gogreen - I don't have the model number of the pressure valve from lowes, but I can tell you it is with all the well equipment - the well pumps, pressure gauges, etc. If that lowes doesn't have wells, then go to Home Despot.

B.K. - I have a 1/2 hp motor with a 2.5" pulley going to the teel with a 3" pulley. When I run that at 1725rpm, it opens the pressure relief valve a lot - I am guessing about 30-50% of the oil pumped goes back out the relief valve.

However, the motor I have has a clutch on it that let's it run fast or slow (it's from an old washer). With the motor on slow, it pumps just the right amount to get 85PSI and almost no bypass. The biggest benefit of this is that the Teel pump is MUCH quieter at these RPMs. At 1725RPM it was really annoying - I could hear it in my house. At the lower RPM, I can't hardly hear it in my house.

If I was going to do it with a 1725 RPM motor and a Teel, I would gear it down substantially so the Teel is quiet. Probably about 2:3 or 3:4 would do it, but I'm not dead sure. I just got lucky with the gear ratio and 2 speed motor. I tried calculating the correct RPM from the spec given for the Teel, but it is not a linear relationship (pressure/flow/RPM) and my calculated required RPM of 1400 was way too high. I think you need about 1200 RPM for 90PSI.

I was worried about screwing up the CF, so I ordered a pump that's rated at 1.3cfm at 80psi, at 1725. That should be really close to just what I need at 80-85psi, with the thicker oil.

I followed this thread for about the first twenty pages, then got too involved in other things to keep up. I've tried searchign for the answer to my question, but I don't hink it has been asked previously.

Basically, I have a little concern that the CF'd oil is more likely to polymerize. The oil is heated, then sprayed. It would seem that that would be a perfect environment for it to oxidize. Especially since some molecules of oil are doing it mutliple times.

Has anyone tested the Iodine value of CF'd oil to see how it compares to other methods, or even just test oil before and after CFing it?

I haven't seen anyone testing iodine value on VO before and after with any filtering method, so I don't think you could compare to anything.

I have not had any problems with polymerizing, and my vehicle filter has lasted 5000 miles without a change so far with my oil run through this.

Polymerization seems to be a problem mainly in long term storage, so if you want to test anything, it should be before and after long term storage. I have seen some testing of B100 like that.

Hey Sunwizard and JOAT, I was wondering...

I am building my tank right now, in anticipation of purchasing a Dieselcraft CF in the next few days. I was wondering if you two could give your opinion about the effective rate of sediment removal per quanitiy of oil. The reason why is because I have about three to 4 full, 55 gallon drums of nice, settled WVO which I want to run through the CF and I do not want to be opening the CF up all the time to clean it. I would much prefer to run them in a looped system and have to open up the CF as infrequently as possible. Most of what will be processed will be bottom of the barrel settled WVO, the leftovers from removing the clear WVO from the top 2/3 of my storage tanks. Do you believe it would be wise to move up to the 50 series, or is the 20 sufficient? I would like to know your thoughts on the ammount of sediment and water removal with each of your Dieselcraft CF experiences.

Thanks!

John M.

and just to clarify a bit...

I have three to four, 55 gallon drums monthly, but I would like to error on the side of less cleaning than more. Thanks!

If your VO is already settled, you can probably run 4 passes without cleaning the rotor once. It all depends on how dirty the VO is, the rotor of the OC-20 holds about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of solids. This is much more solids than most brands of cartridge filters will hold before plugging.

I have one source where the VO is so dirty that there is usually about 4" of solids on the bottom of the barrel, before I do any settling. Of course you wouldn't want to run those "bottom of the barrel" solids through the rig.

Hey Sun,

Thanks for your reply.
I went back and re-read my paragraph, and I could have done a better job explaining my situation. I actually want to CF the settled bottom 1/3 of my tanks. The WVO that I get is really clean, and generally I take off the top 2/3 of each barrel and simply filter and was it, then use it as fuel.
These bottom 1/3 barrels are what I want to run through the CF. They have been collected through a 100 micron screen at the time of collection, so they are pretty clean (not dumpster collected). I would try to CF about 30-40 gallons of this at a time. Do you think the Dieselcraft -20 would be up to this, with your experience, or should I move up to the -50?

I will try to link a picture of one of my settling barrels. I would say that the bottom 1/2 of this barrel is what I would be trying to run through the CF. Looks bad, but is acually nothing but cream.



Thanks!

I would run it all but the bottom 2-4" through the CF. Then you don't need to buy the other filters you are using. I have run partially hydrogenated VO through it just fine, which looks like the bottom part of yours. Remember heat it to 120F.

Yes the -20 works fine without that much cleaning, and cleaning it is very easy. You don't have in your signature what vehicle you are running, so I can't tell what micron level you need to filter to.

Hey Sun,

I'm using a 1984 Chevrolet Suburrrban, 6.2L. I am going to make a two tank system for it soon. I call it the burrrban because it really doesn't like to start on cold days

hello all
as for cleaning rotor, I recently ran 25 gal barrel for 24 hours thru CF. I did not fill rotoror even come close. I do settle for a couple months.and collect clean oil.
Also running cf HEATS OIL IN MY SYSTEM TO 130 -140 without additional heat source

Silver

Saturday I picked up some oil from Chinese restaurant that I got permission from last week. The oil was nasty, more on that below, but after it ran in the DieselCraft for 19 hours minus the time it took to clean it 8 times, I took a sauce pan of oil and put it stove. When it go to about 160F it started to bubble with lots of little bubbles (BB size at the largest), no bumping, no steam and the oil cleared rapidly, the temp easily climbed over 220 and the bubbles continued. It appears that this was air that was added through the CF? I wonder how often this would be confused with water?

More about this batch of oil: When I picked this oil up it was well below freezing and I bucket dipped about 45 gallons into a tote in the back of my truck. It was all real dark cola colored even at that temp. Normally the oil I pickup at below freezing is a creamy colored.

I got home heated it and pumped it into a barrel through a fine screen. While heating the oil had little white smoke bubbles that came to the surface and popped. The oil smelled strong and emitted a gas that burned my eyes. I pumped it into large jean filters, but it pumped fast enough that I had to run the pump off several times and let it drain down. (I'm going to look for a different filter since I don't like waiting for sock filters to drain.)

I decided I'd mist wash. The wash water was surprisingly clear, the oil looked like peanut butter and still made my eyes burn when I looked into the barrel. I started the CF into a separate barrel, after the first run I cleaned a full rotor of mayonnaise like emulsion. I cleaned it three times in a row, each time a little less emulsion and more of the dark pasty stuff. Then I let it recirculation from the barrels, cleaning every few hours. Even after 19 hours I still got some black goop in the CF.

I also had the CF jet get plugged twice. For those not familiar with the DieselCraft it should make a definite high speed whirring sound, if it doesn't a jet is likely plugged.

I'm letting the oil settle for a few days, to see if it clears on its own, then I'll pan test for water.

Though I like the idea of not using filters, I’m going to have to do some filtering to avoid having to clean my CF as often. But, should I have not mistwashed, or mistwashed after running through the CF? Or allowed the oil to settle for a few days after mistwashing? Another thing I’m trying to avoid is having to heat and cool the oil, it would be nice to heat it once and finish all the filtering/cleaning with only minor heat input. Anyone’s thoughts are welcome.


Sam

Sam, I am not able to finish my set-up yet, but I plan to still mistwash first, then let settle 1 or 2 days (as I have time) and then run through the CF instead of what I do now which is gravity siphon from top of drum through 1-micron bag filter. I know the CF can do some of the filtering that the mistwash and settling does, but as long as I am not in too much of a hurry, why make it work more than it needs to.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fpmbsdca:
Sam, I am not able to finish my set-up yet,

That might be good, maybe you can learn from some of my mistakes. First I tried to build the whole system out of CPVC, the plastic not been able to hold up and I've just about replaced every connection with either brass or black steel. Even the thick walled plastic used for 3/4 inch pipe has cracked. It might just be the change in temps I have, that might not be a problem for you in San Diego. I thought I was being smart building the thing out of plastic, and a lot of the connections I had to order anyway, you should have more local access to a variety of parts, and I’d go with brass plumbing.

Also, I'd put drains in on both sides of my pump, it is really a pain and time consuming to drain all the pipes after I'm done running a batch. Yesterday, by the time I cleaned the DieselCraft the oil had started to jell in my system before I drained it.

You wrote: but I plan to still mistwash first,

That was my original plan too, in part to neutralize any acids that might be in WVO. I built my mistwasher figuring I could get all the water out the drain, that hasn't proven to be the case, some sticks to the side and bottom, the next batch I'll settle and pump out from a tube well above the bottom. When I redo the plumbing I'll have an "L" about 6 inches from the bottom and point it down so it doesn't fill with water from above.

You wrote: then let settle 1 or 2 days (as I have time) and then run through the CF

That is what I plan on doing, but even insulated I lose heat and value of settling diminishes, and adding heat un-does the settling through convection, so it is a still an open question to the value. I'm looking forward to seeing how the next couple days does in settling, or losing air bubbles in this batch.

You wrote: instead of what I do now which is gravity siphon from top of drum through 1-micron bag filter.

My problem is the bag filters are too slow and either require flow management or heat management. Apparently the CF doesn't get the less than 5 micron stuff very well, but I run the oil from my storage tank through a 2 micron perma-cool and a 1 micron cim-tek filter to my fuel tank anyway.

Sam

Hey guys, I just bought one of these and there are 2 left.
people having trouble adjusting the pressure on centrifuge Pressure regulator $25 with gauge

Sam where did you get the perma cool , from summit. They have one with adapter 2 micron for $39.88.
I like that idea for polishing. are those heads compatible with any other filters?

Chris

Hi Chris,

I got my perma-cool at Alamo Motor Sports:
http://www.alamomotorsports.com/pmc/Cat_page26.html

I haven't tried the filter mount on any other filters, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. I was thinking I paid about the same price for the filter and mount as you quoted, but now that I look at the link the quote is higher.

After 3 days of settling this batch of oil didn't settle out much water on the bottom. When I opened the barrel there was a lot of condensation on the top and sides of the barrel and the oil was still peanut butter light colored. I heated it to 230 F and drove the rest of the water off while leaving the top open and a fan blowing across the oil, that cleared it up. I'm just about to run it back through the DieselCraft.

The problem is trying to keep the oil warm via insulation requires shutting it up, which doesn't allow evaporation. Since the Dieselcraft failed to dewater this oil, when I get another batch like this I'm going to have to apply continuos heat and air flow to dewater.

Sam

Sam, as a heads up to save money in the future, Jegs has the same Perma Cool filter kit but $5 cheaper. I bought the mounts from Jegs and found filters available locally down to 2 micron. All WVO is sent through a filter element of known micron size before going into the truck.

Todd

quote:

Originally posted by Sam Crowe:
It appears that this was air that was added through the CF? I wonder how often this would be confused with water?

Air would be visible even before heating. If the bubbles appear only after heating, they are water turned to steam. You might also want to search for the pan test directions in this thread and many others, it would give better results than the way are doing it.

quote:

While heating the oil had little white smoke bubbles that came to the surface and popped. The oil smelled strong and emitted a gas that burned my eyes.

That sounds like some scary VO, what did it smell like?

quote:

Even after 19 hours I still got some black goop in the CF.

What temp and pressure are you running the CF? That seems long since I have done every batch in about 4 hours. How long did you settle the water after the mistwash and what temp was the VO when you mistwashed?

To try to figure out why you didn't dewater, did you capture the CF output from the moment you shut off the pump at each shutdown? Do you have your heater inline right before the CF and what size heater? In 19 hours of circulating, you should have got lots of evaporative dewatering from the hot VO being exposed to air. It sounds like maybe you had large amounts of water left in the VO after the mistwash and not enough settling, or not hot enough for the water to separate.

I wanted to ask a few questions for those that already have a Diesel Craft CF unit.
1. If a person placed a inlet and outlet fitting on the CF would you be able to pump cleaner through it to "flush" clean the unit every so often with a liquid cleaner?
2.While in cleaning mode, is there a way to allow fresh air to flow through the unti to remove any "steam" from the mix?
3. Is there any DC motor/pump setup that you have seen that will work with the C required volume pressure?
Thanks for any input,..
Phil