rob w asked:
From what I understand you don’t need to change anything with your veichle when running biodiesel, but you need to make some conversions for vegtable oil. However, from what I’ve read it’s not that much less expensive to make your own biodiesel as it is to just buy regular diesel fuel. So what should I go with? I would love to really talk to someone who has done this kind of thing on their own and has hands on experience. Thanks!
From what I understand you don’t need to change anything with your veichle when running biodiesel, but you need to make some conversions for vegtable oil. However, from what I’ve read it’s not that much less expensive to make your own biodiesel as it is to just buy regular diesel fuel. So what should I go with? I would love to really talk to someone who has done this kind of thing on their own and has hands on experience. Thanks!
biodiesel would be your best bet…
A diesel engine can burn all oil. The oil comes from plant and that is also our fossil fuel.
Bio diesel will work without any modifications. If you choose to run vegetable oil you will need to install a device to heat up the oil in order to decrease it’s viscosity.
if you dont want the hassel of making the fuel yourself, then just go with biodiesel wherever you find it. the veggie oil is of course much cheaper but is very hands on. you first have to find a supplier that will let you have their oil before putting it in the outdoor receptacles behind their business. once in there it becomes the property of the oil disposal company and they will prosecute you for taking their product. then you have to get it home and go through a detailed process of filtering until the oil is as clean as possible. you will need to add a secondary tank and fule line along with a purge pump to power your truck and then clear the fuel lines upon your ending of the driving daily. not to mention, that you can be forced to pay road taxes on the gallons you burn if you are ever caught y your state. as you can see, it is very complicated. just decide how determined you are to drive cheap.
If your goal is to save money, go with waste vegetable oil (WVO). The conversion for your truck will cost you $1000 to $3000 depending if you do it yourself or buy one. You may be able to find someone willing to sell clean Waste Vegetable Oil for about $2/Gallon or you can find your own source restaurant and get it free and filter it yourself. It ends up becoming more of a hobby/passion than simply a cost savings. You have to want to do it.
My advise is to check out the public forum at : they have information on both making bio diesel and SVO/WVO
I collect, filter and run vegetable oil in my truck and have designed my own system and posted it on a website to share WVO conversion designs. Feel free to check it out also at:
Good Luck
Leon
Biodiesel is the way to go unless you want to find yourself stranded on the edge of the road. Your truck will run on straight vegetable oil until you forget to switch to petrodiesel before shutting down. Even if you never forget the injectors will clog and stop working after a few thousand miles. If you have a source of used fryer oil it will cost about $1-1.50 a gallon to convert it to biodiesel. Biodiesel can be used anywhere you use #2 fuel oil. Have some fuel filters handy because biodiesel is a strong solvent that will loosen any sludge that’s already in your tank. I have been heating my house with biodiesel for three winters using it in a regular oil furnace. The first winter i went through 7 fuel filters and 2 nozzles. Since then it has been almost flawless. I add some petrodiesel so I am using a B-80 mix. I don’t recommend either biodiesel or straight vegetable oil as a moter fuel in the winter. It gels at 32 degrees F and there is no effective treatment for preventing it. For more info go to biodieselsolutions.com
you can mix diesel and vegetable oil just pour in to tank my jeep diesel runs fine on any veg/sunflower oil mix up to about 70%oil 30%diesel and will be ok you lose a little power but hardly notice,i used only new oil used oil may have animal fats in it which will clog the system if not carefull and can be expensive with oil if runs a bit rough just add a bit more diesel to it untill right it is almost an instant improvement once a bit more diesel is added as for bio diesel i found that it kept blocking the fuel filter after about 300 miles i tried it from 3 different sources and all did the same theydont seem to clean it vey well and it comes from so many places ok ie an indian restaurant to a burger bar it seems to vary in colour as well depending where you buy it from,my filters were £20 a time so was not saving but clean oil i have had no problems at all i would not use bio/waste oil again as kept stopping beside the road if you can buy veg oil wholesale then do so but it is quite expensive about £1 a litre in uk as£1.30 a litre for diesel if you mix it you dont have to change any thing and i found veg oil goes further,it has something to do with more air in than diesel but neat oil will probably be to thick depending where you are be ok in summer when thin but not when cold it also is more lubricating than diesel which helps the pump more you can feel how slippery oil is to diesel hope this helps