After reading this thread and others about solvent thinning, I decided to try it. I just got a 300SD, and mixed a tank of 5 to 1 "Vegoline". It works great!!! I would have to say it runs as good or better than it did on Dino! I don't know why some folks are using other solvents along with RUG, as the 5 to 1 mix of VO/RUG works just fine. Is there a reason for the use of the other solvents in addition to the RUG? I did add a few ounces of Lucas fuel injector cleaner for good measure.

What are some good reasons to it, I'm thinking about doing the same, 50% WVO/50% RUG, or even higher percentages of WVO, it rarely gets under 50 degrees here (LA area)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oil_blends

I'm sorry, I meant what are the good reasons to use other solvents like stove oil, kerosene, #1 ULSD, etc., INSTEAD of gasoline.

Living in Denmark I am pretty amazed of the usage of RUG in WVO blends. No one here would consider to put RUG in the tank. What is wrong with diesel??

As far as I know RUG will decrease cetane rating and thus decrease the ability of the blend to auto ignite at compresion. Securing clean combustion is crucial to prevent deposits, coking and WVO in the lubrication oil. So I do not see any advantages of RUG over diesel in the blend (but my knowledge might be limitted) - please explain.

Best regards
Kim

RUG is used to thin the WVO to a viscosity similar to diesel. Thinning w/ diesel thins a bit but because RUG is so much less viscous than diesel, it works better.

Yes, RUG has high octane that counters cetane, which is why it is best to use old gasoline. People who restore cars and have boats typically are more than happy to get rid of their old gasoline for free.

Ok, gives sense.
But what is the viscosity of RUG compared to diesel. I have a good reference on rapeseed oil viscosity as function of temperature. Does anyone have similar data for RUG and diesel?

Is there no problem with lack of autoignition with RUG blending and low temperatures / cold start?

- Kim

A quick Google search on fluid viscosity came up w/ this:

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2625&location_id=3046

I’m sure there are better references but the above link provides a ratio. If water is 1, diesel is 76, and gasoline 0.5. A big, big difference.

I have not had starting issues at cold temps but I also add a cetane boost to my blend. That said w/ all the warnings on here I did recently install a small marine outboard tank with just diesel in it for start-up when it’s cold. I’m in Canada so when I say cold, I mean really cold. You shouldn’t have a problem in Denmark.

my cars start fine with the mix I use down below 0F, read my sig, happy veggin'

Regarding
http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2625&location_id=3046
- does not give sense to me that diesel oil has viscosity equavelent to crude oil and soybean oil?! Whereas kerosene has 35 times lower viscosity than diesel? Am I the only one amazed?

veggiedout:
Would you put som details on what kind of engines you are running on this sofisticated blend (also temperature, driving pattern, cold starts e.g.). And what percentages you add of the additives, and what purpose they are added for, respectivly. Would be very nice information!

Regards
Kim

Kim, every thing you need to know is in my posts and my sig, do a search and all is there, happy veggin'
as for the viscosity issue, you have to remember that crude a mix of the lightist distlits(spp) all the way down to road tar so that is not suprising, also look at the temp, 60F for crude and soybean and 68F for diesel, so at colder temps their may be more of a dramatic differance, HTH

I finally got my 6.2 diesel conversion done, it is in the exhaust shop for a few days so I was just down in my workshop doing some viscosity testing. I used a paint viscosity tool, basically a small rounded bottom cup with small hole in the bottom of it. I submerged it in pulled it out and used my stopwatch to get an approximate difference in the blends. All I had around was new veg oil, gas and diesel. Here is what I found
Straight diesel 15.88 seconds
Straight veg oil 28.77 seconds
50 diesel/50 veg oil 19.7 seconds
75 veg oil/ 25 rug 18.48 seconds
The temperature in my shop is around 55-60º. I have the 2 blends outside right now. I am going to see which is thinner when they get around 30º. I am thinking the 50 diesel/50 VO might be thinner when cold because of the higher percentage of VO? Only time will tell. Hopefully the 75 VO/25 RUG will win out since it will be the cheaper blend. I might go get some kerosene to add to the 75/25 blend to see what happens.
Next question is, can you run 25% RUG safely? I may have a lead on stale RUG but don't know for sure yet so just wondering about fresh RUG.

Straight diesel can vary from summer to winter depending on how much paraffin wax is added. It would be good to get a sample of kerosene since it's a standard product, and time it with your viscosity meter for a good baseline comparison.
Also what was the time for RUG?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: john galt,

I will go get some kerosene tomorrow and play with that in the blend. I did not check straight RUG, I will go do that and post back. I have had the 2 blends in the freezer for about 1.5 hours now (wasn't cold enough outside) so I guess it is getting pretty cold now. Interesting, the 75% VO 25% RUG still looks pretty much the same. The 50% VO/50% diesel looks a little cloudy and appears to be thicker. I am going to let it sit in there a bit longer and run them through my test again.
Will let you know

It's -12°F out on the porch. The 50/50 canola & ULSD mix is just beginning to cloud. The 25VO/75ULSD is clear. The ULSD is #1 winter grade, very close to kerosene and stove oil. By comparison, the sample of summer grade #2 ULSD is a bit more cloudy than the 50/50 VO blend.

Just checked straight RUG 14.7 seconds
Not a lot thinner than diesel but I guess the difference is that it stays thin in the cold?

Is the paraffin added in the winter?

Usually not where it gets below freezing

Ok, the fuel is out of the freezer, their temperature is 15º.
50% diesel/50% VO 1 min, 20 seconds
75% RUG/25% VO 52 seconds
I am going to check them about every 30 minutes as they warm. Where I live it rarely if ever gets to 15º, high 20's is about as cold as we ever get so it will be interesting to see what happens as it warms.

quote:

Is the paraffin added in the winter?

depends where you live, also try the diesel at 15, just as comparison, I wouldn't use 25% fresh RUG, too much octane, happy veggin'

Just got the straight diesel out of the freezer, 15º just like the blends. It's time was 17 seconds. I also recorded the blends as they warmed. The both thinned out considerably at my next check at 28º
50 VO/50 diesel 20.7 seconds
75 VO/ 25 RUG 19.77
By 40º they didn't change much
50 vo/50 diesel 19.7 seconds
75 vo/25 rug 18.5 seconds
My thinking is that all IP's should have tolerances to withstand a certain percentage thicker than the maximum thickness diesel will acheive. What percentage I don't know but according to my calculations (which could be off) I see the 75 VO/25 rug about 15% thicker at 30º than the diesel at 15º(20 seconds blend-17 seconds straight diesel) If I were an engineer I would build it to withstand the 15% tolerance so I am hoping engineers think like I do. I am going to keep playing with it and am going to find some kerosene tomorrow but this is making me feel pretty good about blending. If I lived in areas where it got to the teens at night I am not sure I would blend after seeing what happened to both of them at 15º, they were 3-4 times the thickness of diesel at the same temperature, pretty scary to try to run that I would think. If our forecast calls for really cold weather I will just fill up with straight diesel for that time. Nice to have the option.