In the theme of the "Biodiesel & Your Vehicle - What has gone wrong? Time to bare your souls" thread:

The Rulez:
1) Personal Experience only. No hearsay. No news reports (unless you were the feature!).
2) No judging. Stupid happens. Tired happens. Complacent happens.

So...

What happened:

Why do you think it happened:

What was the damage:

What have you changed to prevented it from happening again:

And, of course, I am going to start.

quote:

What happened:

A wash tank heating element was energized when it should not have been, cooking a bucket full of skimmed soap and making A LOT of smoke.

quote:

Why do you think it happened:

I meant to plug in the black cord of the processor pump, and instead plugged in the black cord of the tank heater. While poking at the processor pump trying to figure out why it wasn't running, I smelled the burning soap in the bucket behind me.

quote:

What was the damage:

Just smoke. As far as I know, the heater still works. Nothing melted, as it was a covered heater.

quote:

What have you changed to prevented it from happening again:

The cords are all color coded now. Green electrical tape at the pump and green electrical tape at the plug makes correct cord ID at a glance possible.

Ok, I have one more.

quote:

What happened:

WVO was shot at high velocity all over my rear truck window though my vacuum pump while collecting.

quote:

Why do you think it happened:

The tank hit full capacity and the WVO proceeded through the vacuum line and to the pump faster than I could stop the pump.

quote:

What was the damage:

Bent flapper valves and sticky WVO inside the pump cylinders. Disassembly, cleaning, and careful pliers work fixed it all up again.
Sticky WVO all over the cab and toolbox. Rags and a run through the carwash cleaned it off.

quote:

What have you changed to prevented it from happening again:

Added a .5 gallon fluid trap ahead of the pump. I've never had more than 1/8 gal of WVO enter the trap before I was able to shut the pump down or close the suction valve on the collection hose.

PRyan

-great idea for a thread, I'm sure it won't be long before I can contribute Tom

The worst I've had so far have been 35 gallon biodiesel spills. The whole batch on the floor. Sometimes I'd get in a rush and skip checking for leaks. So far, they have all dumped into secondary containment catchments.

Terrific topic! On the grease side, there's a similar thread:

Oil Handling Horror Stories