forddeliveryboy Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Also hoping to have a vegtastic filtering setup in place later this week in conjunction with Davehedgehog31 - nothing fancy, but should drop costs significantlyRemember, gravity is free and works better when oil is hot. I lagged my main dewatering barrel, which I take up to about 75C with an immersion heater. The filters (incl. two 0.5u ones) have lasted 9 years, so far. After running the Merc completely out of fuel, a word of warning.. Most diesels don't take kindly to being ran dry - Veg is much thicker than Derv so the pumps need to work harder to suck it up. Luckily for me, the old mechanical pump in the Merc, coupled with a good battery meant that she sucked it through and fired up with no problems. I cycles it a max 30secs at a time and let the starter rest in between to stop it overheatingIt's as quick to undo the 19mm banjo bolt and fill the filter up - and far less risky for the starter motor. I wouldn't have any worries about the pumps, they'll implode a metal fuel tank if its vents are blocked. If the oil's very gloopy, they tend to blow their delivery valve seals though - special tool and a bit of a fiddle. Watch out for too many revs in the first few miles unless you've fitted a fphe or keep the cabin heater controls at full (which warms the fuel). Lacquer Peel and 320touring 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Remember, gravity is free and works better when oil is hot. I lagged my main dewatering barrel, which I take up to about 75C with an immersion heater. The filters (incl. two 0.5u ones) have lasted 9 years, so far.That sounds awffy complicated;) The Merc has ticket til July, and I ain't even been under it yet for a Swatch, so minimal investment is key:) Tight?Moi? forddeliveryboy and Dirk Diggler 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 That sounds awffy complicated;)The Merc has ticket til July, and I ain't even been under it yet for a Swatch, so minimal investment is key:)Tight?Moi?Just store the oil somewhere warm? Gravity is a lot cheaper than any other sort of filtering... You'll be telling me next you're heating the house with something pumped up from the North Sea and paying £££s for it. Tsk, Scottish spendthrifts! Lacquer Peel and 320touring 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overrun Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 It’s worth buying SVO @ 70p/l I reckon, and it saves all the fucking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 It’s worth buying SVO @ 70p/l I reckon, and it saves all the fucking about.Yes, and no.. The Merc is chewing through it.. my old Octavia was cheap enough on clean oil at 60mpg. The Merc does less than half that. overrun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangernomics Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 It’s worth buying SVO @ 70p/l I reckon, and it saves all the fucking about.That’s what I did last time, although occasionally you’ll get a guy selling new rapeseed that’s been run through bottling plants usually for 40-45p per litre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 It’s worth buying SVO @ 70p/l I reckon, and it saves all the fucking about.If you spend a weekend or two putting together a good system and have a supply of decent oil, it's no more hassle than supermarket oil. Lifting supermarket 20l cubies or drums high enough to pour into a funnel propped in the filler neck grows tiring and there's still the bother of disposing them. I just unhook the nozzle and delivery hose and insert into the car. Easier than a forecourt, it's on your premises and there's no queue in a building to empty your wallet. Lacquer Peel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overrun Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Yes, and no..The Merc is chewing through it.. my old Octavia was cheap enough on clean oil at 60mpg. The Merc does less than half that.Fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Further to my 'running the Merc out of fuel, and having to go 100% veg'.. First cold start after sitting 2 days. If it wasn't for a pesky ignition barrel, I'd be done in under a minute:) GrumpiusMaximus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgeRover Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Further to my 'running the Merc out of fuel, and having to go 100% veg'.. First cold start after sitting 2 days. If it wasn't for a pesky ignition barrel, I'd be done in under a minute:) https://youtu.be/SQG7zPPf8swDoes it normally take that long to get going on diesel? Can you wire a seperate feed for the heater plugs and give it maybe 30 seconds of heat before cranking it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Does it normally take that long to get going on diesel? Can you wire a seperate feed for the heater plugs and give it maybe 30 seconds of heat before cranking it?It fires up fine usually.. If I had got a 2nd heat in (without the ignition switch fucking about) I reckoned it'd have started after 30secs.. Bearing in mind that it was ran dry before the veg was fired in, so mibbe some air in the lines too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 The Passat wasn't keen to start on 100% veg this morning, but keener than the Merc. -5°C in Falkirk. I should probably throw some dinosaurs in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 The Passat wasn't keen to start on 100% veg this morning, but keener than the Merc. -5°C in Falkirk. I should probably throw some dinosaurs in it.That's good to know:) have you altered the Glowplugs timing with VAGCOM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Not yet but I cycled them a few times. I can't find a hooky VAG-COM that works. 320touring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 Upon going to fuel the Merc, I discovered a slight* problem with storing the veg in the back of the car.. This hasn't done the viscosity any good.. However, I have a cunning* plan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 That stuff is soya based and not the best for veg running in the winter. I bought a load of it at Farmfoods... 320touring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgeRover Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 And that is precisely why you should keep a bottle of the mix you are running on outside so you can see if you need to add more diesel bangernomics, 320touring and Scruffy Bodger 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 And that is precisely why you should keep a bottle of the mix you are running on outside so you can see if you need to add more dieselYup! She's currently on 60L veg, 10L derv. Will see how she goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MB Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 That stuff is soya based and not the best for veg running in the winter. I bought a load of it at Farmfoods...One of the 10l bottles I got from Farmfoods has gone horribly gloopy and the others are slightly cloudy. Proof if it were needed that the rapeseed stuff from Tesco is a better fuel than KTC soya oil; it seems very resistant to cold weather. Lupo SDI is still firing up almost instantaneously on 97/3 veg/petrol, 7k miles since it last saw diesel (didn’t fancy taking a cubie on the train to Scotland to collect it) forddeliveryboy, 320touring and Lacquer Peel 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I took about 20l of WVO in a backpack on the bus when I collected my Xantia 1.9D. I unthinkingly put it in the luggage hold then had visions of WVO spilling everywhere.It was fine. forddeliveryboy, 320touring and bangernomics 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I took about 20l of WVO in a backpack on the bus when I collected my Xantia 1.9D. I unthinkingly put it in the luggage hold then had visions of WVO spilling everywhere.It was fine.In a cubie? I'd have been a bit nervous, too - but have taken 25l containers through plenty of railway hubs. They're fairly substantial, was only once asked what they contained (by a Polish guard on Scotrail, who relaxed when he found out it wasn't petrol, diesel or anything more flammable than salad dressing). Further to my 'running the Merc out of fuel, and having to go 100% veg'..First cold start after sitting 2 days. If it wasn't for a pesky ignition barrel, I'd be done in under a minute:)https://youtu.be/SQG7zPPf8swOf all the different cars I've run on veg, the Mercs were always the ones to start instantly whatever the temp or veg conc. Is it possible there was still air in the lines? If not, and yours is the one I think it is, it's been run on veg for a decade and tens of thousands of miles so I wonder if it'll probably be a bit burnt pan finish inside the cylinders and on the rings and injector tips unless it's been run hard a lot of the time. This will make itself known with poor sub zero starting and inability to accelerate easily enough through 100mph, either water injection or running the motor very hard for a consant few hundred miles cures them. Retarded injection timing (caused by chain stretch) only makes matters worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 As I say, the ignition barrel didn't help! She started right enough today after a couple of heats today. I've done 70 miles today, cruising at 70-90mph and she seems happy. It gets run hard all the time - if you stop acceleration, the glaciers catch up;) Skizzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 In a cubie? I'd have been a bit nervous, too - but have taken 25l containers through plenty of railway hubs. They're fairly substantial, was only once asked what they contained (by a Polish guard on Scotrail, who relaxed when he found out it wasn't petrol, diesel or anything more flammable than salad dressing).I think it was in four 5 litre bottles, they're a bit sturdier than cubies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Having read posts elsewhere on the forum commenting on a few PDs on veg, I thought it was worth mentioning that it's more that Common Railers on veg are the few, while PDs for veggers are steadily becoming the many now values are so low. From what I read, were I going to use a CR then it'd be max 60% veg, the rest mostly diesel with a splash of petrol dependent on time of year. PDs seem capable of running 100% veg if twin tanked and with a fphe, so 80% veg shouldn't be a big problem. I'd not use that GM soya on anything other than ancient IDIs if at all possible, besides glooping up then gelling as temps drop into lower single figures it doesn't burn cleanly like rapeseed (which is liquid down to -10C and below). Anyone mixing petrol with veg (even with some new oils) can expect gummy precipitations, it's a recognised way of cleaning and dewatering oil. As a minimum precaution mix one lot outside the car's tank and leave for a few days to settle and observe. www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/showthread.php?tid=43988&page=11www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/showthread.php?tid=44636vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/showthread.php?tid=45173 Lacquer Peel, 320touring, M'coli and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted January 7, 2019 Author Share Posted January 7, 2019 Good knowledge cheers, I was eyeing up PDs before the Merc came along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehedgehog31 Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I've been run off my feet the last wee while, not had a great time of it but some progress was made on the Hedgehog and Partners Waste Oil FIltration Station. Mr Touring came up and we set to further cleaning the free water butt acquired from Dome. This was set up with a 5 micron filter sock and 24 litres of veg passed through it as a test batch. It's in the back of my lock up with no light or heating, but the back wall does back onto a residential building which will hopefully provide some residual heat to save temperatures from getting quite so low. We're struggling through the winter bleakness at the moment, but hopefully will get a bit easier going in the spring. Also on a veg related note, my veg steed, the 405 is drawing air, probably from the filter housing. I have acquired a 320d cannister type fuel filter, I'm going to bypass the plastic filter housing with this filter and some 10mm fuel line. It will also significantly reduce the fuel line length and complexity. dome, 320touring, forddeliveryboy and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddeliveryboy Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Even after a decade of paying no more than 20ppl for most of my fuel and setting up a really decent, minimal-intervention process to ensure the oil is cleaner than pump diesel, wintertime still means everything takes a little longer, even with a heated, insulated dewatering/settling tank. Fortunately, fewer miles are driven November-March, but it's still good to have a largish storage tank - mine's an old central heating oil tank and holds about 2000l. Filtration elements should be used as a safety net rather than to catch all the bits you suspect are there - tipping collected oil into an initial settling drum, leaving for two or three weeks then pumping off the top 90% to be filtered is a really good start. Google the weir system of filtering if you want to spend nearly nothing on filtration. Time is always your friend, it's a balance between consumption, storage volume/space and time. 320touring and davehedgehog31 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehedgehog31 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 As mentioned over on my other thread, bypassed the plastic fuel filter housing on the 405. When it was really, really cold the pump was drawing air, could hear a bit of a squeak/whistle on startup as it tried to draw through the fuel. This seems to have now been resolved, fuel hoses were tired looking anyway so still worthwhile regardless. Also a look at the transfer setup for our veg. Have drawn off a few samples which do look good, but will run further tests before any sees the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 We are in for another possible cold snap end January - I run my '83 landcruiser on Tesco veg oil... but I will revert to diesel before it warms up again. Are any of the cold weather additives worth it. They stop gelling I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 The BMW 320D filter is good but costs loads. You can buy a Britpart Freelander 2.0Di filter for a fiver that does the same job (inline diesel filter with 8mm tails). Also you're going to lose the fuel heating. I'd suggest premixing the waste veg oil with 10% petrol or 20% diesel, letting it settle and filter the good oil that settles after two weeks.The stuff in your filter sock looks grim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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