I know in the past this has probably been heavily discussed, so to avoid taking up thread space, I would like for whoever has done this conversion to please PM me. I have a lot of questions to ask as part of my research. Please offer input on manufacturers, home made kits, parts suppliers and part #'s ease of obtaining veg oil from restaurants, etc. Let me know if it is worth it. I am not interested in BIO, just VEG OIL. I am looking forward to you schooling me! Carmyne

 

Im do busy to mess with that, ill just get gouged at the pump

 

but, you're...a...cook. Can't you just fill up for free at work?

 

Very funny.

Guys, this isn't a pro or anti veggie oil thread. Carmyne would like to hear from people who are running veggie no or have run it in the past.

 

There ya go!! Thanks, Guru, for monitoring the thread! DTR police at his best!!

 

I didnt do a conversion and I run it anyway with a 24v.
You have a 12v! Heck yea, go for it and you will never look back.

 

I don't know how much research you have done. I am in the midst of my research now. I have found the best website for information is www.fattywagon.com. The only reason I say they are the best is they have a link page that links to almost every veg oil website I have found otherwise. I will tell you what I have found briefly. Feel free to pm me and we can talk on the phone as well. I have no problem with that. I'm looking at using an rv fresh water tank for my veggie oil tank. I am looking at fattywagon injector line heaters. I am also going to use that same part and heat my line coming out of my veg tank. I found 12 volt submersible heaters. I forget the website but google 12 volt water heater and you will quickly see it. It is some kind of hydrogen website. I will use two of those in the tank. I personally, do not want to run coolant lines for heat. For one thing, that means I have to wait until my coolant is warm to switch to veg in the winter. I want electric. These Cummins have great alternators. I may eventually decide it is too much of a load for the alternator but as I'm getting started, this is what I'm planning to do. Also, fattwagon has a fuel filter heater. I will use that around the supplemental filter that I get. I plan on getting a filter cartridge and element that is used for water like you can get from Walmart or Lowes or anywhere like that.

For picking it up, there is a place in Fort Wayne Indiana that sells the waste veg oil containers just like the restaurants have now for about $250/piece. I have one restaurant ready to give me all the oil they have. My brother is doing this and I think he is going to have to pay a little to get his oil from the restaurant. It takes building relationships with the restaurant owners. Harbor Freight has a pump that pumps about 4 gallons/minute for under $50. This will be my first pump. I will use another water cartridge type filter to filter here. My current plan is to filter to 20 or 30 microns here and then my in vehicle filter will be to 5 or 10. The stock filter is 10.

wow, that got wordy. maybe too much information.

I know a guy that has been running straight unused veggie oil for almost 2 years. He dilutes it a little in the winter but he has done no conversion at all. I hope it keeps working for him when he starts using used veggie oil but I'm not willing to take that risk. I want everything to work well when I switch.

My biggest concern right now is making sure I have a process that I can guarantee the restaurant owner that I will get their oil on schedule even if it is 0 degrees outside.

Sorry it was so long.

Shane

 

how do you sperate the fuel coming out of the return line desiel to diesel and veg. to veg.? If you switch wear the return fuel goes as soon as you change over to veg. oil then you are going to have diesel in your veg. oil and if you wait to long you are going to have veg. oil in your diesel.

 

I have an 04.5 Dodge that I converted to SVO/WVO. It is a two tank system.

I don't advocate running either unheated VO in a hot engine or heated VO in a cold engine.

Your alternator is not capable of the amps required to heat VO with electric heat alone..........

The temperature that the VO needs to be heated to is subjective. I advocate getting it close to 200F since at around that the viscosity of VO approches that of diesel.

Diesel engine also have blowby when cold and running VO in a cold engine can lead to polymerization of the lube oil.

If you are running VO either in a converted 2 tank system or in a blend it is important to monitor your engine oil by getting an analysis.

The return fuel selection does cause cross contamination. Some of this is generally accepted as OK. This can be minimized by delaying the return switchover either manually with seperate switches or by using a delay controller.

 

Just a little added detail- It is widely preferred to use two 3-port solenoid valves, one for supply, and one for return. The plastic composite "Pollak" valves are known to fail since their maximum temperature rating is ~180*, right about where you want your WVO temp to run. Get some like the Greasecar or Frybrid valves which are much more durable. If wired individually, the return valve can be switched after whatever delay one deems necessary to avoid most cross-contamination.