who makes there own bio?

[flatmajor]

hi all, ive recntly bought a landrover disco 300tdi, before that i ran my isuzu trooper on my own home made biodiesel and it ran perfect. ive had my disco for over a month and have started running biodisel and dont seem to have any hickups except im having probs starting in the morning, i know its colder now and ive started doing a 20/80 mix 80 of that bio. has anyone had same probs? is there anything else i can do? ive changed my filter the other day so that coverd. cheers

[Lord Croft]

I have been processing my fuel since October 07. TD5 has done 13750m on it. Old cooking oil from pubs. Glycerine removed as well as any water. L-R has 100% in it. 5 seconds on the heater plugs and a bit of revs and she is happy.

How do you process it?

[ScottTDI]

what oil are you using?

solid or slippery?

I've been running my 300tdi on bio for the last 2 weeks and its been fine.

apart from the 2 days when i put a bad batch of bio in.

[Bioman]

Been running my 1998 2.0 Di Freelander on 90 % Homemade Bio for the lasy 2 Months since i have had her, runs like a dream, will be upping it to 100 % as soon as the weather picks up. :biggrin:

[flatmajor]

ive been having a few starting probs due to the cold weather. also i do need to replace my battery as its not giving me enough cold cranking amps, i do think its not powerful enough to turn over my disco. i was thinking hooking up another battery but have not had the time recently. i have been doing a mix 80/20 but still having trouble. thanks guys for posting.


mick

[Bioman]

Mines Running 90% Bio and 10% Petrol, that seems to help my cold starting problem that i had.

[ScottTDI]

Mines Running 90% Bio and 10% Petrol, that seems to help my cold starting problem that i had.

i think that fact that there is 10% petrol in the mix is not helping :biggrin:

Solid (palm?) oil converted to diesel is not helping.
me and my dad stopped using it and went over to 100% slippery.

[gahooduk]

i i have been doing a mix 80/20 but still having trouble. thanks guys for posting.


mick

80/20 in a 2.5 n/a no problem...could be you starter is shorting out or batterry...shouldn't be compression

[oxtonvillage]

i think that fact that there is 10% petrol in the mix is not helping :biggrin:

Solid (palm?) oil converted to diesel is not helping.
me and my dad stopped using it and went over to 100% slippery.

10% petrol will reduce the viscosity (especially cold) and will help starting. It would especially help saturated fats - e.g. palm

[ScottTDI]

10% petrol will reduce the viscosity (especially cold) and will help starting. It would especially help saturated fats - e.g. palm

petrol engines use a lower compresion than diesel engines, so putting petrol in to a diesel engine would cause it to detonate sooner?

I'm guessing diesel does not do the same?

not using palm at the mo. stockpileing it till the summer.

[Lord Croft]

i think that fact that there is 10% petrol in the mix is not helping :biggrin:

Solid (palm?) oil converted to diesel is not helping.
me and my dad stopped using it and went over to 100% slippery.
Scott is right - you should NEVER try using palm oil during the winter months. It has a freezing point of +5 degrees. Use palm oil when the temperature is above 12 degrees. If you do have oil with a high % of palm oil in it it will pour like a mixture between semolina and frogsporn if it pours at all.

All the cooking oil I have collected in the last month has a very high % of palm oil in it and won't even go through my primary filter before the processor. Suppliers must have got their grubby little mits on a bulk load of that junk.

[landymike]

I,ve been collecting used oil from our works kitchens, they change the fryer oil once a week, it looks pretty clean and i usually pour it still hot straight through some old sheets to get the bits out, not that there are ever many floatys in there anyway. I was just wondering what the process is after cleaning through sheets to pouring in the tank, i have rigged up a pump which pushes it through a standard fuel filter, this is rigged up in my shed at home, i have some oil that has been through and its been in the drum for about a month and it still looks clean, no sediment at all. Is this ok to use? I seem to have a lot of this stuff now and still hav,nt put any in my disco yet.

[ScottTDI]

how you process your oil is up to you.
But I would not put any thing in my disco that has not been cleaned and dried properly.

My dad filters his through a 5micron filter (diesel filters are 10microns i think) at the final stage and buble cleans and drys for hours.
Not sure if it the right way but it works and i gained about 2mpg using it.

you also need to mix it with methonal to give it a better bang and clean all the water and nitroglyserine (SP) out of it.

or you can just shove it in to your car as it is. (not recomended.)

[gahooduk]

Scott is right - you should NEVER try using palm oil during the winter months. All the cooking oil I have collected in the last month has a very high % of palm oil in it and won't even go through my primary filter

got the same problem, i have made biodiesel ok from SVO corn oil, in small 20 ltr batches but using WVO corn oil had lots of soap

i've now got 40lt of some WVO ( palm/Corn mix), it is like potato soup at 0 degrees

is it worth even trying to make biodeisel out of palmoil in winter using menthonal and NAOH etc process or will it still be too thick for winter even after being treated and washed

[ScottTDI]

still be to thick. well, that all depends on the mix.
we've tried it at 30/70 and still goes to lumpy for the motors.
so we've given up with palm and started stock piling it.
which might be hard since we got to collect over a thousand liters of the stuff soon. lol

every batch of bio we do is with methonal and bubble drying and its still crap for winter use.
I would save it till the warmer months.

[landymike]

I,m still in the dark, what is "bubble drying"? and how do you seperate any unwanteds out after filtering? Just picked up another 50ltrs today and need to start doing something with the stuff, sheds getting full:)

[ScottTDI]

you got bubble cleaning and bubble drying (you will all have to bare with me. i've done this every now and then when i pop home to help my dad out. he knows more than me.)
not sure how it work but the short version of it is that you pump air through your mix (a fish tank bubble machine will work) and it cleans and drys it out.
removes the water and soap (i think).

all the unwanted will seperate in the mix, water and glycerine will go to the bottom of the mix. Oil at top a nice dark colour and the rest will be at the bottom. you then tip this out.

we have a 120liter tank thats conned shapped at the bottom with a tap on it.
so when the mix is ready you can open the tap and release all the waste.
when all that has gone you can then get the oil out in to containers.

I only know the start and the end of the proccess. never done the middle bit. lol

o, there is also some test you need to do or can do. its up to you.
to make sure its fit for the road.
I'm not sure what the test is called but its the one that the goverment recomends you use.

[ScottTDI]

i forgot to say.
when you sat unwanteds, what do you mean?
the lumps?
its best to filter it out.
we use 800micron filter 1st.
from the drum, in to the 1st filter (800micron) in to the 200liter drum. from there in to a 100micron, then 20 and then finaly a 5. (I think the 200 and 20 is right. i know we have 4 filters and deffo a 800 and 5.)
since fuel filters are about 10micron, filtering them through a 5micron almost garenties no lumps to get stuck in the fuel system.

dont just filter out the big bits and dump in the disco, please.

[gahooduk]

still be to thick. well, that all depends on the mix.
we've tried it at 30/70 and still goes to lumpy for the motors.
so we've given up with palm and started stock piling it.
which might be hard since we got to collect over a thousand liters of the stuff soon. lol

every batch of bio we do is with methonal and bubble drying and its still crap for winter use.
I would save it till the warmer months.

thanks, i'll store it, i've talk to the local chippy i get my oil from, he says he bought a job lot at cost co but people are complain of the "MCD*nold" taste to the chip so he is going try Soya oil as canola is too dear....lets see what that is like, i know it carbons up if raw SVO

[Lord Croft]

got the same problem, i have made biodiesel ok from SVO corn oil, in small 20 ltr batches but using WVO corn oil had lots of soap

i've now got 40lt of some WVO ( palm/Corn mix), it is like potato soup at 0 degrees

is it worth even trying to make biodeisel out of palmoil in winter using menthonal and NAOH etc process or will it still be too thick for winter even after being treated and washed

Don't even try to make lots of bio if there is a high % of palm oil involved. Store it if you can till the Spring is with us. You will know when the temperature is ok because the oil will go through the corse sieve or whatever you use as you put the oil into the processor. At the moment it won't go thro.
Have fun - persevere - and beat the oil barons!!

[Lord Croft]

I,ve been collecting used oil from our works kitchens, they change the fryer oil once a week, it looks pretty clean and i usually pour it still hot straight through some old sheets to get the bits out, not that there are ever many floatys in there anyway. I was just wondering what the process is after cleaning through sheets to pouring in the tank, i have rigged up a pump which pushes it through a standard fuel filter, this is rigged up in my shed at home, i have some oil that has been through and its been in the drum for about a month and it still looks clean, no sediment at all. Is this ok to use? I seem to have a lot of this stuff now and still hav,nt put any in my disco yet.

Please DO NOT use old veg oil straight into any engine if you have any regard for it. You MUST remove all the glycerine first. When you have done that and washed/ dryed it you have first class fuel fit for any diesel engine. I have never heard of a diesel that will not run happily (high % or even neat)on good glycerine-free bio.
If you do not remove the glycerine, as it goes through the system it clogs up the fine tolerances of a diesel, including the pump and injectors. It ends up as a caramel coating and on common-rail it is moleculely(?) altered through the higher pressures causing even more problems.

Don't be put off but just get rid of the glycerine!!:biggrin:

[gahooduk]

I,m still in the dark, what is "bubble drying"? and how do you seperate any unwanteds out after filtering? Just picked up another 50ltrs today and need to start doing something with the stuff, sheds getting full:)


in simple terms you add methanol and caustic soda and make biodeisel , glylcerol and soap....let it settle then drain off t the biodeisell

You then wash the biodesel with 50/50 bioD to water and bubble air through it( quickway).....or agitate it fro two days.....let it settle, drain off the water which now has all the soap and impurites in it then heat what remains to evaporate more water.....you then have pure biodesel.....

[rairb1]

Hi all, I`ve been making my own biodiesel using a Fenland Biodiesel processor for about 6 weeks now. I originally intended to put it into my Honda Accord tourer, which I did and after about 60 litres worth I had to change my fuel filter, which I was aware of although I didn`t think I would have to do it that soon. I have now been informed from Biodiesel Bob (he`s well known in the biodiesel world, fuel pumps and the like) that the Honda fuel pump is the not very good common rail type. He recommeded not to use bio in the Honda.:( So with the thought of having to spend £700-£900 on a new fuel pump and then £300 on an injector....oh and I would need four of them,:eek: I have decided not to use bio on the Honda, it owes me too much. If it didn`t owe me anything and it was a few years older then maybe.

So I`ve sold the wifes R-plate BMW compact on fleabay this week and I`m collecting my M-plate 300tdi Discovery tomorrow.............can`t wait.
When I went to see it I was pleasantly surprised, galvanised chassis, uprated suspension, seven leather seats, ES alloys, 83000 miles,years mot, 6 months tax and HYDROGEN-ON-DEMAND system fitted. Looking forward to running this on biodiesel and hydrogen.:biggrin:

Cheers Scott

[flatmajor]

cold weather starting is sorted now, been doing my research and have a heater to warm it up. cheers

[gahooduk]

cold weather starting is sorted now, been doing my research and have a heater to warm it up. cheers

i wraped the fuel line around the top radiator hose and this worked, so long as igarged it over night



BUT i have now left it un used over suumer outside and Biodiesel/corn oil/soap/water in an old tank......means


biodeisel has degraded and is a black sludge...??diesel bug, ole...how do i get rid of it, i do not want to turn over the motor in case the pump clogs

[flatmajor]

i wraped the fuel line around the top radiator hose and this worked, so long as igarged it over night



BUT i have now left it un used over suumer outside and Biodiesel/corn oil/soap/water in an old tank......means


biodeisel has degraded and is a black sludge...??diesel bug, ole...how do i get rid of it, i do not want to turn over the motor in case the pump clogs
Looks like you may have to drop the tank out. Or maybe you could mix it up with hot oil so to melt it, and try pump it out. Ill get back to you as ill ask a mate. Cheers