When looking for a 2nd tank for VO, what should I be looking for?

In other words, does it need to be metal or plastic?
Does it need a pump?
Does it need a float?

When I know what I need, where is a good place to look for one?

Fuel tanks should be either aluminum or plastic, as steel has a tendency to polymerize with vegoil. It depends on what you want, but all you really need is a heated fuel pickup, a fuel level sender is nice, a vent, and a way to fill it up. I'm going to use a free 20 gallon barrel for this in my Mercedes. You can buy aluminum ones off ebay, or from summitracing or NorthernTool, or have them custom welded.

I have an aluminum custom made one. But if you go that route you have to decide how you want it. Which is a process in it self.

Mine is in the bed of my truck so I do not have a fuel sender. It has a racing fuel cell cap. And it is 63 gallons. I look in side the tank to see how much is in it. Usually lasts 3-4 weeks.

I also have a temp guage adaptor just because I was curious. Not really needed either. The fuel comes out of the bottom of my tank(1/2" threaded fitting welded in) right below the aluminum tube that is welded inside the tank in the shape of a U this carries the antifreeze. Having the fuel come out of the bottom makes it easy to "wash" out if I ever get anything in it that I do not want like. The U runs along the bottom of the tank and has welded in threaded 1/2" fitings on the ends that the antifreeze goes in and out of. Mine also has some baffles and a plug for a heating element which has a heating element in it that I have never used. I figured it would be really hard to add latter.

It also has some mounting tabs to bolt it to the truck bed.

I can describe what I have and that this is the best one I have ever had (out of 7). The aluminum looks just like it did when I had it built it is just a little dirtier on the outside from being in the back of my truck.

Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by TWeatherford:
Fuel tanks should be either aluminum or plastic, as steel has a tendency to polymerize with vegoil. It depends on what you want, but all you really need is a heated fuel pickup, a fuel level sender is nice, a vent, and a way to fill it up. I'm going to use a free 20 gallon barrel for this in my Mercedes. You can buy aluminum ones off ebay, or from summitracing or NorthernTool, or have them custom welded.

Can you please explain this statement. I have never before heard of steel tanks causing vegetable oil polymerisation.
Please provide links to the source of your information.

Yeah! What's this talk of polymerization?! I have never heard of such a thing.

BTW, what's the consensus about using galvanized? My veggy tank is a surplus military storage container. Galvanized steel, 17 gallons, very large opening for refueling easily without spills! I have heard some nasty rumors about galvanized steel and veggy oil, but so far, so good.

Tony from West Oz,

I believe that most of the information that I have read about vegetable oil oxidizing in a steel tank is on the Frybrid website. The idea is that if one is using a steel tank with air in it and a copper heat exchanger that is continually heating the oil everyday, there is a chemical reaction that occurs which causes oxidation of the vegetable oil. I have read that the result of this oxidation is a higher viscosity of the resident veg oil and over time polymerization of the veg oil in the tank can lead to deposits (known as chicken skin) on the walls of the veg oil tank. Over time these deposits may flake down and clog up prefilters.

Having said that, I own a home made mild steel veg oil tank and a "supersized" Dana Linscott heated fuel pick-up (made out of copper). After reading about these veg oil oxidation concerns on the Frybrid site, I decided to pull my one year old tank and inspect the inside. What I found was no corossion or deposits on my copper heat exchanger, which is situated horizontally in the tank on the bottom, making it always submerged in oil. I also saw no appreciable polymerization on the tank walls. I did however see noticable (1/16" thick) polymerization on the fuel level sender unit. The fuel sender was purchased in the States at J.C. Whitney. It is an adjustable fuel level sender with a 12" metal bracket which had the beginnings of "chicken skin" on it.

I also tested some of my veg oil that came out of my veg tank after being in it for 3 weeks or so. I used the "poor man's viscometer" as suggested by Dana Linscott. I used some 1/4" clear tubing that was 39" long. I corked the bottom, added a ball bearing that rolled through cleanly, but was not too small. I then filled the tubing with no air bubble and corked the top. I turned the tubing upside down and timed the falling of the ball bearing. Suprisingly, when compared to a sample of freshly filtered and dewatered veg oil, the veg oil that had been sitting in my tank was basically the same viscosity. Go figure.

I have not made up my mind about this subject, but Chris Goodwin at Frybrid is pretty sold on the idea and he has pending scientific data to support it. I have been waiting for this supporting data, but it has not arrived yet.

Gilbert

We have converted many steel tanks and used a stainless steel heated pickup (Hotfox) and have had no issues. I have installed a heat exchangers inside 10,000 gallon steel storage tanks for VO and have not seen this happen either. I would love to see the data though.