SVO

Originally Posted by daved

Darwin what power is the heater? I read an article a while back that was discussing electrical v's water heated svo warmers.

Both had their merits but the conclusion was a combined one was best.

Water heated ones are slower to warm the oil so that doesnt help at start up whereas an electrical one that warms the oil sufficiently at start up frazzles it later.

I dont know one way or the other having not used one , I'd be interested in your conclusions before you bought

(just noticed lacroupes earlier post )

The only problems I ever experienced was starting on days when there was frost , this led to poor starting and/or engine light comming on occasionally and sluggish becuase my 100% SVO didnt flow fast enough (it was unheated and umixed)
(hot water heating doesnt work quick enough especially as I only do 22 miles a day)

and 2 the smell ...... people kept complaining about the smell of the new chip shop down the road but I made that better with a few squirts of baby oil (no really).

On another note : if you are going to use ''used'' oil make sure you filter it COLD , normally bits of dead animal are cooked it oil , animal fat is a solid , you dont want lard in your pipes.

[Deleted account DD]

Jeremy, very interesting points about the deterioration of the engine internals, but surely something similar is going on at whatever rate to whatever degree as an engine ages?

As far as cylinder and piston ring contamination goes a dose of millers via the fuel system should help alleviate that.

As for the "runaway" syndrome. Thats very old science. Dieseling as its known has been around ever since any oil + air + compression were mixed together and has historically occured in engines and shock absorbers (to name two items) not set up correctly or unservicable/defective. As an explosion the results depend how contained it is ..................... or isnt

My TII has never ran better, it still uses its min amount of lube and does not suffer any form of run on at all , over 10 000 miles of mixed svo use. Using the white paper and solvent I couldnt see any unusual contamination or substances in the poil and no excess water when I changed it.

I do agree without reservation regarding running problems and misfires when the oil solidifies or becomes glutinous. I've had that when I was caught out in a cold snap which produced poor running symptoms similar to those in the quoted article, its never happened otherwise.

Its all interesting stuff


For the record SVO=Single veg oil, not 100% correct because it could be a belnd of different oils but basically clean, uncontaminted and not yet used. WVO= waste veg oil and can come filtered unfiltered, dry wet etc etc.

[Deleted account DD]

Darwin, I get the chip shop comments too

Bloke at the car wash loves it, my kids hate it...............cant please everyone all the time

[lacroupade]

For the record I wouldn't touch WVO for this use - its really only good for biofuel production from what I've seen....which might be another idea since I have the space! Just unsure what the implications of making and reselling it are - which you'd probably want to do cover the hardware setup costs....

[extreme-4x4]

the only trouble i see buying bulk and selling on , is you become responsible for other peoples problems and faults they get.

is it worth the headache

[lacroupade]

get 'em to sign a disclaimer.

or buy a cheaper biodiesel convertor LOL

been to makro yet then?

or can't you find the stepladder?

[Terranosaurus]

Originally Posted by lacroupade

For the record I wouldn't touch WVO for this use - its really only good for biofuel production from what I've seen....which might be another idea since I have the space! Just unsure what the implications of making and reselling it are - which you'd probably want to do cover the hardware setup costs....

If you start selling bio it becomes taxable.

I run my van and my T2 on Bio from UKBIO in shefield. Run 50-75% bio depending on the weather. No problems.

I used to run SVO (straight vegetable oil) at anything up to 100% when hot and then add a % of dino just before I got home to dilute it so it would start properly next morning but as I can claim the VAT back on fuel Bio is cheaper for me than SVO which has no VAT, and I don't have room to buy SVO in bulk to get the cost down.

WVO needs cold settling to remove solids both settled (from the bottom) and solidified (from the top) and then hot filtering (it filters easier when thin) then stand again to settle the water out better wen its hot and thin. You really have to have the space and time to treat WVO for use and even more for proper bio production. + many chippies etc are now charging for waste oil as they know there is a demand for it - proper chippies used dripping anyway.

[lacroupade]

Originally Posted by Terranosaurus

If you start selling bio it becomes taxable.

I run my van and my T2 on Bio from UKBIO in shefield. Run 50-75% bio depending on the weather. No problems.

I used to run SVO (straight vegetable oil) at anything up to 100% when hot and then add a % of dino just before I got home to dilute it so it would start properly next morning but as I can claim the VAT back on fuel Bio is cheaper for me than SVO which has no VAT, and I don't have room to buy SVO in bulk to get the cost down.

WVO needs cold settling to remove solids both settled (from the bottom) and solidified (from the top) and then hot filtering (it filters easier when thin) then stand again to settle the water out better wen its hot and thin. You really have to have the space and time to treat WVO for use and even more for proper bio production. + many chippies etc are now charging for waste oil as they know there is a demand for it - proper chippies used dripping anyway.

had to smile at the last bit! how true....mmmm decent chips!

hadn't thought about the tax angle - good point.

just curious about your comment about adding a bit of dino on switchoff, since without a proper dual tank system, allowing you to switch back to 100% diesel just before you stop and thus flush the fuel lines with neat diesel for better starting, I'd be a bit concerned about trying to start with a high % of SVO in the pipes, especially if the weathers starting to turn...

But how does adding a small amount to the tank ensure it ends at the pointy end of things ready for next day? surely it just gets diluted in the tank? or did you have a trick???

[Terranosaurus]

Originally Posted by lacroupade

had to smile at the last bit! how true....mmmm decent chips!

hadn't thought about the tax angle - good point.

just curious about your comment about adding a bit of dino on switchoff, since without a proper dual tank system, allowing you to switch back to 100% diesel just before you stop and thus flush the fuel lines with neat diesel for better starting, I'd be a bit concerned about trying to start with a high % of SVO in the pipes, especially if the weathers starting to turn...

But how does adding a small amount to the tank ensure it ends at the pointy end of things ready for next day? surely it just gets diluted in the tank? or did you have a trick???

Trick was I used to plan how much fuel I would need for the day and put that in during the day when everything was up to temp, if I ran out I'd have some spare on board anyway but never did. Then I would run the tank pretty low at the end of the day, then add £5 or 10 of diesel before going home, so I would have something like 50% veg oil in the tanks and pipes when I switched off so start up would be good but I could then run on higher percentages - bit like having a twin tank set up but without the expense.

[lacroupade]

Hmmm cunning! I think I'll stick to 50/50 max for now and see how it goes.

No problems so far but have noticed that it splutters a bit on start up from cold and blows a bit of blue smoke. Now I know they say using SVO can expose problems and since it runs perfectly when even slightly warm (the smoke and splutter lasts only a few seconds) I'm wondering if my plugs might want changing. I've noticed that it seems to take at least twice as long as the older truck for the preheat light to extinguish and I'd put that down to either a weakish battery (75AH of unknown vintage, so was planning at least a 90/100 AH replacement soon) or dodgy glowplugs.

Since they aren't that expensive, is there any mileage in just swapping them out? I have a meter but not sure where to stick it - if you know what I mean (Team Wales keep quiet).

[extreme-4x4]

Originally Posted by lacroupade

Hmmm cunning! I think I'll stick to 50/50 max for now and see how it goes.

No problems so far but have noticed that it splutters a bit on start up from cold and blows a bit of blue smoke. Now I know they say using SVO can expose problems and since it runs perfectly when even slightly warm (the smoke and splutter lasts only a few seconds) I'm wondering if my plugs might want changing. I've noticed that it seems to take at least twice as long as the older truck for the preheat light to extinguish and I'd put that down to either a weakish battery (75AH of unknown vintage, so was planning at least a 90/100 AH replacement soon) or dodgy glowplugs.

Since they aren't that expensive, is there any mileage in just swapping them out? I have a meter but not sure where to stick it - if you know what I mean (Team Wales keep quiet).

i just had visions of an old cary on film .... the one with the daffodil

[lacroupade]

Originally Posted by extreme-4x4

i just had visions of an old cary on film .... the one with the daffodil

kiss my hairy a**...

[Deleted account DD]

Originally Posted by Terranosaurus

If you start selling bio it becomes taxable.

I've never considered selling it so I've never taken any notice of suppliers regs but I do seem to remember the latest white paper (searching for it now ) allows the magic 2500litre threshold too????????

[Deleted account DD]

and on a lighter note have a read of this http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/footnmouth/biofuel.html

The asda managers comments about healthy eating are


(ps old article so the bit about tax etc has changed)

[Deleted account DD]

Originally Posted by daved

I've never considered selling it so I've never taken any notice of suppliers regs but I do seem to remember the latest white paper (searching for it now ) allows the magic 2500litre threshold too????????

Here we go, now this refers to biodiesel but as HMRC seem to bunch alternative road fuels together I'm pretty certain it covers vege oil as a straight supply rather than manf, so according to the first paragraph:






"Revenue & Customs Brief 43/07

Follow up to Revenue & Customs Brief 37/07 on Biofuels Simplification

• Revenue & Customs Brief 37/07

issued on 19 April 2007 confirmed that the following changes applying to biofuel producers were to be introduced:

• A production threshold of 2,500 litres per annum below which producers will not need to enter premises, submit returns or pay duty, and
• A reduction in the frequency of returns for all but the largest producers (defined as those producing over 450,000 litres per annum) from monthly to quarterly.

We can now confirm that these measures will be introduced on 30 June 2007."








still like clarification though