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Ouch!
climber
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Apr 30, 2006 - 08:23pm PT
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I just saw a show on TV about a guy who collects oil from restaurants and makes his own biodiesel. It's much more complicated than just filtering the oil. He had a garage full of equipment to process and blend and condition the different oils he collects. There's a bit of science involved.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Apr 30, 2006 - 08:35pm PT
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I haven't heard anything about a the reliablility of such a car, but I did hear that a veggie powered bus got harrassed by the bears a lot when it was parked in the C4 lot.
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Landgolier
climber
the flatness
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OK, here's the deal. I run bio, when I can get it, and have friends that use SVO.
-Biodiesel will run in any diesel engine with no modification to the engine and no performance issues, though 100% bio will congeal at low temps. You can make the stuff at home, it's really not that hard. A vegetable oil molecule is basically a diesel molecule stuck to a glycerin molecule, so you do a little chemistry to pull them apart and there you go. Some engines are more finicky than others; an '04 or newer VW or a jeep liberty with a CRD won't react well to low-quality bio, while a truck engine or an older VW will be fine. But with good quality control you can make very good fuel at home.
-Straight veg oil requires mods to the car, but when you total up what the equipment and other ingredients for making biodiesel it can sometimes make more sense to just spend the money on the car. You have to have a system that heats the tank, as well as a small secondary tank and a switch to hold the regular or biodiesel you use to start and stop the engine. The kits to do it cost about $1200 these days I think. You do have to filter the oil, which is best done at home and not on board. Only the pre- unit injection (up to '03) VW engines are good for conversion; the injection pressure is too high in a unit injected engine.
SVO can work really well. The only trouble usually comes from the conversion apparatus; it doesn't tend to mess up the engine itself. You do get a slight food smell, but it's hard to smell it unless you're behind the car
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Landgolier
climber
the flatness
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Also, the internet mecca for VW diesel heads is www.tdiclub.com
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akcIimber
climber
Eagle River, AK
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"I haven't heard anything about a the reliablility of such a car, but I did hear that a veggie powered bus got harrassed by the bears a lot when it was parked in the C4 lot."
This is correct. The owner of the vehicle was cited by NPS for leaving food in his car...the food being the vegetable oil in his tank.
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Anal C#nt
Boulder climber
Bald Knob, AR
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This is correct. The owner of the vehicle was cited by NPS for leaving food in his car...the food being the vegetable oil in his tank.
Incredible. Just goes to show what a bureaucratic hellhole the Valley is.
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Chaz
Trad climber
So. Cal.
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Sounds like a fun project. Not for me though. When I was a kid I worked at McDonalds. One of my jobs was filtering/changing the fryer grease (don't let them catch you calling it "grease" even though that's what it is).
I heat my house with diesel, and my tractor runs on diesel, but I will happily pay the going rate not to have to fool with fryer grease again.
I do like that your exhaust is going to be smelling like Filet O'Fish or Freedom Fries instead of smelling like poison.
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