| Biodiesel |
I am a BIG fan of biodiesel! I make biodiesel for the three diesel vehicles I own:
• 1994 Ford F250 Power-Stroke
• 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300SDL
• 1995 Kubota L4350 Tractor
and for the two additional vehicles my kids own:
• 1984 Mercedes 300SD
• 1985 Mercedes 300SD
I have run all three of my vehicles on 100% biodiesel since August 2006 and I have had no problems whatsoever. My kids added their vehicles to the list in mid-2007 and they too have had no fuel issues. |
| If you aren't familiar with biodiesel, there are numerous web sites with full technical descriptions. I'm not going to re-hash all that information because those other web sites do a fine job of it already. |
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| The main thing: biodiesel is a renewable energy source, one that doesn't require foreign sources or dependence, one whose source we can actually GROW as an agricultural crop, and in our case (with home brewers) one that is made from cooking oil that has been used and is now considered a waste product. Talk about "green fuel"! This stuff is amazing in every way! |
| As with most "new" solutions, we all want to know about the down side. What is "wrong" with using biodiesel? How does it perform in my diesel vehicle? Does it do any harm? Is there anything I have to do to make it work in my diesel vehicle--isn't there a "conversion" I have to go through? The common issues mentioned by most web sites when changing a diesel vehicle over to biodiesel are due to the solvent properties of biodiesel. |
| If your vehicle is older, biodiesel will eventually soften the natural rubber fuel lines and they will begin weeping fuel. Typically they don't burst or split -- they just sweat fuel and look wet. The fuel lines can be changed to anything synthetic. Most people strongly suggest Viton fuel lines but as long as you don't have natural rubber fuel lines, you should be fine for a very long time. |
| Once you run your older vehicle on biodiesel for a while, you might notice your engine starting to chug and starve for fuel. Biodiesel's solvent properties dissolves old fuel varnish and crust from inside your fuel tank(s) and fuel line(s) and washes it all downstream to your engine. Your filters take a hit for the first few thousand miles until your tanks and fuel lines are clean. Most of my biodiesel friends install pre-filters (cheap, see-through, inline fuel filters) ahead of their main fuel filter. This type of pre-filter is inexpensive and will dramatically extend the life of your main fuel filter (which is typically far more expensive than the inline versions) and a great idea I think. My Ford pickup is a direct-injected PowerStroke and the fuel filters are about $25 each so an inline filter (mine cost me about $2.50 each) is a good way to go! |
| Finding used cooking oil is another topic I'm often asked about. I went around my town and talked to several restaurant managers in person. I told them what I was doing (making biodiesel from used cooking oil) and I asked for their permission to take their oil when they were finished cooking with it. Out of all the restaurants I asked, I was turned down only once -- funny enough, the one place that denied me was already giving their oil to a biodieseler! All of the other restaurants I talked to were happy to give me their used cooking oil and cancel their oil-collection service (which costs them money). Most of them had a few questions for me about biodiesel in general and then agreed to let me have it. My agreement has always included coming on a specific day of the week, taking all of their used cooking oil, and cleaning out their holding tank. They have always been happy with me because I make sure to leave the oil storage area clean and neat with all spills cleaned up completely. |
| The restaurants receive their cooking oil in thin-walled, 5-gallon, plastic bottles packaged in cardboard boxes. Biodieselers I know call these bottles "cubies" -- they are NOT carboys! Carboys are much higher quality! I collect the empty cubies and use them to transport the used oil back to my house. Each week, when I go to collect my oil, I look in the restaurant dumpsters for new, clean cubies. If I find any, I take the new, clean ones and dump some of my old, dirty ones. I can get as many as 5 or 6 at each restaurant location so there's no problem getting new ones and as many as I need. |
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When I started making biodiesel, I used a hand pump to draw the oil out of the storage container at the restaurant and pump it into the cubies. It takes about 70 full turns of the crank to pump out 5 gallons -- enough to fill one cubie. That isn't too tough, even if you're collecting 60 - 70 gallons of oil. But I have never figured out a way to keep the pump from spinning around as I push down then pull up, push down then pull up. Everything gets oily -- your hands, the pump handle, the body of the pump -- EVERYTHING! And I can't seem to keep a good grip on the pump body to keep it from torquing around and around -- very frustrating! I'll come up with something. |
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I bought a 12-volt, biodiesel compatible delivery pump from Northern Tool and a deep-cycle 12-volt marine battery from Costco. The battery has a bail handle on it so I can easily carry it to the storage tank. The pump has alligator clip connectors so I can easily connect it to the battery. Man! Once I got this little pump, I was in business! It works great! I use it every time. One thing to note: There is a 25 amp fuse inside the pump motor housing. You can get access to the fuse behind a plastic cap after removing two Phillip's head screws. My recommendation is to bring some spare fuses and a screwdriver with you just in case the fuse blows while transferring your oil. The pump works great until you get down to the funk in the bottom of the holding tank where it can work pretty hard. The thick funk can cause excessive resistence inside the pump motor which can overload the fuse. Cold weather can thicken the oil too. |
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I also bring Nitrile gloves with me to collect oil -- mostly so I don't get back into my pickup and get slime all over my steering wheel. I use Nitrile gloves because that's what Costco sells. Costco switched from Latex gloves to Nitrile but I have found the Nitrile gloves to be far easier to tear than the Latex gloves were. It's a minor issue but if you're not allergic to Latex and you have access to Latex gloves, I would recommend them over the Nitrile gloves because you won't have to re-glove so many times. |
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| I always bring a full roll of paper towels with me. I go through a few of them while collecting oil (wiping off the outsides of the cubies, wiping the outsides of my gloves, wiping off the tailgate of the pickup, etc.). I toss the used, dirty paper towels into the restaurant's dumpster and go home clean. |
| One of the toughest things to find -- for me, anyway -- is lids for the cubies. Lids are a premium! Whenever I can find a lid, I rejoice because lids stop spills -- which is one of the worst things about collecting oil at the restaurants. So if I could give some advice: SAVE THOSE LIDS! |
| I would encourage anyone interested in making biodiesel to give it a try. You can get into it cheaply. It can be a part time hobby and merely a fuel-extender for your diesel burning vehicles or, if you are like me, you will want to fuel your diesels with 100% biodiesel and say goodbye to those gas stations for good! Either way, you really cannot lose by trying it. |
| I hope you consider giving biodiesel a try. You might enjoy it as much as I do. It's the kind of thing that can bite you and once bitten, you're likely to be hooked! |
| I welcome your comments. |
| David Bishop |
