I tried the pan test for the first time and got these results:

The thin layer of oil produced many teeny tiny bubbles but NO crackling noises at all.

Is this amount of water a concern? does the oil need to make crackly noises to be "too much water"?

I let the oil sit in the hot pan for a while and the bubbles eventually disappeared...has anyone tried to boil out the water from their oil? i am wondering if a maple syrup boiler type set up would work...if the surface area of the oil is large maybe this could be a practical way to dewater. I have seen HUGE maple syrup operation that heat the oil and the oil passes, via gravity, through a series of channels in the metal evaporator pan. all this talk about IP damage as a result of cavitation from suspended water has me really worried about water in the VO. i just replaced my IP last summer ($1,100).

-Nick

Any crackling indicates WAY too much water is present.

Lots of tiny bubbles indicate too much suspeended water is present. No tiny bubbles is perfect..but I usually accept a few. Not many though.

Shallow pan boilers use lots of energy but do work to dewater wvo. All evaporative dewatering techniques have the unfortunate side effect of leaving the contaminants formersly dissolved in the water "boiled off" behind in the WVO. These slats, sugars, and acids tend to be very hygroscopic and draw water from the air back into the wvo if given half a chance.

my god, is there hope? should we all just buy a backup IP and wait for the inevitable time when we need to replace it? what is the most miles anyone has heard of a vehicle going on WVO or SVO? -Nick

many and few are such relative terms...are you looking at the entire surface area of the pan or a small portion? how many is too many? if i dropped a quarter anywhere in the pan it would probably cover 5-10 tiny bubbles. -Nick

Hi nick
I heat my wvo to 70/75oC with 20% Kerosene added then filter.This filtered blend is fed compressed air via a fish tank pump with 0.5mm outlet holes for the air to pass through drilled into a piece of 10mm copper pipe about a foot long.(In the UK we work in a mixed up muddled up metric / imperial measurement situation).These air bubbles "catch" the suspended water,I think,and bring them to the surface where they evaporate.I do this for 24 hours after filtering and hey, no more water.You could try this as it seems to work OK for me.And yes I did buy a backup IP,Bosch VE type for £130 (USD$228) brand new off ebay.
Eric77

Nick, Don't fret there is many ways talked about in here to dewater. Simplist is Dana's way of mild heat and settling. The most complex is the Electronic Flash Evaporator being discussed in here. I side with Dana on the idea of getting the water out in a way that the contaminants that the water disolved/absorbed go with it.

hi george,
i have been wondering for a while as to why your VO life is on hold? take care-Nick

I accept about 3 small bubbles on the surface of the pan per square inch...maximum. I prefer 1 or 2.

quote:

many and few are such relative terms...are you looking at the entire surface area of the pan or a small portion? how many is too many? if i dropped a quarter anywhere in the pan it would probably cover 5-10 tiny bubbles. -Nick

quote:

These air bubbles "catch" the suspended water,I think,and bring them to the surface where they evaporate.

eric77, do you settle and drain the bottom also or just bubble and use the whole lot of oil?

thanks dana, what do you think of this bubble approach? he claims no more water after 24 hours of it. how is your 25 truck experiment coming along? -Nick