It's not. I used a 4" side grinder, with 100 grit disc. Then finished off with my belt sander. New grits cut well, but, the steel powder dulls them, quickly. However, I had NO problems then, or now. Took probably 1½ hours total, from smear to testing ???

I bought some of the metal duct tape and applied it last night. I don't think it's going to come off because the CF effect of it should hold it in place. If it doesn't work, I'll likely use bondo so I have time to smear it into place. I was thinking it would be kind of interesting to put some tape on the outside of the bowl, apply some bondo or epoxy to the inside, and spin it up to see if it would fill in the holes. THen let it dry and peel it off. At least it would be distributed evenly with the power of the CF effect.

Wade

thanks for the great thread everyone. I read the whole thing last week and I got my Acme yesterday - craigslist, $35 (Ebay these days they seem to go for ~$45+$20 shipping), and i've just applied the resin. This thing is solid and it does run like a jet engine!

I'm planning to hang it like bio-me. I lengthened the machine bolts underneath to hang it that way rather than drilling out the case for suspending it.

Looking forward to testing this thing out!

btw-
what techniques did folks use to ensure a 5 gal per min flow rate?

I do not hang mine & it works very well. It will go unstable every once in a while but that usually is because I am trying to put too much flow through it. I run 5 gallon batches & clean it out regulary. It seems to go unstable less the cleaner I keep it. I have found running it slow works best for me because it not only keeps it from going unstable it pretty much insures me that the oil will pass the HPT everytime. If your oil is very dry to begin with then this may not be a problem but oil is scarce at times & I have taken oil that has quite a bit of water in it.

I do a HPT before & if it passes or appears to have very little water I will heat the oil to 100-120f & run it at approx. 3 gallons per hr. If the oil has alot of water I will heat to 160f & run it a bit slower. I do 3 HPT tests throught the run. 1 at the start, 1 in the middle of the run & 1 near the end. I have only had to run 2 batches twice to get it to pass the HPT. The rest have been fine after 1.

I still find it amazing how much crap this little unit will take out of the oil & how clean the oil is. Defintely not as fast as a dieselcraft but at a fraction of the price you can't go wrong.

Good luck.

I have a "Y" valve in the 1/2" clear output line ( I have a a tig welded pipe fitting in the spout) and an egg timer.
I punch the egg timer and switch the valve to measure the output in a 2 cup measuring cup over 30 sec.
The output is then dumped into my smoking saucepan to do a HPT, and if the HPT is OK I switch the valve back to drain into my clean cooler. The ball valve in my input line is easy to adjust to make minute changes in my flow.
I hope you'll post a picture of you rig when its done.
Mike

SunWizard:
Can you confirm for the masses what type of epoxy you used?

For example, Permatex has:
1 minute Permapoxy General Purpose Epoxy
5 minute Permapoxy General Purpose Epoxy
30 minute Permapoxy High Strength General Purpose Epoxy
4 minute Permapoxy Multi-Metal Epoxy

The list goes on a bit!!

Mike

SunWizard:
Can you confirm for the masses what type of epoxy you used?

For example, Permatex has:
1 minute Permapoxy General Purpose Epoxy
5 minute Permapoxy General Purpose Epoxy
30 minute Permapoxy High Strength General Purpose Epoxy
4 minute Permapoxy Multi-Metal Epoxy

The list goes on a bit!!

Mike

hey if anyone is interested I have an unmolested Acme Juicer that I've had for YEARS. I bought a big centrifuge from wvodesigns.com and while I was tempted to play with the Acme for fun, I figure if anyone wants it I'd rather offer it up here than to pay fleabay thier ever rising fees.

If someone wants it make me an offer :-)

quote:

Originally posted by canuck7870:
SunWizard:
Can you confirm for the masses what type of epoxy you used?

Bondo fiberglass resin (with hardener) in a quart metal can.

FWIW - I believe that the Bondo fiberglass resin sold at the auto parts stores is polyester resin (vs epoxy) .

"bio-me
member

Posted 08 September 2008 11:52 PM Hide Post
I used polyester resin ( Bondo ). Its easier to work with, less toxic and cheaper than epoxy.
I did have a couple of small pin holes blow out over the course of 1200 gals, but they were easily repaired.
Oil worked its way under the layer that overlaped the bottom of the side and bottomm itself.
I scored the bottom corner edge below the holes with a utility knife and scraped the bottom clean. No problems since.
Mike"

hey guys,

I've got an update, and a question.

My mileage so far:

It took me two coats of resin to get the basket to seal. I'm hanging it, no problems there either (i'll get you a picture soon, biome). Flow rate easily controlled with the ball valve, as biome detailed.

I ran about 7 gallons at a few gallons an hour (unheated oil), and got a thick peanut butter-like sludge out of the centrifuge. Awesome.

quick note tho - I had settled my oil for a few weeks first, but had not filtered it. I didn't realize it, but I had some lighter-than-oil particulates in the oil that passed right through the CF. filtering still necessary. i do it post-CF now.

A few days later, I ran another 7 gallons, only to come back and find a suspiciously empty basket. Tested for leaks, I found a leak at the top seal between the perforated wall and the top of the basket. Sad. Repaired the basket with another resin application. In the mean time, I got a bucket heater so I could be sending the oil through hot.

The basket seemed to be holding, then I ran another 7 gallons hot. Only to find another empty basket at shutdown. A different spot on the basket at the same seam had sprung another leak. I could tell it was a different spot because I had marked the first one with permanent marker that was still a tiny bit there. This time I made an effort to reseal that entire seam. sanding that entire edge in and out.

So today, with a basket that seems to be holding, and heated oil, I sent another 7 g through the juicerfuge, and I think the thermostat in the heater broke because the heated oil slumped the plastic bucket (the thermostat was supposed to turn off at just over 100f - it was a bucket heater marked "safe for plastic buckets"). And partially melted a polyethylene "float" I had in the bucket that I use to tell how full it is. This didn't actually cause a spill, only a slight sagging of the bucket. arrrgh.

Also, strangely, during that run, the basket seems to hold just fine, (i tested it for more leaks again just now) but it is not collecting any sludge. I'm running the same oil that I put through before when there were leaks. So this oil has gone through the leaky CF and twice, and most of this oil went through a post-CF-filter once. So I expected more peanut butter, but none there.

So, I have a number of questions for you.
1. Could the high heat have made the peanut butter sludge (lard and particulates?) become more liquid, and not separate out in the centrifuge?
2. Could 25% extra settling and a partial filtering have removed the peanut butter sludge prior to CF (about 70% of this 7 gallons went through the post-CF-filter at one point)?
3. Could the high heat make the PB sludge settle out but not be visible when I empty the basket? (I'm trying to understand the empty basket here. Is my oil that clean somehow?)
4. Could the slightly slumped plastic bucket and partially melted float (it was made of some spongy foam-material that's sometimes used to package electronics) have contaminated the oil with plasticy chemicals that would damage my engine?
5. Would those plastics come out of the oil if cooled and was re-filtered or re-CF-ed cold?

Ah, the strange questions that come from experimental and really cheap setups, eh?

Thanks again, guys. Lovely thread.

quote:

Originally posted by stripmind:
1. Could the high heat have made the peanut butter sludge (lard and particulates?) become more liquid, and not separate out in the centrifuge?

Yes, the most likely cause.

quote:

2. Could 25% extra settling and a partial filtering have removed the peanut butter sludge prior to CF (about 70% of this 7 gallons went through the post-CF-filter at one point)?

Yes.

quote:

3. Could the high heat make the PB sludge settle out but not be visible when I empty the basket? (I'm trying to understand the empty basket here. Is my oil that clean somehow?)

No.

quote:

4. Could the slightly slumped plastic bucket and partially melted float (it was made of some spongy foam-material that's sometimes used to package electronics) have contaminated the oil with plasticy chemicals that would damage my engine?

Unknown since we don't know what it was.

quote:

5. Would those plastics come out of the oil if cooled and was re-filtered or re-CF-ed cold?

Unknown since we don't know what it was.

quote:

Originally posted by stripmind:
QUOTE]4. Could the slightly slumped plastic bucket and partially melted float (it was made of some spongy foam-material that's sometimes used to package electronics) have contaminated the oil with plasticy chemicals that would damage my engine?

quote:

Unknown since we don't know what it was.

A couple years ago I thought I'd make a float with a hanging thermometer that could sit on the top of the oil. My float dissolved in the oil. Another idea bites the dust.

Sam

quote:

Originally posted by SunWizard:

quote:

Originally posted by stripmind:
1. Could the high heat have made the peanut butter sludge (lard and particulates?) become more liquid, and not separate out in the centrifuge?

Yes, the most likely cause.

This seems strange to me. But I guess i'm used to H2O (the solid floating on the liquid. is oil denser in solid form than liquid? If this is true, should I cut the heat and run it slower? I don't want something that might gel or accumulate in unheated parts of my car (tank and some lines).

Also, I looked up what the float is, it's a blown polyethylene, and the bucket is a high density PE.

stripmind - Which product did you choose to
seal the holes ? Please post some pics (upload here or Photobucket and paste links ) of your Acme juicer CF project . - Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by stripmind:
is oil denser in solid form than liquid? If this is true, should I cut the heat and run it slower?

Correct, PHO and fats are heavier than VO. See: You have white crap in the bottom of cubies and barrel?
I keep the PHO in my VO since it burns great, I run on 100% PHO most of the time. A better solution than the extra work to remove it is to change your conversion to provide enough heat.

hey sam crowe,

what did you do with the oil that dissolved your float? Did the plastic turn up at any point later in your processing? Did you put it in your car? Any problems?

quote:

Originally posted by stripmind:
hey sam crowe,

what did you do with the oil that dissolved your float? Did the plastic turn up at any point later in your processing? Did you put it in your car? Any problems?

It was a piece of foam insulation about 4X4X1 inches, and completely melted away in 40 or so gallons of oil. I used the oil, maybe it showed up in a filter, or centrifuge and I didn't recognize it, but otherwise it burned up in my engine. That was 60k+ miles ago, and my engine still runs like new.

Sam

thanks for the update, sam.

rkpatt,
I used the bondo polyester fiberglass resin that others are using.

As for pictures,
it's a bit tight in my vegoil closet (under an outdoor stair, actually) for demonstration photograpy, but I did take a dark picture today. I'll post better ones later hopefully, if I can get my hands on a wide-angle lens.

In this picture I just finished running it for an hour filled with standing water, to test for leaks, so that's why the basket is mounted without the plastic surrounding bowl.

it drains into the plastic carrier box it's sitting above. I have 3 55g barrels in there too. I gravity feed the juicer from a 5 gallon bucket.

http://flickr.com/photos/16756594@N00/3062802888/sizes/o/

some old pictures here show other, (also tight) angles.

http://www.stripmindmedia.net/blog/2008/03/more-oil-settling-delivery.html

actually, I'll just upload a drawing to show better. here you go:

http://www.stripmindmedia.net/blog/images/WVO-schematic.jpg

Initially I was only settling/filtering in this very tight location. I have a supply of really clean oil, but only about 10 gallons a week (which I pick up in 5g containers). That was plenty until recently when my wife's commute got huge. Right now we're supplementing with much dirtier oil, which is why I wanted to get the Acme running. That history may partly explain the growing number of ball valves down there. I also had no power in the closet until putting the Acme in there, so that's why I'm using these hand-pumps.

Hi Stripmind,
Nice to see someone trying the hanging Acme.
I hope you can post some more pic's.
I don't know much about low temp CFing, as I've always run mine at 160F.
I've had two blowouts in 1500 gal of processing, all easily patched.
Do you have any problems with the lid rattling?
I have had problems with the lid rattling, which I tried to solve by drilling out the upright horns and using a stud and nut to hold the lid down. This eventually led to one of the horns developing a large stress crack. I then cut them off and instead used two bungee cords across the top and one wrapped around the base. No problems since.
I've had light flecks of my top cooler insulation pass through the CF, also. I've added a 10 micron filter to catch this and other dirt that gets in due to Cfing in the great outdoors.
I cover the spout opening with a shop rag to catch stuff falling in there.
I also use a lot of PHO and it goes right through.
If I use well settled oil, I often don't get any sediment in the bowl, either.
Mike