Hello one and all,

First I just want to thank Jon from Dieselcraft (Mr. Dieselcraft) for his amazing service and support of this amazing little centrifuge. Truly, between the quality of this item and his amazing support for our community, I have gotten far more value than the few extra dollars I spent buying this centrifuge over the competitors. I am not saying that just to kiss ass, but its just a really nice experience having someone so helpful, patient, knowledgeable and courteous through my many 'experimental moments' (i.e. frustrations). Ok so here is what I have learned and a stupid but important question.

INFO: I am building a Push/Pull reactor that requires a vacuum be used which basically means in my design, that the centrifuge needs to be sealed into the system - it can not simply drain into the open air and spill into the tank, For many reasons which I will explain in a later post, the drain of my centrifuge eventually moves into a 3/4" outlet into my tank. I built what I thought were safeguards against backing oil up in the drain of the centrifuge - 2" vertical drainpipe for six inches immediately under the CF drain and before constricting down to 3/4". After that I put a 3/4" PVC sight tube which drained into the tank. In my tests, the sight tube never filled up completely and seemed never to back up.) However after running some more tests, the centrifuge after about 2 minutes seemed to spin down. After talking with Mr. Dieselcraft, he said indeed that the CF was backing up which was causing the CF to spin down. He suggested that I drill a small hole in the black cover. (He was more than generous with this suggestion in case I screwed up.) Well I put a 1/16 hole in the top about 1/2" away from the wing nut on top, and.... WOW. it works perfectly. No oil comes out this hole as it sucking air in and the 3/4" tube evacuates quickly into my tank. The hardest thing about this procedure was to be patient when using such a small drill bit and not pushing too hard to cause it to snap.

Question:
What is the best way to clean the bowl, that metal insert and the bottom jets. Simple dishwashing soap and a plastic srcungie (3M rough sponge kind of thing)?

Thanks
Doug

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Weiner:
What is the best way to clean the bowl, that metal insert and the bottom jets. Simple dishwashing soap and a plastic srcungie (3M rough sponge kind of thing)?

Hi Doug,

First, I agree with your comments about John and DieselCraft - the best.

Yes to all you said. If you want to ease the cleaning of the "bowl" you can soak it in warm soapy water for a couple hours. I use WD-40 to hose out the jets and ports in both direction, and run gun cleaning brush down the center, then wipe clean with paper towels.

Sam

just wanted to put my 2 pennies in on the pumps used, i started off with a teel gear pump, which was very noisy, just like all of the videos posted on the site and utube, so after the shaft seal started leaking i went and picked up a .20cu/inch per rev hydraulic pump, which i close coupled to a 1/2hp 1750rpm motor and it is as silent as it can be, and a perfect match, when oil is cold i need to bypass some, but when its at about 130*f it pumps the perfect 100psi, and it was 10 bucks cheaper for the hydraulic gear pump than the teel pump.
best choice i made after buying the centrifuge in the first place, happy spinnin everyone

Quick question about somthing I see using a DC. If I put a sample in a glass jar when done with the process it will have a lower layer collect after a few days. I assume it is fat that settles out as it cools as it has a white color to it. Not much mind you but if I test it for water I find none. Anyone observed this?

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Weiner:
Question:
What is the best way to clean the bowl, that metal insert and the bottom jets. Simple dishwashing soap and a plastic srcungie (3M rough sponge kind of thing)?

Thanks
Doug

1. Use Spoon Handle to scrap off the crud.
2. Use Dishwashing Soap, toothbrush and a little running water to brush off the remaining crud.
3. Use bent safety pin to clear the nozzle holes in and out.
4. Use Can Air Spray (those used for computer cleaning.) to blow open the nozzle.
5. Dry with paper towel.

No need to really soak, since soaking takes time.

Also make sure you clean the shaft from dried polymerized WVO. If you don't, the rotor tends to 'sieze' on the shaft and sometimes it won't freely spin.

First thing I do is put on rubber gloves. That stuff in the bowl is nasty. Then I take a cloth and use it to peel the crud off the sides of the bowl. I then take another cloth, dip it in the hot oil that came out of the spinner after I opened it and use that to "wash" the inside of the bowl out. That takes care of all the small smudges of crud.

I take a can of cleaner and spray off the remaining crud and shoot it thru the jet holes to clean them out. Then I blow the whole thing out with air just to be sure.

Wade

quote:

Originally posted by Raften:
I assume it is fat that settles out as it cools as it has a white color to it. Not much mind you but if I test it for water I find none. Anyone observed this?

Hi Raften,

Yes that is fat that settles out, no problem if you use a heated system...and if you do, it is even a benefit to have the fat/saturated oils since they don't polymerize easily. I have the same in my oil.

Remember it has to be hot to even move through the filter from your storage tank to your vehicle.

Sam

Hi all

This is my first post. I have read all 147 pages and have learned a lot. Thanks Sun and all who have contributed. I am making a mobile only system as I live in a 38 diesel pusher motor home. I have perished a 55 gallon aluminum V shaped boat tank to use as my dirty tank. I will be using an OC 20 or OC50 centrifuge. I will weld a ¾ half coupling in the back of the tank at the lowest point. This will be the intake for the pump. The pump will be the lowest point. I would like to run pipe to the pump with the last 4 inches being clear tube so I can monitor oil flow and water. From the pump oil will flow through a 4 inch long high pressure hose in to 1.25 pipe T with 4500 watt heater element wired to 110 then 4 feet of 1.25 pipe to two 1.25 90 degree fittings and 4 feet of pipe into another 1.25 T and heating element (the U turn in the pipe is to put both elements out where they can be serviced and to end up close to the centrifuge) from the T into the centrifuge. This is where I have not decided whether to pipe the centrifuge strait in to the tank with a three way valve to catch the shut down oil or have a large opening that can be sealed back for travel. What type of pipe would give me the least problems being screwed in to aluminum half couplings? I am concerned about different expansion rates of black iron pipe or galvanized pipe in the aluminum half couplings. The last thing I would want is large leak in the basement on the motor home. Will I need a pressure relief valve other than the bypass valve that comes with the centrifuge (maybe as a safety)?

Thanks Ken

quote:

Originally posted by ccrouse:
What type of pipe would give me the least problems being screwed in to aluminum half couplings?

I don't know.

quote:

Will I need a pressure relief valve other than the bypass valve that comes with the centrifuge (maybe as a safety)?

Yes its a good idea.

What ever you screw into the alum, coat the threads with anti sieze or a mix of pipe dope and anti sieze. And yes I know I can't spell it right and would appreciate the right way from anyone.

Ya got em all there just slightly wrong order seize.

i picked up a hydraulic gear pump similar to this one:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/p..._200329714_200329714

it is very quiet, and perfect flow, i got it coupled to a 1/2 hp motor, doesnt even have to work, got centrifuge hooked up to it, similar to a oc20 dieselcraft, i got a filterfuge, even with it spinning along at 90 psi and 140*f i need a little bypass but it is very quiet, from all the utube videos ive seen i know they are all very noisy, and it was when i was using one of those teel pumps, but the shaftseal started to leak so i looked for an alternative, the best part is, these pumps are designed for much more pressure, so the seal is not stressed and should last forever. overal for me it was cheaper than the teel pump., soon i will post a video and pictures of it runnin, i would recommend this typ of setup to anyone. just my 3 cents ( the canadian doller whent down again)

Sun
Where did you get your 3 way valve for your mobile system

Thanks Ken

www.mcmaster.com but I don't use it anymore since it dewaters 3x quicker with the CF outlet wide open.

Sun
You run your CF wide open in your mobile rig? What about the oil mess while moving?

Thanks Ken

Personally I do not understand why so many people want to build a "mobile CF" that they can run while driving down the road. I would never want to go on a trip and feel like I was in such a hurry that I had to run a noisey CF rig in the back of my truck while I was driving then stop to clean it every now and again. If I have 4 hours or so or I stay overnight I can simply run the CF transfer it into my tank, seal up the the CF system and drive away to the next destination. I guess my idea of a road trip includes more then just straight non stop driving.

quote:

Originally posted by wydra:
Personally I do not understand why so many people want to build a "mobile CF" that they can run while driving down the road. I would never want to go on a trip and feel like I was in such a hurry that I had to run a noisey CF rig in the back of my truck while I was driving then stop to clean it every now and again. If I have 4 hours or so or I stay overnight I can simply run the CF transfer it into my tank, seal up the the CF system and drive away to the next destination. I guess my idea of a road trip includes more then just straight non stop driving.

Mobile does not necessarily mean operating while going down the road. Although mine is capable of doing so I have never used it that way as of yet. We live in a country where it's ok to do things the way you want to. So you do it your way and I'll do it mine. Neither way is wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by ccrouse:
Sun
You run your CF wide open in your mobile rig? What about the oil mess while moving?

I don't run while moving. I could because I have a sealed lid to put on the barrel, but then it dewaters much slower. Much easier and faster to do while stopped.

OK, maybe a random question, but I was wondering if it matters if the holding tank for the veg that's being filtered is more horizontal than vertical (a low-profile rectangle tank versus 55 gallon drum)? My thinking is that in a mobile setup that I'd like everything to fit below the bed rails, and I could use about a 50 gallon tank to do this that's less than 18" tall. Any concerns for the oil to be properly cycled through with this type of setup?

No problem as long as you drain from the lowest point of a tilted tank bottom.