Does anyone have any experience burning retail quality B100 biodiesel in their Cummins?

 

home made or bought?

I make my own..I would guess around 40Kmiles on B100..runs fine.
it runs quieter than diesel..

-dkenny

 

Thanks. Home made, but better than retail quality. I already know about changing out the fuel filter a couple of times when you start, and starting with a blend. How did your fuel economy compare?

 

I'm moving up[ to 100% bio this summer. I have a regional manufacturer here in town where I buy it. I have been tracking my fuel mix of bio and regular diesel. I started with a 50/50 mix in the tank, and filled up again and now have a 66% mix of bio in my tank.

No issues so far. Engine is quieter, exhaust smells like BBQ, and the fuel is a little cheaper. The only problem I will have is that I will have to put regular diesel back in during the winter. So far no one has made an effective anti gel additive for bio. Mileage is about the same, and I haven't had to touch my filter yet. I do have to change it soon though (regular maintenance), so I will get to see if the bio loosened up any junk in the tank and lines.

 

Thanks jrs dodge diesel. I know a guy who is working on an anti-gel treatment for biodiesel. Living in MT, we need to figure that out. Can't wait to start using B100, diesel is running right at $4 now. Did your MPG change noticeably?

 

wow, you can get bio CHEAPER than regular? here it's about $0.50/gal higher than regular for B20 (IIRC), and not widely available.

I did notice a few places while traveling through Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota last week that had labels that stated (in effect) that there was between 5 and 20% bio in the regular diesel. I guess akin to the 10% ethanol in regular gas.

I wish I could get quality bio locally that was price competitive

 

Yes Trust, I heard a rumor that there is a guy who is willing to make bio for retail sale and offer it anywhere from $2.50-$3. At that price I can't imagine he could have the production capacity to anywhere meet demand. As with all things, it sounds too good to be true. So I am not holding my breath. Thanks for the info.

 

I paid 3.69/gal last time I filled, regular diesel was over $4 at that time. I buy at Newport Biodiesel here in town. All they sell is B100.

I haven't tracked my mileage at all, but the fuel consumption has not noticeably changed.

 

no big change in MPG..
unless he's growing the seed and pressing it into oil..forget 2.50/3.00 for biodiesel..the oil market pays more than that for used vegie oil..last I heard its about 42cents/pound..with 7.5lbs per gallon..not much money room for making biodiesel( about 50c a gallon not counting labor and electric)..

good to hear that you making your own..join the group.
I've been making for years. starting 2005..

-dkenny

 

Thanks again jrs dodge diesel and dkenny. Will post if I hear anything else about the B100. The guy I heard about was growing the feed stock for his biodiesel plant and then using the waste for livestock feed. Getting a little desperate here when every tankful runs about $120. I check my MPG every time I fill up and am getting 18.5 on the road empty, 12.5 with a slide in camper on. 184,000 miles on the truck and I don't know if that is average for these 5.9L's.

 

I have run B100 in my '02 and although the truck ran great, it did suffer about a 10% fuel mileage drop.

 

I paid $4.16 for B20 and $5.65 for B100 two weeks ago. I usually run 5-10 % bio to help with lubricity and not get any loss of fuel mileage or grief from the injector pump guys at the local Bosch shop.

 

Thanks Lurch 519, I read about the drop in power with B100. Maybe the positives you mentioned outweigh the negatives. Think I will start with B5 or B10 and then work up-after changing my filter a couple of times...

 

I'm seeing roughly 18-20 empty with just a topper on my 01 at highway speeds, less than 75 seems better and depends on wind direction and force alot too. So I'd say that at least your empty mileage is consistent. years ago a buddy and I took his 99 with a big slide in to California from NM and got about 11-12 mpg so that seems fairly consistent too. All Dino juice though unless the various states have the 5-20% bio mixed in deal going

 

Paid $4.88 for B100 on 22 June and $3.29 for straight dino juice at the local Chevron. I add the bio to cover lubricity issues (2% is all that is needed to bring regular #2 to proper specs ) and some Stanadyne to ease my thoughts for my injector pump. Getting about 19-20 mpg with the mostly highway driving that I do hand calculated per tank.