Yes the Dieselcraft thread has tons of great info..

My setup will be using a plastic conical tank I already have and a single heating elemant.. in the same design as that setup but on a smaller scale it will do about 15 gallons a batch.. should be able to run for a hour and be cleaned..

My reasoning for this is that it will be placed in the vehicle for a mobile rig.

Well mu carbonator gear pump and motor are here.. now i need to figure out how to get from a 2" threaded opening on my conical to a small 3/8" on te pump in the shortest vertical distance.

Im thinking of using pvc to get down from the 2" to somthing more reasonable then into a flexable hose to the motor/pump.. Ths pump is self priming so i actually can mount it up above the outlet.. to save space, since this will be in my vehical for extended trips it will need to be as compat as possable..

The pump is nice it's got a built in adjustable pressure regulator that can either bypass internally or externally, comes with the conversion kit to go external, it's designed for viscous oils.. says so right in the manuals that come with it. It also says it will do 2.5 gallons per minute free flow so it won't be to bad of a transfer pump after cleaning.

Still waiting for the spin clean unit, I will update when I get it.

Why not buy a 2" stainless steel pipe nipple then cut it in two with a lathe or chop saw. Then you can take a 2" and 3/8" by 2" and 3/8" piece of 1/4" thick stainless plate and drill a 3/8" hole in the center. One of the nipple halfs can then be welded to the plate (centered) and a 3/8" stainless hosebarb can then be welded over the 3/8" hole. At that point you can knock off the corners of the plate on a belt sander and your'e done.

I don't know if you can visualise what I'm saying or not, but I hope so. I don't thing there are reduction fittings that go from 2" NPT to 3/8 hosebarb, but if you can find it, forget all the suggestions I just gave. Much easier to just buy a ready made part.

your best bet for a 2 inch to 3/8 one shot reducing bushing is either by iron/black pipe or the galvanized. They for sure have something due able in pvc, but it seams some people are afraid of pvc for the heat.

some parts i found

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/5P526

might be able to find this part in the home depot as well. then going from 1/2 to 3/8 is no problem.

also found on mcmaster-carr part number 44605K295

YEah i goingt he bushing route, waiting for my centrifuge to get here before i make a parts list of stuff to order , if im going to orde might as well get everything i need.

Im sure just about everyone on this forum knows all about not getting all the parts they need at the same time. I make at least 3 trips to home depot every time decide to create something.

If you can get it all in one shot you are a better man than I.

LOL..

Yeah im sure ill be running out to get something I missed..

I made lots of trips converting the van over to svo.. Im sure thi will be the same.

Mine's up and running. I have a 1 hp motor running a hydraulic pump I scrounged from a scrap yard. My tank is an old 1/2 barrel stainless keg which holds just over 15 gals. I had to get a 1/4" hydraulic hose made up for the metric fitting; at first I was bummed at the expense but now I'm glad because I won't worry about leaks. So far I am pleased with the amount of dirt removed from the oil.

One possible issue- when I've spun for an hour and recirculated into the tank my oil isn't clear; it's milky with froth. I can't tell if the pump or the centrifuge jets are doing it. After settling for 3 days it is still not clear. Is anyone else seeing the same thing? It might not matter to some cars but my Chevy has photoeyes that need to see through the oil.

My gut tells me I should use 2 tanks and only do a couple passes. Looks like I'll be drinking a lot of beer this weekend. I can think of worse problems.

What temp are you heating it to? It should get totally clear after a few passes if the CF is removing the water. It needs to be >120F. 2 tanks is a big hassle since you need to be there each time it runs out of VO to avoid damaging the pump. Also, are you capturing the output at shutdown? If not, any water the CF removed gets dumped back into the clean VO. This is another problem of 2 tank rigs.

I like to start mine, and come back after 3 hours when its done with 4 passes instead of needing to baby sit it as needed with 2 tanks.

I would try getting it as hot as you can and also run a small amount say a 5 gallons as you will clean it alot faster and be able to see changes happen quickly..

Im not speaking from experince here.. but logically these things will help out..

I used to run a few large decanters making soy based products .. same principles except the decanted has a auger that dumps the crud out while its running. no shutdowns to clean it.. there very expensive.

Also are you still pulling dirt out? That means it's still dirty.. if so keep cleaning it till your filter comes clean after a couple passes.. thus this is why i said to run smaller quantities, easer to see a difference and also allows higher temps easier.

Also whats the quality of your oil when you started?

Also please explain your CF rig.. a drawing may help us understand.

I just wanted to add, still no CF here yet.. Says the 9th on the Canadian post website.. That's alright I'm looking at a second truck tomorrow for conversion #2.. If I get it, I have a few odds and ends that need attention on it, so I'll be busy.

If you decide to follow MasterNates' advice, then it would likely be best to select the black iron fitting rather than the galvanized one because the acids in wvo may eventually eat away the zinc coating and cause scum build up. That is why I was suggesting stainless.

If you can't find a 2" to 3/8" bushing take a 2" plug drill and tap it for a 3/8 fitting. you should be abel to do that and still have extra time saved from makeing those two extra trips to the store.

quote:

Originally posted by antifuel1:
If you can't find a 2" to 3/8" bushing take a 2" plug drill and tap it for a 3/8 fitting. you should be abel to do that and still have extra time saved from makeing those two extra trips to the store.

Great Idea, if you have a 3/8 pipe thread tap this would work great.

The extra trips to HD here are great because there is a beauty that works the register most days. Probably have more luck in that field going to lowes though.

I wanted to add a correction, the thread size on the grainer pump is 1/4" but I eye balled it, you know how the 1/4" is about 3/8" actual size.. I'm not a plumber so these 3/8" looking 1/4" fittings measurements are screwing with my paradigm of how to measure stuff

My 16.5" rims must be "dubs" according to a plumber?

Well, I can get started soon!
I got an Oberdorfer close coupled pump 991r, and a 1/3 hp frame 56 motor from ebay.
For those of you that need a close coupling kit:
I found a place that sells the kits for Oberdorfer pumps, the one for my motor and pump was $44.86, and includes the Lovejoy coupler. Might save you some $.
Call Rick at Depco pumps, (800) 446-1656. They have kits for all kinds of motor frames and pump combos. Very nice and easy to deal with...and cheaper than buying from Oberdorfer.

quote:

Originally posted by Ebacherville:
I wanted to add a correction, the thread size on the grainer pump is 1/4" but I eye balled it, you know how the 1/4" is about 3/8" actual size.. I'm not a plumber so these 3/8" looking 1/4" fittings measurements are screwing with my paradigm of how to measure stuff

My 16.5" rims must be "dubs" according to a plumber?

I came across the same problem with 1/4" soft copper tubing, which is actually 3/8". I love me some dubs too. According to your analogy I have dub spinners on my miata.

Well My centrifuge came today, seem like it will do the job nicely. Interesting how it actually works, very simple and basic but seems elegant also.

I'll try to get the needed parts tomorrow to get a start on the plumbing and heating element chamber..

My centrifuge is up and running!!

Got a bunch of pipe today and plumbed it up, it's crude and not mounted and there is some galvanized in it, but it is a proof of concept.

I cleaned 5 gallon of oil that are now in the tank of the veggie van

I got alot of changes to be made on it but it works and works well, I put in a water filter type element in the system as I kept plugging my CF jet.. This worked quiet well.. And I think it will allow the CF to go longer before a clean out.. I ran 5 gallons through for 45 minutes, there was a small amount of crap in the CF, very fine stuff.. not visible with the naked eye unless it's caked up.. I also did a pan test, not a crackle... Very cool

Lessons learned:

The output on the CF has to be very free flowing.. I have a 1" flange to a 1" to 3/4" tee to a 3/4" nipple about 5" with a elbow turned down into the tank and the CF filled with oil.. took the 3/4" elbow off and it just barely kept up, it will be replaced with 1" tomorrow..

I absolutely needed a flexible tube on the pressure side.. fromt he pump to the heat chamber.. there was no way around it... Bad idea?
Well not really, 1/2" pex tubing is rated for high pressure and heat.. and a 1/4" threaded nipple will thread in to it as deep as you want it to go it's very tight and is a leak proof seal when it's done.. worked awesome.. I ran the temps up to 180 and the pex was not soft in any way , my plastic conical was however beginning to feel a bit softer than when cold.. but not dangerous in any way.

The grainger motor and punp are perfect for this it's got a built in pressure regulator and maxes at about 110 psi.. for this application its absolutely perfect.. very happy with it. Well worth the cash! Free flow its pretty fast also..

The only other lesson learned.. filter down pretty well before you go into your CF tank.. my oil had a few very small chunks in it and kept clogging the CF jets.. Putting a filter inline took care of the problem and I think I'll keep it in there becuase I'll be able to get more run time before a cleaning, that's good as my setup is setup for 16 gallons a batch , I wanted a 1 time run , run for a hour or two pump to a storage tank and then shut down clean and fill back up and run again , I figure 1 batch every other day will be more than I can use in that time. Or just do 4 batches on weekend or somthing..

The nicest thing is this setup of mine is small enough to throw it in the van and filter on the road.. find some grease and a power outlet.. and sit and take a break for a hour and you got enough filtered grease to drive another 300 miles, but yet its big enough to make a decent amount of fuel in one shot.. 16 gallons is about what I use in a week going to work and back each day.

Tomorrow will be making the setup better , fix a small leak I have, and make it more compact.. then I'll run a full batch through it with some oil thats in worse shape.. What I used today was some of my better looking stuff.. Baby steps!

Ebacherville

for the hose after the pump i use a hot water heater pipe there 3/4 and dont even flex to the pressure and heat i had to attach 2 of them togther because there short but they work

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