i tried my first batch of bio last week with bad results. for some reason all of the lye sank to the bottom of the methol tank and solidified. i did not relize this until i added all of the methol to my batch (15 gallons) so i took out the giant chunk of lye at the bottom of the methol tank crushed it back up and then slowly added it to the prossesing tank. well...same thing happened. i dont think i had the right lye so i ordered potasium hydroxide for my next batch. the lye i used was from lowes in the drain cleaning section. it said on the back %100 sodium hydroxide on it. it came in small bb like *****. is this the right stuph? can anyone tell me what im doing wrong?

my gas light is on and i want to make another batch so i dont have to pay 4.50$ a gallon

 

Your leaving too much info out to answer that question .
What did it titrate to ?
How fast did you add the [ premixed , methanol & lye ] to the heated oil .
What temp was the oil ?
What was the water content ?
What are you using for info [ source ] to make bio with ?

 

I had the same problem in the beginning. I was doing 40-gal batches, so I put 4 gallons of methanol into each of 2 5-gal buckets, then divided the lye into 2 parts. I dumped half the lye into one bucket with the methanol and used an IGNITION-PROTECTED drill with a squirrel-cage paint mixer to thoroughly mix the lye/methanol. Then I dumped the mixed stuff into the methoxide inductor, started the batch, and repeated with the second half of the methanol and lye.
Do not dump lye into any liquid and leave it unmixed- it can get very hot- hot enough to melt the bottom out of a plastic bucket. Personal experience.
And use an IGNITION-PROTECTED drill. You know, to avoid getting blown up.

 

And you found out that it takes a bit of mixing to dissolve pelletized lye. Stay away from lye in the powder form if it's offered; it dissolves really easily, but the dust gets everywhere and makes your skin itch and burn, and can easily blind you and cause serious respiratory issues almost instantly. I use flaked lye- a good compromise.

 

I think he didn't mix the lye and methanol well enough, if at all. The NaOH will clump up into a limestone-like mass at the bottom of the tank if it isn't mixed enough to completely dissolve, and that's exactly what it sounds like. I've used the lye he's talking about and had problems with super-slow dissolving. I make 100-gallon batches using 16.5 gallons of methanol and up to 1500 grams of NaOH. I have a pump that recirculates the methanol over a mesh basket containing the lye, and the pelletized lye from HD can take 20-30 minutes to completely dissolve.
BTW, don't try to pulverize it when dry, the dust- again- gets all over. It'll wreck you.

 

This is what we do with the KOH. We do 250 gallon batches. We put 55 gallons of Methanol in a 150 gallon cone bottom tank, and turn on the pump to mix the Methanol. We slowly add the KOH to the top of the Methanol tank. Oh, we put a stainless steel colander with the handles broken off in the bottom of the tank. We let the pump run for any where from 10 to 20 minutes before we slowly open the valve to mix the Metholoxide with the oil. Keith

 

i bought the b60 unit

 

You may want to use these sites for some info & stuff .
A pan [ get a pan hot , on the stove , put a small amount of bio / oil in pan , if it spatters a lot , you have water / a lot ] test tells you if there is water , how much is something els .

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/groupee


http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/


Lots of good info and stuff .



http://www.b100supply.com/

 

In my experience, you know you've got water when your batch comes out as a vat of soap. Water=Baaaad.