TangTonic
Full Access Member
Good day,
This is a long post, sorry if its too long. I don't have an IDI yet, but it's on the way. I bought a 1994 Turbo F-250 IDI extended cab, 4x4, manual transmission, with 98k, and no rust. Its on the way from California to its new home in the Caribbean. I live on St. Croix, US ****** Islands and yes, I think it's paradise. Seeing as how it is an island and resources are limited, I am attempting to be as self sufficient as possible. One way to sever the ties is by running alternative fuels. So here is what I'm thinking, tell me what you think:
I don't have WMO sources yet because I have no way to haul it. So I can't start collecting until the truck gets here. I plan on contacting oil change shops, the Oil Genie- a mobile oil change service, post Craigslist ads and visit the local used oil collection site. There is a huge oil refinery here too that takes the Venezuelan crude, so I want to try and make some contacts and hopefully get some bunker fuel or something like that. Recycling is not very big in the ****** Islands yet so I think there are plenty of sources out there waiting to be tapped. Also not many personal diesel vehicles here either, a lot of gassers with the exception of delivery/water/utility trucks and some ford diesels here and there.
Once the truck gets here in a few weeks, I will run it for a month on diesel to get a good feel for how she behaves while I begin my collecting. I saw WMOguy posted a question about using PVC pipe for a super sucker and that was shot down pretty quick. Well I am an engineer at a water plant and have access to all diameters of Schedule 80 PVC pipe. SCH 80 PVC has a much more robust wall thickness than SCH 40. We pull -20" vacuums on this pipe at work but with water inside. You can't crack it by jumping on it. I plan on taking a section probably about 4' with 12" diameter which has a wall thickness of 0.69". This gives me a volume of about 60 gallons, so maybe I could collect about 45 at one time. I will cap one end and flange or use a bell reducer to get down down to 2". The flange would probably better since I could pop it off to clean the vessel. I will be using EPDM gaskets will this be an issue? At the 2" port, I will attach a 2" ball valve followed by 2" hose and stinger. I will tap the pipe with (2) 1/4" nipples, one for a pressure gauge, and the other for a 1/4" ball valve with 1/4" tubing on other side. The tubing will be used to pull a vacuum then close valve and vessel is charged. Then pressurize with same 1/4" tubing, and empty oil from vessel out of the 2" hose. I will use air pressure to get most of the oil out of vessel and then just tip the capped end up to let gravity drain the last bit out. I wouldn't have to buy any parts to make the vessel and I have heavy duty PVC glue too. It wouldn't be too heavy to throw in the bed when time to collect, then I'll empty it while its in the bed, and then toss it out when done. The only thing I need is a vacuum pump/air compressor and I have been looking at the rebuilt Thomas ones on Ebay. Looking at about $70 for one shipped.
So once I have the oil collected I will deposit into a 55 gallon clear plastic drum painted black. One vertical 2" strip will be left unpainted for visual inspections and to see separations. I will also make a homemade bulkhead fitting for a drain on bottom to remove sludge. The drum will be sitting out in the tropical sun so hopefully the black color will heat it up and help separation, and maybe I'll even get some magnets to throw in there.
I also have access to bag filters so I was thinking of building some sort of PVC housing to hold a bag filter and then gravity feed the oil into a bag filter which would drain into the 55 gallon black drum. This might take too long so I might try building a housing to push oil through with air pressure. After allowing oil to settle a week or two, I will then run it through a centrifuge. I plan on buying the 55 gph one off the PABiodiesel site with gauge and 1/4" fittings. I am still trying to source a used 1/3 hp motor on the island and then I have been eying Oberdorfer pumps on Ebay. Hoping to get the centrifuge all setup for around $300.
So the filter process will be: gravity fed into bag filter, settle for a week to two weeks, centrifuge 5 gallons from drum into a cubbie and then process this 5 gallons for an hour giving me about 11 passes in centrifuge. Store in separate "filtered WMO" drum or tote after centrifuge.
The question is, at what point do I blend? During settling process? After centrifuging? I don't have a drum heater and would like to avoid this if possible and I don't have a mixer either. The drum painted black should get oil up to around 100 degrees in midday sun. I think I read 170 is ideal? I was thinking of adding a high powered aquarium heater to the drum to kick it up a few degrees since they are cheap on Ebay. If I have to, I will buy a drum heater, they look to be about $50-100 on Ebay. How can I mix the blend together? Can I mix before centrifuge and rely on the pump to mix? I don't want to have to cut the drum open to put a mixer in.
I am also on the fence about what to blend and how much. I have read about the W85 and using RUG and some say this is the way to go. Yet others say using RUG causes harm to injectors and high egt's. I was thinking blending with diesel would be a good, safe way to go. If I can get some used atf, this could be an option too. RUG would be nice because its cheaper than diesel, but I don't feel like replacing injectors anytime soon. I think starting with a 50/50 WMO/diesel blend should be pretty safe, yeah? As I filter more oil, I can increase WMO percentage until truck finds its groove. I will always have straight diesel in I guess the front tank since its smaller (is this correct?) and start and stop on diesel. Then switch to the blend when up to temp. And "up to temp" would be the halfway mark on stock temp gauge? Hopefully truck will get up to temp pretty quick in this tropical heat and eventually I will add some pillar gauges. What is the purge time on these trucks? In other words, how long after I switch back to diesel tank until fuel system is purged of the blend?
Anyways, just wanted to put this out there and see if there was any feedback. Especially curious what people think of my super sucker idea. I'll post pictures when I begin setting things up and definitely when the truck gets here- she's a beaut!
On a side note, I think I read the Haynes manual is better for these trucks than Chilton, is this correct?
Cheers, Aloha, and Irie Vibes from the Caribbean!
This is a long post, sorry if its too long. I don't have an IDI yet, but it's on the way. I bought a 1994 Turbo F-250 IDI extended cab, 4x4, manual transmission, with 98k, and no rust. Its on the way from California to its new home in the Caribbean. I live on St. Croix, US ****** Islands and yes, I think it's paradise. Seeing as how it is an island and resources are limited, I am attempting to be as self sufficient as possible. One way to sever the ties is by running alternative fuels. So here is what I'm thinking, tell me what you think:
I don't have WMO sources yet because I have no way to haul it. So I can't start collecting until the truck gets here. I plan on contacting oil change shops, the Oil Genie- a mobile oil change service, post Craigslist ads and visit the local used oil collection site. There is a huge oil refinery here too that takes the Venezuelan crude, so I want to try and make some contacts and hopefully get some bunker fuel or something like that. Recycling is not very big in the ****** Islands yet so I think there are plenty of sources out there waiting to be tapped. Also not many personal diesel vehicles here either, a lot of gassers with the exception of delivery/water/utility trucks and some ford diesels here and there.
Once the truck gets here in a few weeks, I will run it for a month on diesel to get a good feel for how she behaves while I begin my collecting. I saw WMOguy posted a question about using PVC pipe for a super sucker and that was shot down pretty quick. Well I am an engineer at a water plant and have access to all diameters of Schedule 80 PVC pipe. SCH 80 PVC has a much more robust wall thickness than SCH 40. We pull -20" vacuums on this pipe at work but with water inside. You can't crack it by jumping on it. I plan on taking a section probably about 4' with 12" diameter which has a wall thickness of 0.69". This gives me a volume of about 60 gallons, so maybe I could collect about 45 at one time. I will cap one end and flange or use a bell reducer to get down down to 2". The flange would probably better since I could pop it off to clean the vessel. I will be using EPDM gaskets will this be an issue? At the 2" port, I will attach a 2" ball valve followed by 2" hose and stinger. I will tap the pipe with (2) 1/4" nipples, one for a pressure gauge, and the other for a 1/4" ball valve with 1/4" tubing on other side. The tubing will be used to pull a vacuum then close valve and vessel is charged. Then pressurize with same 1/4" tubing, and empty oil from vessel out of the 2" hose. I will use air pressure to get most of the oil out of vessel and then just tip the capped end up to let gravity drain the last bit out. I wouldn't have to buy any parts to make the vessel and I have heavy duty PVC glue too. It wouldn't be too heavy to throw in the bed when time to collect, then I'll empty it while its in the bed, and then toss it out when done. The only thing I need is a vacuum pump/air compressor and I have been looking at the rebuilt Thomas ones on Ebay. Looking at about $70 for one shipped.
So once I have the oil collected I will deposit into a 55 gallon clear plastic drum painted black. One vertical 2" strip will be left unpainted for visual inspections and to see separations. I will also make a homemade bulkhead fitting for a drain on bottom to remove sludge. The drum will be sitting out in the tropical sun so hopefully the black color will heat it up and help separation, and maybe I'll even get some magnets to throw in there.
I also have access to bag filters so I was thinking of building some sort of PVC housing to hold a bag filter and then gravity feed the oil into a bag filter which would drain into the 55 gallon black drum. This might take too long so I might try building a housing to push oil through with air pressure. After allowing oil to settle a week or two, I will then run it through a centrifuge. I plan on buying the 55 gph one off the PABiodiesel site with gauge and 1/4" fittings. I am still trying to source a used 1/3 hp motor on the island and then I have been eying Oberdorfer pumps on Ebay. Hoping to get the centrifuge all setup for around $300.
So the filter process will be: gravity fed into bag filter, settle for a week to two weeks, centrifuge 5 gallons from drum into a cubbie and then process this 5 gallons for an hour giving me about 11 passes in centrifuge. Store in separate "filtered WMO" drum or tote after centrifuge.
The question is, at what point do I blend? During settling process? After centrifuging? I don't have a drum heater and would like to avoid this if possible and I don't have a mixer either. The drum painted black should get oil up to around 100 degrees in midday sun. I think I read 170 is ideal? I was thinking of adding a high powered aquarium heater to the drum to kick it up a few degrees since they are cheap on Ebay. If I have to, I will buy a drum heater, they look to be about $50-100 on Ebay. How can I mix the blend together? Can I mix before centrifuge and rely on the pump to mix? I don't want to have to cut the drum open to put a mixer in.
I am also on the fence about what to blend and how much. I have read about the W85 and using RUG and some say this is the way to go. Yet others say using RUG causes harm to injectors and high egt's. I was thinking blending with diesel would be a good, safe way to go. If I can get some used atf, this could be an option too. RUG would be nice because its cheaper than diesel, but I don't feel like replacing injectors anytime soon. I think starting with a 50/50 WMO/diesel blend should be pretty safe, yeah? As I filter more oil, I can increase WMO percentage until truck finds its groove. I will always have straight diesel in I guess the front tank since its smaller (is this correct?) and start and stop on diesel. Then switch to the blend when up to temp. And "up to temp" would be the halfway mark on stock temp gauge? Hopefully truck will get up to temp pretty quick in this tropical heat and eventually I will add some pillar gauges. What is the purge time on these trucks? In other words, how long after I switch back to diesel tank until fuel system is purged of the blend?
Anyways, just wanted to put this out there and see if there was any feedback. Especially curious what people think of my super sucker idea. I'll post pictures when I begin setting things up and definitely when the truck gets here- she's a beaut!
On a side note, I think I read the Haynes manual is better for these trucks than Chilton, is this correct?
Cheers, Aloha, and Irie Vibes from the Caribbean!
