Vegetable/cooking oil questions!

[GP123]

OK, so! i put an add up on gumtree for wanted veg oil and its paid off about a month later! a local owner of a restaurant has text me saying he has drums of 25 litres in each one and will have a steady supply of it... hes looking 25p per litre!

But,,, before i proceed i just want to get a few facts right first..

1. I know its legal, but do i have to write to anyone or inform anyone that i am running the car on it? or can i just put it in and drive, what if im stopped by Police or dippers?

and 2. How will i go about filtering it etc?

All help and suggestions welcome! Thanks.

[Piggy]

You need to do a lot of research regarding the filtering side of it...you can buy a system for a £1000+ that does it all for you or do it yourself many many many many many different ways...depending on how keen you are or what you want at the end.

RE: legal...yes its legal, up to 2500litres per year, but only domestic/social use. you can use it for business but then you have to pay tax on it.

[GP123]

Thanks for reply. This is just for personal use, just socially about the town, doing messages etc? So i just put it in and go basically? Im in northern ireland btw, should be same rules i suppose..

[Piggy]

Need to filter it and dewater it down to 1micron basically.

Can do this by settling, different catalysts, washing, filtering, heater or all of the above....you really want to get googling.

I have spent 5years running on veg trying to refine the process...still doing it

[ozonehostile]

if its used oil make sure its really thoroughly filtered. problem with veg oil in general is that unlike diesel, it has an uncontrolled water content, using it to cook meat and potatoes increases the water content ALOT therefore making it harder to burn and full of carbon molecules that will choke up the engine. fresh oil is always going to be better

[Piggy]

...not necessarily....used/cooked oil can have much higher calorie rates and thus can be better...

but you MUST dewater it.

[ste91]

Just out of interest (and too lazy to google atm), with unused veg oil, can you literally buy it from a supermarket and pour it straight into the tank (50/50 with diesel), or do you need to add anything to it?

[ozonehostile]

Just out of interest (and too lazy to google atm), with unused veg oil, can you literally buy it from a supermarket and pour it straight into the tank (50/50 with diesel), or do you need to add anything to it?

yep, as long as you have a bosch pump its literally as easy as easy as go to tesco, buy much veg oil, pour into tank, drive away.
some people here run 100% straight veg but i prefer to mix it with diesel as it makes it makes it alot easier to start and IMO is healthier for the pump and injector setup.

diesel has a sulphur content that is used to lubricate fuel pump internals and injector tips also prevents the seals rotting, a bit of problem with veg.

running on veg you may notice a sligtht power loss due to the lower calorie content of veg oil compared to diesel and also de-creased mpg but its so much cheaper to buy the difference doesn't really matter

[Piggy]

Im running on 95% veg...5% petrol.

Have been for 5yrs. First leaking seal last week.

I do put more diesel in though during winter.

Mine starts wonderfully even in coldest of mornings...cough, puff, away!

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Search around though...I have two supliers around the 65/75p a litre but almost fully filtered and dewatered....lotess hassle.
Getting the water out is mos time consuming bit

[Dave]

A lot of speculation here... I ran used and new for thousands of miles and generally used runs and starts better but can.be overruled easily with a bit of petrol in either. As for the dewatering this isnt necessarily a requirement as long as you leave the oil to stand for a long time as most of the water seperates (not all of it in any case however the tiny percentage will not do enough damage over the thousands of miles vs the time/effort/cost involved in heating and dewatering) bearing in mind what a bosch pump actually costs.

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As long as your smart about it and not dragging the oil off the top of a canal or something and putting it straigh into your tank.

[maxlee]

would look at this to

http://www.wastevegetableoils.com/waste_...cence.html