Pril you should do what YOU want to but do not push it on new users please. I am not going to thumb thru 74 pages for you but can assure you its there..

I am not here to prove anything to you but you seem to be on a mission made by one statement..

Your article comes from Rick's website and he too advised me in the beginning oil+methoxide too..

Just please dont make new users think its the only way because its not.. and on this forum we all do it differently..

Since you dont want to listen to me, Reece or clean and green then I am done with the discussion..

biogirlz, I will continue to tell people the information and test results that are posted on this website. I believe that is why they come here. In this case it is clear that the 5% prewash is based on the quantity of oil put in the reactor (Oil reacted) and does not include the methanol. Of course you can use more water, if you had read the threads I linked to you would have seen that is clearly stated.
I am disappointed that you seem to not have read any of the posts I provided links to, it would have probably cleared up your misunderstanding.

I find it hard to believe that RickDaTech gave you different information than what he has posted on his website

Man am I sorry my question has started a war here.
If the quantity of water added can vary (5 up to 20%)
then it does not seem to matter if you base your calculation on oil or on total volume.
I appreciate all of the information, having used and (rarely) contributed to the site.
I have processed again using the info you all provided regarding leaving the glycerine in after the 80/20 method and was successful.
Have been making my own for about 18 months. This was my first failed batch, and you all steered me on through.
many thanks

Pril
Its not gonna change how I believe and how I prewash or how I teach people to prewash from what I learned on here. One or two outside article does not change anything for me..

Once again the water is irrelevant but by doing it they way you claim is less water and not as effective in my opinion.. why do it unless you get enough in there to get alot of soap out..

Sorry Duramax, your right this shouldnt have happened and outside links should not have been posted...

OK.. I see why this is such argument.. Figured out who you are and now makes since..


good bye

Ouch!

biogriz

-I agree this is alot to do about nothing. the main thing to remember, is the more water you use the better the chance you will cause an emultion. 5% works well (if your paying for water, make it 5% of the wvo volume, if not 5% of the total volume ), 20% doesn't work any better, but is more risky. Tom

Back in the day, when people started talking about doing a prewash the method was to add an amount of water that equals 5% of the oil you started out with. You did that at the end of the reaction, mixed for 15 minutes and settled.

I can not speak for anyone else, but I joined this forum to learn how to make biodiesel. I hope that when I start asking questions people will provide the correct answer and let me be the judge of what is the best thing to do in my situation.
So now I know that if I do a 5% prewash the quantity of water to use is calculated on just the original amount of WVO and if I have extra room in my reactor it will not help or hurt if I add a little extra water.

Lisa, you were right it was soap. test jar is now sparkling clear. I have never had bio that hung on to a little soap so tightly before. I had to shake the jar 4 or 5 times and hard also. I shook like I was trying to emulsify. I am going to get rid of what is in the tank as it will be too hard to clean

great Mike...
glad you figured it out...

Sometimes I may have just a tiny but of soap that I didnt quite get out of the standpipe and it makes the whole batch cloudy.. doesnt take much..

Stand pipe...
This is why I have the AUX.settling tank.
I call it the 'shmag' tank.
I pour a gallon or less of the interface layers into it
and reclaim the tri's and esters.

Brian

I have a stand pipe. This has been the strangest batch yet. This little bit of soap was locked tightly into the bio. It has been settling for 2 or 3 weeks and still suspended. it took several shakes and violent ones to finally make it break free. there is no way a bubble wash could match that level of violence.

plus with the length of time it sat, nothing dropped out. Just strange.

Have you rewashed the whole batch yet? Mist washing WILL get the rest out..

No, it is gone. To get the soap out, I had to get brutal with it. Any soft wash did nothing. The last shake was for all of the marbles. kill it or cure it. There is no way I am going to shake that much stuff that hard for that long. I figured it should go into a furnace that wouldn't care. Falling out of the tree had something to do with that decision...

darn it.. I hate that you didnt get to use it.. just because because you had to shake hard doesnt mean it would be that hard to get the soap out.. mist washing would have for sure done it.. but now you know.

Well it was not that much to start with. Then with a sore back there is no way I am going to shake that much. Make a note do not cut limbs while standing on a ladder. Secondly, it has been holding up production. the stuff in the wash tank was ready to dry and the truck was empty. oh well

mike.. i guess what i was trying to get you to understand is that mist washing will wash out ANY hard to get soap.. You dont have to shake anything. If there is still soap you simply wash until there is no more.. misting isnt strenuous and will get the soap out.. you can even use a hard vigourous spray wash if you want but the soap will wash out without any special tricks..

sorry to hear about your back.. hope your doing better

Lisa I had already washed until all of the cows came home. always do. Sometimes I think that I might wash out the goodie out of the fuel...

mike t, you do not seem to understand. Lisa said "that mist washing will wash out ANY hard to get soap.." What your experience has been is not important.