to any biofuel forum you will find it is common practice to blend petrol with biodiesel or SVO/WVO this time of year. I have never seen a report of petrol causing problems. Tests prove that 10% petrol halves the viscosity of vegetable oil. Indeed, many car manufacturers will state in their handbook that a certain percentage of petrol can be used to winterise diesel fuel (although not so much these days with the advent of common rail).

Again with 12v fuel heaters, the general advice on any biofuel forum is that they are a waste of time. The amount of current you have to draw at 12v to make any significant difference is huge. You have a flow rate of around a litre a minute. There are systems that use glow plugs to heat the fuel, but they are complicated and they have question marks over their safety. Why bother when you have a coolant to fuel heat exchanger already built in to the filter housing from the factory? All it needs is a simple modification to the thermostat and you have fuel heated to 45 degrees within 2 minutes of starting, plenty hot enough.

Cheers man some rep coming your way!

[Piggy]

yet its the first two minutes that are rather important to get your car to the running temp needed!!! so a relay and temp regulated fuel heater for the first 2/3 minutes works wonders...and no need for 12v ones either...plenty of 5/6volt heaters do the job nicely

I bee running and filtering wvo oil for years on multiple cars...I know my stuff too.

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Plus by modifying your stat your engine will take forever in winter to get to optimum efficiency temperature.

[kentiiboii]

The heat exchanger underneath the filter housing what do I have to do to get it running constantly??? Will be converting to a Bosch after Christmas so want as much information as possible!

[Tom]

yet its the first two minutes that are rather important to get your car to the running temp needed!!! so a relay and temp regulated fuel heater for the first 2/3 minutes works wonders...and no need for 12v ones either...plenty of 5/6volt heaters do the job nicely

I bee running and filtering wvo oil for years on multiple cars...I know my stuff too.

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Plus by modifying your stat your engine will take forever in winter to get to optimum efficiency temperature.

Mine starts fine, and im running straight veg at 0degrees. And the fuel filter mod doesnt affect the warm up time of the car.

[vincent1]

http://www.biopowered.co.uk/w/index.php?...oldid=1642

[ally406]

^^ that’s the one!

Personally I found 1 euro piece to be a perfect fit. These housings have a lot of rubber seals and they are notorious for letting in air at the best of times, and this is exacerbated by the use of vegetable oil. It pays to take your time and make sure everything is sealed up properly. I use Loctite silicone gasket seal which has worked very well.

The fuel exits the housing at around 40-45 degrees, not the 70-80 as stated in the guide. This is ideal if you use a petrol blend as much hotter and you risk the petrol vaporising and causing running problems.

[Harky]

I got rid of the heater altogether and went for an inline filter, bit lumpy to start but that was always the case, just keep a bit of rev's for the first mile or 2 of driving.

On the topic of wvo, how do you guys all filter it? I use the big filter bags and the're a great job but still tempted to build something a bit less labor intensive.

[Ruan]

Only thing I will say about the petrol...

Be careful, it can cause the injectors to destroy the glow plugs as it ignites SO readily under the conditions that a Diesel engine places it under, it ends up going off explosively and can cause serious glow plug issues, I've seen them come out with the tips melted off them due to too high petrol concentrations... There seems to be two specs of glowplugs, long shank and short shank, make sure you get the shorter of the two, as the others literally sit in the injectors path, the others sit just off to the side...

[zx_volcane]

Only thing I will say about the petrol...

Be careful, it can cause the injectors to destroy the glow plugs as it ignites SO readily under the conditions that a Diesel engine places it under, it ends up going off explosively and can cause serious glow plug issues, I've seen them come out with the tips melted off them due to too high petrol concentrations... There seems to be two specs of glowplugs, long shank and short shank, make sure you get the shorter of the two, as the others literally sit in the injectors path, the others sit just off to the side...

I went through a fair sets of cheap glowplugs running bio, ended up in melted tips, never worked out why it was doing it, on Beru plugs now and they've lasted a good while

[Dum-Dum]

IMO good glow plugs are vital. I started mine this morning with a 10mm deep frost on the car and it went first time on pure veg.

[cwspellowe]

Mine has new plugs, two month old big battery, in line filter, hasn't been run properly in a month, pure veg, started 1st crank.

[Piggy]

when you guys say pure veg...you talking svo or filtered wvo?

[Dum-Dum]

SVO it's less than 90ppl and so it's just not worth messing about with the waste stuff

[CJ_Derv]

pure means not mixed, so either id say

[Piggy]

fair enough. I get wvo filtered to 40microns for 55p a litre...so its worth it for me to do the last bit!

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Ive also found...compared my mate running his on svo all the time, that the wvo has less tendency to congeal

[Harky]

SVO it's less than 90ppl and so it's just not worth messing about with the waste stuff

50ppl for WVO, and I can easily filter between 500-1000L in a day, and then just have it ready whenever I need it!

[kentiiboii]

How do you filter wvo?