Fuel System For Your Diesel

[Garagekeeper]

While at the SEMA Off Road show this week I had the pleasure with talking with Charles Anderson of Golden Fuel Systems, and checked out his "veggie" fueled truck. Their diesel conversion system to change over to vegetable oils is impressive, simple and what I would call very affordable. Here's is their website for you all to check out...www.goldenfuelsystems.com
Was funny to see his extra fuel can in the back too, a 5 gallon container of veggie oil from Sam's Club.
:rolleyes: John...

[apgarconstruction]

how many guys here are thinking of doing this kind of conversion in the near future. I know that I am, after looking at that site.
I haven't really researched it enough, but i'd like to know more about it. I have dual tanks, just wondering how long you can drive on one full tank of oil, my front tank is 22 gallon, and the rear is 18. the site says to keep the back for starts with regular diesel, and convert the front tank for veggie oil, and it can be used for diesel too if you want it.
what are the downsides to running the oil? can you only do it in spring/summer/fall temps?

900 bucks doesn't seem bad if you can save a lot on the cost of diesel, and it just keeps going up. gotta check out prices on veggie oil, or get used oil and filter it. wyldman, do these systems filter normal oil from a restaurant or do you have to filter it first before you pump it into the tank? from knowing what restaurant oil looks like from friers, i'd think it would have to be filter first and that the filter that comes with these kits is just a finer filtration system.

[wyldman]

It's not as easy as it sounds.In colder climates,you need a lot of heat to keep the oil at the optimum temperature,or damage occurs.

You also have to settle,boil,and filter the waste oil.It's the filtering that is a pain,as you'll clog up a lot of filters.The filtering is all additional,before it oges in the tank.You may also have some on road problems,as the vehicle filters still may plug with the fat in the oil,especially if it's not hot enough.

[apgarconstruction]

yeah, i read some other sites too about it. some sell single tank units which from what I am reading, doesn't require you to startup/shutdown with diesel.
I'd like to do it, even if it was just spring/summer/fall. the only downside i guess would be running low and not having any filtered. i would think it would have to be stored somewhere warm in a big tank as you filter it, so you can pump it while it's liquid into your tank.
the Elsbett site that I read said that injectors and glow plugs should be upgraded to ones that are meant to spray veggie oil, and longer plugs that get hotter and stay hotter longer. the site listed here says nothing of that.
i'm sure it's too expensive to buy a oil filtering system to have in the garage, to make the filtering part of the job easier.

[EZSnow]

When did they switch to "golden fuel systems"? That's Greasel. I thought the site was familiar feeling...

[urethane dino]

I personally would only do the switch if I could run new clean oil. I dont have the time or patience to trapse around the local restruants looking for used oil. I have a bud who makes his own, and the crap that gets dumped into his buckets is insane. Plus tons of leaves and alot of water.He uses the lime additive with gasoline and kerosene. He runs it straight into a gen 2 dodge cummins mechanical pump. No issues yet for him, but its only been a few months. He processes about 30 gal a week. He also mentioned alot o fryers use hydrogonated oil, all the fast food places and chinese places use that. That oil is NFG for processing, turns to solid lard lump when cooled.

[EZSnow]

Actually, it seems that most oriental joints DO NOT use hydrogenated oil around here. The trick for filtering is to get a setup that is fairly hands-off, and, once loaded, will run an entire batch by itself. The oil has to be heated to filter efficiently, and most plans call for at least 2 stages of filtering. Check out www.vegistroke.com for the latest in converting PSDs.

[apgarconstruction]

I haven't really checked to see what most restaurants around here are using, not a lot of fast food joints in my immediate area. I know the site said that to look for oil that is clear, even if it's dirty, it should appear to be clear and not milky or white in color. that means it's bad oil, or not the right oil.
I either want a system that filters it for me, or i'll buy new veggie oil to run through it, just gotta check the prices on that at BJ's or Sam's to see what 5 Gallons would run me.

[EZSnow]

Running new oil is not currently an economically beneficial option. Every once in a while, people score a sweet deal on virgin oil, but it's rare that it comes out cheaper than good 'ol #2

[BrockwayMT]

At this point I don't think it's worth the effort. In the cold climates you need to warm it up on diesel then switch back to diesel for a few minutes before you shut down. If you shut down on the veggie it will get hard in your injectors and lines and such. I still think it's a lot of work and effort.

[wyldman]

The WVO kits are not meant for short trips in cold weather.They are great for plow trucks,as they usually get warmed up before heading out,and don't get shut off for hours until your done.Today's quick purge systems don't require a lot of runtime to switch back to diesel.Some can even be programmed to run until the switch is complete.

[urethane dino]

http://www.dieselsecret.com/
is the product that my friend is mixing with the wvo. Not alot of love for this product at competitors web sites, especially the conversion people. Has been working well for my friend, he just sent 20 oz out for anaylisis. I am interested to see what that may reveal.
Dino

[Robh]

Correct me if im wrong but running anything but good ole diesel has to be illegal. What about the road taxes????.......Rob

[EZSnow]

Robh... tsk, tsk- we need to work on you way of thinking.

A WVO-converted vehicle is still very dependant on dino diesel. The WVO is simply an additive that greatly increases the amount of miles that can be traveled on a gallon of diesel fuel! :greenange

Everything I have read about diesel "secret" is that the #1 ingredient is snake oil.

[urethane dino]

the people that say the diesel secret is snake oil are the ones selling the wvo conversion kits. It is very hard to to fing straight answers to any of the questions to that are really important to me. A wvo is dependant on dino diesel for operation, mainly start up and shut down. But it is nice to know that you have options to run alternatives.

[wyldman]

Dino - you need very little diesel fuel to run WVO.Just enough to start it and warm it up,and then switch back over.Some guys only run a 1 gallon diesel tank,and it still lasts a long time.On a car it's less than 5 mins of warm up.A big truck will take longer.

[urethane dino]

Chris
I gues my point is that while you may not need much diesel, the engine is still dependant on it for operation. With out diesel you cannot start and warm up the WVO. Like you said a tank may last months, but you still need it for day to day operations.
Dino

[wyldman]

Yes,that is true.

You can run biodiesel for warm up.but only in warmer weather,as it tends to gel easily.

Some guys use WVO tank heaters,and electric coolant heaters to have everything preheated,so you can start and go.Problem is,the extra outlay for all the stuff,plus the cost of pre-heating it,are far more expensive than just starting on diesel for warm up.