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Topic Started: Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:39 pm (108 Views)
EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:39 pm Post #1
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	Have just put a thread up in the newbie section but thought I ought to also post here, as I am a seasoned WVOer. Some of you may know me from vegetableoildiesel.co.uk Over the years I have built a sophisticated oil filtering setup and have a modified 306 which I have run on 100% WVO for 20k miles. Have just bought myself a 2.5 190d: and obviously am gonna run it on WVO. I know the XUD9T engine (old Peugeot/Citroen diesel turbo engine) like the back of my hand, but nothing much yet about the Merc diesel, so shall be doing a lot of research. I know about the o-rings issue, but think I will wait for leaks to become apparent before I tackle them. I do plan on bypassing the thermostat on the fuel heater somehow though, so that it never cuts out, which can only help with WVO. I had done this with my 306 to great success. Cheers guys.



tlaw22	Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:48 pm Post #2
Member Posts: 409 Group: Members Member #603 Joined: October 19, 2006	Good luck mate. I had a 2.5 190d for about 9 months, which i ran on a completely random mix of diesel and svo (oil was 44p per litre at the time!) All mixed in the one tank, and with no mods. During the summer it was on aprox 85% oil to 15% diesel. Ran fine, no problems. I don't know about other peoples experiences, but i found the diesel to be completely bomb proof.



marcus.hopkins	Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:49 pm Post #3
Administrator Posts: 2,358 Group: Admin Member #76 Joined: November 23, 2005	Welcome to the forum mate. You will find loads of info regarding alternative fuels here LOL Kentronix is the chap to speak to



rhysmangatmotorsport	Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:52 pm Post #4
Mangatmotorsport Posts: 1,768 Group: Members Member #2,941 Joined: July 9, 2008	hi eddie



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:57 pm Post #5
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	Welcome to the forum! I saw that car on ebay a few days ago and that's one fine looking 190D you picked yourself up there I too run on veg



algord83	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:01 pm Post #6
Taller than shorter people Posts: 2,045 Group: Members Member #1,981 Joined: November 30, 2007	Welcome mate I have a 190D veg mobile. Cracking car that is you have. Al



kentronix	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:13 pm Post #7
Admin Posts: 16,342 Group: Admin Member #147 Joined: January 20, 2006	would be interested to hear about your filtering setup, got more details ?



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:16 pm Post #8
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	Heres some shots:



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:21 pm Post #9
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	Wow what a set up! Fancy building me one?



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:27 pm Post #10
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	That is an evolution of a couple of years. Here is how it originally started: But with my now greater capacity I can settle for a lot longer before filtering. Was easy to build if you can do a little plumbing ;-)



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:30 pm Post #11
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	Lol that looks perfect to get me started. I'm going on ebay now to find the bits...



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:34 pm Post #12
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	If you need any help/advice on it, I'm more than happy. Oh and I have some barrel filters, like you see on the top of that yellow barrel, for sale if interested? The same as these: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/55-Gallon-Barrel-EZ-strainer-Filter-Biodiesel-SVO-WVO_W0QQitemZ250386893540QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a4c38cae4&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/55-Gallon-Barrel-EZ-strainer-Filter-Biodiesel-SVO-WVO_W0QQitemZ250386893540QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a4c38cae4&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177 Edited by EddieJT, Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:39 pm.



kentronix	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:49 pm Post #13
Admin Posts: 16,342 Group: Admin Member #147 Joined: January 20, 2006	nice !! I wish I had the space So you settle in the drums, sludge out the bottom, pump through the house filters (what micron ?). Whats the yellow barrel ? Overflow ? I settle overnight in the container I get it in, pour most in a water but type container, via a 1 micron sock filter with disposable medical pillowcase inside to save filter washes. I leave about 1/10 (or whenever I hit fat/water) in the orig container which I then pour into my 20 litre scum container. Output Tap is part way up the barrel like yours. Every few weeks I pour off the top of my scum container after its settled out. Looks like you can store a few hundred litres there !!



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:50 pm Post #14
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	Thanks for the offer Eddie I may v well have to take you up on that What are them 3 bottle things with blue tops screwed to the wall?



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:09 pm Post #15
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	kentronix Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:49 pm nice !! I wish I had the space So you settle in the drums, sludge out the bottom, pump through the house filters (what micron ?). Whats the yellow barrel ? Overflow ? I settle overnight in the container I get it in, pour most in a water but type container, via a 1 micron sock filter with disposable medical pillowcase inside to save filter washes. I leave about 1/10 (or whenever I hit fat/water) in the orig container which I then pour into my 20 litre scum container. Output Tap is part way up the barrel like yours. Every few weeks I pour off the top of my scum container after its settled out. Looks like you can store a few hundred litres there !! The green and blue barrels are the settling barrels. I indiscriminatly pour oil in (fat and water too), and let it settle for a couple of weeks in these barrels. I then pump off oil from half way up (as can be seen by the tank connector half way up each one). This guarantees drawing from good oil level. This pumpd off oil from green and blue then goes into the yellow finishing barrel. Here it is heated using an immersion heater and settle more. It is then pumped through 80 > 30 > 5/1micron inline filters and straight into carboy, or watering can. Each barrel has a crud drain which can be drained straight into crud collecting cubies. Makes for a very effective and labour unintensive setup, with minimal mess (unlike many of my previous incarnations lol). Just involves pouring in and then throwing a few switches and valves.



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:09 pm Post #16
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	chrismatheou Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:50 pm Thanks for the offer Eddie I may v well have to take you up on that What are them 3 bottle things with blue tops screwed to the wall? They are the inline filters.........80>30>5/1 microns filters.



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:17 pm Post #17
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	Hmm so you hooked the pump up to them and you push the veg through like that and it gets filtered? Or am I missing something...



kentronix	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:17 pm Post #18
Admin Posts: 16,342 Group: Admin Member #147 Joined: January 20, 2006	ah, cool, I hadnt thought through the valve options. So the drain pipe below your power socket is purely for after youve pumped up into your yellow ? Removing watery oil from your line ? I would be very interested to talk water with you, I find it very hard to get accurate info from intelligent people about dewatering. What is the source of your oil ? Does it actually have water mixed in (ie from outside) or is it dewatering the water from food moisture during cooking ?



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:18 pm Post #19
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	chrismatheou Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:17 pm Hmm so you hooked the pump up to them and you push the veg through like that and it gets filtered? Or am I missing something... Yes, the pump does all the work; it draws from the green and blue, and pumps into the yellow. It also pumps from the yellow, and through the filters. All I do is open and close valves, and switch on pump and heater. Edited by EddieJT, Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:19 pm.



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:35 pm Post #20
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	kentronix Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:17 pm ah, cool, I hadnt thought through the valve options. So the drain pipe below your power socket is purely for after youve pumped up into your yellow ? Removing watery oil from your line ? I would be very interested to talk water with you, I find it very hard to get accurate info from intelligent people about dewatering. What is the source of your oil ? Does it actually have water mixed in (ie from outside) or is it dewatering the water from food moisture during cooking ? Because the pump pumps from all 3 barrels with oil of varying filtration/settling time, it is necessary to purge the pump of any potential crud before I allow the final oil from the yellow barrel to hit the filters. If that makes sense. Basically it allows me to pump oil out of the system without going through the filters. It's not a crud drain as such, more of a purging drain before the final filtering. Ok, here is where I stand with dewatering. I understand that all food cooked in the oil contains water, and so that water would contaminate the oil. However, the oil is heated so high that any water present would be boiled off. So I disregard any water contamination from the food itself. Now rain water could be a problem, but rain water which has not been aggitated with the oil (which would be very unlikely I would have thought) should drop out very easily from just simple settling. The oil I collect is on the whole very well kept. Only about 10% of it is open to the elements; I very occasionally get a little water from the crud drains on my settling drums because of this rain water. The 3rd barrel in my system is the one that can be heated. I do heat my oil, but there is no point really as I NEVER get any water drop out at this stage of the process. Any of the tiny rain water that I might have in my oil drops out during the settling stage. I heat just because it only means throwing a switch-better safe than sorry. If I were to build it again, I probably wouldn't bother putting a heater in. Maybe if I had badly kept oil it would be more necessary-don't know. You can alway do a hot pan test on your finished oil though to test for water content.



nezamr	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:36 pm Post #21
Member Posts: 798 Group: Members Member #2,484 Joined: April 4, 2008	i suppose my filter in a bucket doesnt quite stack up to your setup!!! I wish i had the space to build one like yours!



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:38 pm Post #22
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	How many litres of oil do each of them drums hold and how long do you leave the oil to settle for before filtering?



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:45 pm Post #23
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	nezamr Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:36 pm i suppose my filter in a bucket doesnt quite stack up to your setup!!! I wish i had the space to build one like yours! A filter in a bucket gets the same result..........I can just do a much larger volume, with much less effort



kentronix	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:46 pm Post #24
Admin Posts: 16,342 Group: Admin Member #147 Joined: January 20, 2006	Your gonna get sick of our questions Eddie especially as you have probably answered them all before at the veg forum but do you cool before filtering ? It looks like your setup is at outside temps but after heating do you cool it to ensure the veg is passing through the filter at roughly the same temps as it will in the car ? I had a nasty incident with an unexpected hot spell that meant the filtered veg had lots of melted fats in it. Obviously you settle far more than me but just wondering if you have had any issues due to heating. I moved all my filtering outside when I spotted the hot fat issue. The setup we did at my brothers house uses house filters like yours, gravity feed only and no heating although its all inside the house. He hasnt had issues yet but then he doesnt take as many risks as me



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:50 pm Post #25
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	chrismatheou Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:38 pm How many litres of oil do each of them drums hold and how long do you leave the oil to settle for before filtering? They are standard 205 litre drums. I pump the oil off as I need it for the car, so a specific ml of oil will settle in one of the blue or green barrels and then onto the yellow. It varies with how much oil I use in a month, but I guess between the 3 drums oil will have settled at least a month before it hits the filters. That's the beauty of having such a massive stock hold and buffer zone-there is so much of it that it can settle for ages before it's required.



EddieJT	Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:00 pm Post #26
Member Posts: 89 Group: Members Member #3,103 Joined: August 16, 2008	kentronix Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:46 pm Your gonna get sick of our questions Eddie especially as you have probably answered them all before at the veg forum but do you cool before filtering ? It looks like your setup is at outside temps but after heating do you cool it to ensure the veg is passing through the filter at roughly the same temps as it will in the car ? I had a nasty incident with an unexpected hot spell that meant the filtered veg had lots of melted fats in it. Obviously you settle far more than me but just wondering if you have had any issues due to heating. I moved all my filtering outside when I spotted the hot fat issue. The setup we did at my brothers house uses house filters like yours, gravity feed only and no heating although its all inside the house. He hasnt had issues yet but then he doesnt take as many risks as me Well I'm sat in a hotel room on a business trip with nothing better to do Oh no, the guys on the veg forum answer my questions. If you think my setup is impressive you should see some of theirs! Yes, oil is allowed to reach ambient outside temperature before filtering. This is actually very important, as heated oil could have melted fat in. In this melted state it will pass through the filters, but when the oil cools the fat will reform (potentially in your fuel tank). Not a huge problem if your car has a heated fuel filter or the like, but would defo cause problems in an unheated sytem. That's why I want to look into stopping the thermostat from cutting in on the Merc's fuel heater, as you want all the heating you can get with WVO. No I've had no issues with heating. The oil that gets to my filters has the same fat content (zero), and temperature as it would had it not been heated at all.



kentronix	Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:09 pm Post #27
Admin Posts: 16,342 Group: Admin Member #147 Joined: January 20, 2006	There is a walkthrough with pics of the fuel thermo bypass, in the alternative fuel section. Its dead easy and the fuel thermostat is a very weak point as its a plastic connection, best to bypass it before it fails. Still gonna be cold as it passes through the tank strainer though (or doesnt) but I totally agree about the fats getting through the house filter if you do it warm. PS, surely there must be better things to do in a hotel room PPV ?



chrismatheou	Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:21 pm Post #28
Enthusiast Posts: 1,457 Group: Members Member #789 Joined: January 4, 2007	Eddie I really want your replicate your fantastic system. I'm currently looking to see if I can get 100 litre drums as I simply don't have the space for 3 big ones like those!



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