Hey Diesel guys: WVO?

[coolwind57]

Anyone currently doing WVO?

I'm setting up for it now.
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1983 Vanagon Diesel L
NA 1.6, 5-speed Manual
Burning Waste Vegetable Oil, baby!!

[Alan Brase]

Several from the yahoo diesel Vanagon list are.
Al
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Al Brase
Projects: 67 sunroof bug, 67 Porsche 912 Targa, 70 Westy
Dec 1955 Single Cab pickup WANT 15" BUS RIMS dated 8/55, thru 12/55
To New owners: 1969 doublecab, 1971 Dormobile
Vanagons:
80 P27 Westy JUL 1979, 3rd oldest known US
83 1.6TD Vanagon, 87 Wolfie Westy daily driver, swap meet home

[captainpartytime]

I'm doing biodiesel. It's a little more work processing the WVO, but I like the fact that I don't need an aux. tank, heaters, switches...etc. Who doesn't love a little garage alchemy?
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-Kerry

1982 turbo diesel Westfalia

[the caveman]

been on WVO for about 2 months now. Had to do a service call about 90 kms /55 mi away the other day. left town with my diesel fuel gauge at the last white pin before empty. beautiful.

[coolwind57]

[the caveman]

Truth be told i'm a dealer /installer for Plantdrive although i use components from several sources to make my kits. I will post some pics soon however just to tell you i use a tank that i got from Dieselveg in the UK although it's Italian made. The best tank i sell. Tough and solid. A Hotfox heat exchanger for the tank, a Vegemax fuel filter/heater, some triple bypass hose from Golden fuel systems, then 2 Hydraforce valves,and finally a Vegetherm heater and temp sensor.I had to use some nicer components because i need a vehicle to showcase and you wouldn't have to use some of the stuff i did. You'll be able to use a cheaper tank , some regular coolant and fuel hose and a single 6 port valve. The 2 things i wouldn't skimp on would be a good quality fule filter with a water seperator and the vegetherm fuel heater and sensor. That heater is a cheap effective way to assure the VO is up to the right temp before it runs into the injection pump. I will try to take pics later today.

[coolwind57]

Sounds great. I have purchased several components, including a fuel filter with electric heater and built in hand pump for priming newly installed replacement filters. I picked it up from E-bay. I've also bought a supplementary fuel pump to assist the WVO getting to the IP.

I'm presently fabricating the tank. It is an aluminum square tank that looks to hold about 40 gallons, but I'm cutting it down a bit as I install 1/2" copper tubing inside for the heat exchanger. I'm still debating HIH (actually tube inside hose) versus HOH.

Where exactly did you tap into your coolant? I'm removing my rear heater coil and I'm thinking of tapping in to the stock hose there.

My plan is to heat the oil within the tank via the copper tubing heat exchanger. I'll then pump the fuel via HIH or HOH to the engine near the IP where I'll have the electric heated fuel filter. The guy that sold me the filter says the heated filter will bring the temp up another 50-75F.

Anyhow that's the basic plan. I haven't yet decided upon a fuel selector valve yet. I've heard Pollack is not very durable and I'm still a bit confused on whether to use a 6-way or two 3-ways. I'd prefer not to send return diesel back to the WVO tank and vice versa upon purge cycle. Any thoughts?

I did see one idea of simply corking the return line at the diesel tank an tapping your return line back directly into the supply line. That seems kind worrisome to me, though.

Anyhow, thanks for your input. If you have an ideal valve for me, I'd be happy to buy it from you if you're a salesman there.
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1983 Vanagon Diesel L
NA 1.6, 5-speed Manual
Burning Waste Vegetable Oil, baby!!

[the caveman]

Okay here's some pics. But before i start, i hate to tell you-DON'T USE COPPER in a VO tank. It will corrode . Not right away but in a year or 2 it will hit critical mass and rot within weeks or days and then you will have coolant in your fuel and then you'll have to dish out for a new pump and injectors.

My wonderful transporter

tank behind seat

heated 5 micron VO fuel filter

double 3 way hydroforce valves

components in engine bay

vegetherm and sensor

[coolwind57]

Great shots, man, thank you.

I've seen tons of pictures of guys using copper tubing inside their tank. Would you suggest aluminum perhaps? I do have a local source for aluminum tubing, no problem.

What's causing the corrosion...the oil (not the coolant)?

How exactly did you route your fuel returns? Would you recommend the double 3-ways over a 6-way then?

Excellent project. That's too cool.
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1983 Vanagon Diesel L
NA 1.6, 5-speed Manual
Burning Waste Vegetable Oil, baby!!

[the caveman]

aluminum would be okay even better would be stainless.
They corrode due to some electro chemical reason [ i forget exactly what], but the problem is how it degrades fine day ,bad the next.
I would suggest one 6 way valve, keeps it simpler and easier to attache to the body. The Pollack brand is nice because it has 3/8 " fittings on the feed side and 5/16 "on the return, makes it a little easier to plumb.

[a914622]

coolwind57

I helped i guy out with a home vw diesel gen. system running on oil. I found a SAAB 900 with a auto tranny cooler that was part of the lower radiator hose. It had an in put for 3/8 or 1/4 hose that ran thru a coil inside the Coolent/radiator hose. The diesel had to be started on diesel then a coolent temp switch fliped it over to oil when hot .

Ill run thru the wrecking yard and see if i can find one and post some pics..

jcl

[the caveman]

is it 50 - 75 F or C ? it should be about 80-100 C for it to be close to diesel viscosity. You need an extra heater with some kind of thermostatic control. That's why a vegetherm works so great. Very simple, hose on one end, one out, 2 wires with 2 more to control the relay with the sensor.135 bucks or less with the sensor. Using your heater connections will be perfect.
Pollack valves are very reliable when mounted properly-no hanging off the engine with a tye-wrap.
I've only seen one fail.They are Ford standard equipment on trucks with 2 tanks.

[coolwind57]

Sorry for the delay in answering.

The guy who sold the heated filter says it'll increase the temp another 50-75 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm sure that depends on many variables.

I am a bit concerned about not having this thing on a thermostat. I'll have to look into this more.
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1983 Vanagon Diesel L
NA 1.6, 5-speed Manual
Burning Waste Vegetable Oil, baby!!

[AndyBees]

It would seem to me that the tank should be located mid-way underneath between the two chasis beams. There is a lot of space there!

Has anyone considered such an installation?
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003.

[johntyberg]

Andy,

Reiney talked about building a tank to install between the jack points. It can be found in this thread:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=287408&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0


I was waiting for a follow up post to see how it turned out, but haven't seen one yet. Did I miss it?

[coolwind57]

I briefly considered installing mine there, but I'd prefer to have optimal insulation. I'm looking at having my tank installed directly behind the two front seats. It'll be enclosed within a sort-of entertainment cabinet.

I'm looking to be pretty creative: I'll finish in maybe a cool exotic wood (I work in the wood flooring business). I'm going to have a DVD player in the center and maybe speakers on the outer edges. The tank will be inside and well insulated. I'm actually looking at having a blower push heat from the top of the tank for circulation during the winter, so I'll have vents that I can shut off in the summer. Filling and observation of the tank will be accomplished via a hinged door or two.

Sounds ambitious? Well, this all is the plan in my head for now -- subject to change one I get going on it.
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1983 Vanagon Diesel L
NA 1.6, 5-speed Manual
Burning Waste Vegetable Oil, baby!!

[tencentlife]

[the caveman]