for the getting from 2 inc to 3/8 pvc is fine also i run my centrifuge 160 to 170 pvc hasnt attempted to give on me yet mine is a 1 1/2 inc pvc elbow and a 1 1/2 to 3/4 reducer

IMG_0041.jpg (1,157 Kb, 244 downloads) pvc

last thing to drop the oil back in the tank i came down with 1inc pipe and hit a 45 degree fitting stopped all the splashing of oil on my floor..i just hold a plate below it when i shut-down the centrifuge

IMG_0040.jpg (1,219 Kb, 249 downloads)

Ebacherville - Congratulations . Could you please post some pics ( here or upload to www.photobucket.com and put HTML links here for automtic display) . - Thanks

Ill get some photos up soon, i have some stuff to change tonight on it, then I'll run a big batch through it.

I thought about those water heater hoses also.. didnt know what was on the inside so i decided on pex.

I ran the 5 gallons of oil frim lastnight ant it ran thhrough the veggie van just fine, the clear inline filter right off the veg tank still looks clean and new after 30 miles... All is good!

quote:

Originally posted by Ebacherville:
I also did a pan test, not a crackle... Very cool

Good to hear you got it running. You might want to study the hot pan test, a crackle is WAY too much water. You should be looking for tiny bubbles, and have none when its dewatered enough.

Yeah there were no bubbles either.. all I got was smoke eventually

I made some changes to the CF setup tonight and tested it with a full 15 gallon batch.. worked well, got a bunch of crap built up in the CF this time.. ran for 1.5 hours for 15 gallons.. I probably could have gone longer but it was getting dark, so I shut it down.

This is working very nice, 1 batch requires no cleaning of the CF, just run it till its clean then shut it down, clean it out and start you next batch. It's exactly what I wanted, nicer thing yet is that the single heating element is just about perfect, once you heat the tank of oil to 140, and then start the CF, in 2 hours your up to 160.. This looks like it will be fairly hands off once I get a good feel for how it operates.. Maybee put a camera (like those baby monitor cameras) on it and just monitor it from the house while I get other things done..

One other thing is I moved it indoors today, in the garage, I only have a extension cord on a 15 amp circuit for power there and the unit with the single element and motor doesn't draw alot of power so it can be ran almost anywhere, no special wiring needed. Very please about this. A larger inverter or a small genset will be able to power this thing quite easily. Perfect for a mobile rig.

I still have one oil leak to take care of.. these bugs me even if its only a drip every 10 minutes.. it still urks me to have a leak.

I'm very pleased with the results of this, the oil coming out by the end looks dang near new.. I'd even cook with it if I had to.. I'm Quite impressed.

I believe having a filter inline really increases the run time on the CF, the only crap in my CF was this really real fine stuff, My filter element inline is 20 micron. That water filter is getting the big stuff out, everything in the cf is very very small.. the only way you see it is when its caked togther in the CF.

I have 2 more modifications to make then I'll get some pics up of it. These are mounting the thing permimently to the tank and a second valve on the divert for pumping to a tank of finished product.. currently I take the CF discharge an dumping it to 5 gallon fuel cans til the tank is just about empty then I switch over to my crap cubie and shut down the CF.

Tomorrow I'll run another batch and run it longer.

The van loves the grease, put on 85 miles of grease today.. went past the gas station and saw gas was up to $3.24.. at first my thought was "wow thats sucks" then I realized I was on grease, I laughed hysterically out loud with no one in the van with me.. I'm sure some one say me and thought I was nuts.. This grease thing still hasn't quite caught up with my brain yet

I promise pics will be here this weekend.

is the water type prefilter necessary or is it just to make the cf run longer without cleanings. It seams that one reason for running a cf is to cut down on filter replacements. are people needing to do this with the dieselcraft cf?

I did the prefilter to make a longer run time, and prevet clogging of the cf... But now that I know what the CF is doing, I may take it out and see what it does.

I dont think its a need, but from my results I would bet you coulf CF a entire 55gallon drum in one shot with a prefilter.. makes it very hands off... thats what im going for... the filter cost for a 50 gallom batch woulb be $.03 a gallon... thats calculated as 1 water filter per 50 gallons..

My goal for my CF setup is making it very hands off. Ideally only getting greasy 1 time durring the process. and not having to mess with it more than filling it up heating it, starting the CF, and shuting it down.

if i had unlimiter cash and time, id automate it, make it as easy as fill it and start it.. walk away, it does the rest, and have cleaned oil waiting when its ready.

When you are running such small batches, one cleaning of the CF at the end will be enough even if you don't prefilter. Often on a 50 gallon batch one cleaning is enough, it all depends on the oil.

A 150 micron screen is all you need to prevent the jets clogging, and is infinitely reusable.

Really, I read 2 or more cleanungs were needed. for a 55 gallon drum setup..

When you speak os this screen, is this on your pump that you fill the cf tank with or some sort of screen you pour through?

i may take the filter out of the system in the future.

I have the screen on the wand that I suck from dumpsters, which is most of my VO.

And I have a 150 micron screen that fits on the top of the barrel that I pour through when I get VO in cubies.

Another good reason to have no filter inline with the CF, is what will happen if the filter plugs while its running and you are away being "very hands off" for 4 hours?

How many cleanings depends on how careful you want to be. Some are happy being less careful about water and particles, and some are extra fussy about it. One easy way to check if you have clean VO is to clean the rotor, then run again for another pass and see if it removes any more goo.

When people are first starting with a CF they will clean it more often than needed just to see how its working. Its just fun to see the goo. Then after they get a feel for the VO source and how long it takes, they can do less.

thanks for answering my question sun and ebach. It seems that this set up is pretty comparable to the dieselcraft, and for less money. I am going to order and give another opinion.

Tonight i mounted the filter assembly to the tank tightly and braced it.. I changed out my water filter element to find it didnt need to be replaced.. Replaced it any way.. The proceeded to run a full batch. I started at 140.. but have decided to run hotter, at least 160 minimum .. as the rpms were noticeably higher at 160 than 140. the oil thins much more at theis higher temp.

I ran from 160 up to 190 tank temp, at this temp the oil going through the centrifuge was had to be close to 200.. everything help up just fine.

Then I turned off the heat and ran it for 40 minutes, it dropped down to 170 in that time frame.. I then filled my three 5 gallon fuel cans, leaving about a 1/4 gallon in the tank to recirculate till I shut down the CF.. dumped the CF discharge into my drain pan and then ripped down the CF.. a nice layer of goo in there.. cleaned it all up and its ready for the next batch tomorrow..

going to be taking the water filter out some time in the near future as its simply not needed as long as I pre-screen my oil before it hits the CF tank, I saw a cool little device in the plumbing section today, it looks like a little water filter housing but it's clear and inside is a 150 mesh screen for trapping partials.. and it has a drain valve and spout on the bottom for dumping sediment. The bowl part is also removable for cleaning.

This little screen thing will be my next addition to the CF tank, that way I can pump from my dirty drums of oil to the CF tank through this.. and trap all the nasty chunks.. this will eliminate my water filter element inline in the CF setup.. it will be mounted directly to the CF tank.

One other addition will be a lid to keep stuff out when it not in use. But removable while running.

A comment was made about it being close to a diesel craft, I don't have one to compare directly but they look nearly identical internally from what I could tell.

Pics are comming

I removed the water filter and used that screen filter mentioned above, I'm warming the oil now..

I'll let everyone know how it turns out and get some pic's tonight.

Ebacherville

Pics added to my website:

My SVO picks

Ive made about 60 gallons so far and working an another batch right now.. This is the easiest way to clean your oil by far.. Now that I know how it behaves , my process is as follows.

Fill with oil through 100 mesh screen filter.
Start up circulation and heating element.
Wait about 1.5 hours and it's up to 140
Start CF.
Walk away wait about 2 hours
It's now up to 190
shut off heater
Wait 1/2 hour, then the temp has dropped to 170.
I then pump to my storage container...
Also if i want to I can dump from the CF output to my 5 gallon cans as I run and then leave about 1/2 gallon in the tank and slowly fill (to keep temps up) the tank again with dirty oil and continue directly into the next batch with out shutting down the CF.. From my tests I can do this for 3 batches back to back and still have no issues with to much in the CF Unless my oil is really nasty.

Now if I can add a thermostat control to the heater I'll be set for basically un-monitored running. That I can start and walk away, let it do its thing till I am ready to shut it down.

I'm currently looking for a cheap way to add a thermostat to hold it at 190.

My 100 mesh screen developed a hole and let a bunch of crap into my CF setup.. ran till the oil was crystal clear (not cloudy) shut down and ripped the CF appart.. the thing was almost full, packed in so hard that it came out in one piece..

I decide to re do this batch as there may still be some stuff in there.. but That Cf sure works well, can't believe it pulled out that much crap..

The CFing method has to be the easiest way to clean oil.. and it makes such clean oil.. I love it.. Been thinking about doing some motor oil some time, just to see what it does

Thanks for the pics.

It would be a good idea to replace those galvanized (zinc coated ) pipe and fitting with black iron . Zinc will react with WVO.

I know that the parts list is basically the same as in Sunwizard's Dieselcraft thread . If you have a different version that your think that works better with this CF please etc, please post it .

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Ebacherville:
Pics added to my website:

My SVO picks

What is the large pipe on the left side?