W80: keeping it mixed

[JPhauler87]

It's always thick and kinda tacky, but never grainy. Looks and feels like chocolate pudding.

Acid, do you pre filter before the fuge at all?

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I sorta do but this last batch was plugging filters left and right...
If its thick.... keep 'fuging... typically the layer left behind in the bowl is paper thin.. can't see through it though.

This batch I'm running right now is BAD... after 3hrs.. there was a 1/2" of runny sludge in the bowl... I will probably run this one longer.

Can light pass through your oil at the moment?

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[JPhauler87]

Yes, light can definitely pass through it. Looks like dark beer as you said.

This batch ran for about 24hrs and had a lot of junk in the 2-3 cleanings we did over that time. Last night it ran for 3 hours and had maybe 1/8" of junk. Then ran 8hrs overnight and probably had 1/8" again. Running now till lunch and will call it clean regardless of what's in the bowl.

My roommate and I are both going to need about 50 gallons each this weekend, so we've got this thing working overtime!

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Lol... good deal.

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[Josh Carmack]

I have found I get the THICK sludgy mess when the oil is wet. A larger dose of RUG and more heat tends to cure it.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

I would say you hit the nail on the head... one of the drums that I pumped into my main storage tank had a few gallons of water in it... I pumped most of it off or so I though....

Good news is its slowly getting thinner and thinner... Hopefully the 'fuge is pulling the water like it says it will as I have no way at the moment to heat my drums.

-Chris

 

[Josh Carmack]

Acid, it can be dangerous, but I currently heat with a water heater element dropped into the drum. I use a 5500W 240V lime life element. I use 12GA SJ cord running to a "One arm bandit" to cut it on and off. Make sure the drum is grounded as I have received some VERY MILD shocks from my drum before I grounded it. Those shocks could have been worse, and when I realized it wasn't vibration I was feeling but electricity I immediately added grounds.

I have a LOT of irons in the fire, but one of them is to add an inline heater that will allow me to heat only what is going into the fuge. It also is a 5500W element inside a 1 1/4" pipe and appropriate fittings. That heater will have a custom built nozzle that fans the oil out in a thin wide sheet to help evaporate water in the oil. Currently the inline heater will raise the temperature of the oil about 50 to 60 degrees at full flow. My idea is to use a bypass on the inline heater to allow the oil flowing through the heater to reach temperatures well above the boiling point of water so as to instantly flash any water to steam once it crosses the nozzle and pressure drops to atmospheric. I have tested the heater to see how well it could heat at my pumps maximum flow, and it actually surprised me how much it can heat the oil before it leaves the pipe. My 50 to 60 degree temperature rise is simply and educated guess, but I do know it is faster than the element dropped in the tank. Only reason I don't use it is lack of electrical equipment and fittings and time to permanently install the new design. It' is high on the priority list though. The inline heater will also have it's electrical connections in the dry so as to eliminate some of the hazards with dropping it in the tank.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Suck part about my setup is with its location, I dont have 220v service... just 110. Ive thought about a drum band heater but it prolly wouldnt do the trick and would draw too much juice for the wiring ran out to the shed. I'll have to figure something out to aid in dewatering in the near future.

-Chris

 

[Josh Carmack]

I started out with a flange element run off of an extension cord, it was a 1200W 110 element. Thats a 10Amp draw so even a 14Ga 100ft cord can handle that.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Was that able to heat the whole drum easily enough?

 

[Josh Carmack]

It did fine with two, and one was able to hold the temp in an acceptable range. One is better than nothing, and I'm sure with insulation on side top and bottom it would be more than enough.

 

[JPhauler87]

Be very careful if you are using a needle or ball valve to control pressure as I have done and accidentally close the valve instead of open it. It can and will instantly deform the rotor and blow the seal. If you are lucky it will only blow out the seal. If you pump has enough flow volume, it will deform it even with the blown seal. I have one ruined rotor, and a slightly crushed one that I was able to beat back out. The overpressure will cause the dome to crush inward from the top. At 45 bucks a pop I warn everyone to be careful about pressure. Also a blown seal or a leaky seal will cause it to be off balance and slow.

There have been a couple times where I set the pressure around 80psi while I let it spool up. Heard a quick "tick" noise and looked and it was over 100psi.

Now it will barely spin up at all. What seal are you talking about? Just the big rubber one on the bottom? It looks like there is more oil than I'm used to seeing on the top of the copper sleeve on the top. Why would it leak there? Feels tight on the shaft...

 

[leswhitt]

Typically, I fuge for a total of 20hrs... cleaning the fuge every 2-4 hours. I always have a thin black film on the bowl after a run no matter how many hours I let it go...

The thin layer you are getting is most likely soot from the diesel oil in the mix... if its a thin black layer that doesnt feel sticky or grainy, etc.. after an hour or two... (after your 20+hr run time) I would say you are fine. Soot can be submicron in size and you'll never 'fuge it all.

A good test also would be to drain some off and see if light can pass through it while pouring... mine typically looks like a dark beer when doing this.

-Chris

I shoot for a solid 25 passes, depending on how much oil I'm running depends on the length of time that I have to run.

For example, my last batch was just over 200 gallons so with my 108 GPH fuge, I estimated 1 pass every 2 hours. I ran mine for 12 hours, cleaned it, ran it for 12 hours cleaned it, ran it for 24 hours cleaned it, and then 36 hours and cleaned it. From that, I think the max benefit comes from cleaning it every 12-18 hours because my rotor only holds about 1/4" sludge which it'll pull in 12-18 hours or so. To be safe though, I just shoot for every 12 and if I miss it by a couple hours then so be it.

My layer always feels slightly sticky, I think that no matter how clean the oil is you'll always manage to make grease out of it from centrifuging.

 

[Josh Carmack]

JP don't know what happened to my response, but the rotors are repairable, but it sounds like you have collapsed yours slightly. You are running a PA unit right?

 

[Josh Carmack]

Once they deform, they will leak from the top around the nut that holds it together. I can take a couple picture showing you how to fix them. It involve a very sturdy work bench a 2lb sledge and an old cheap chainsaw spark plug socket.