Centrifuge vs. Waterfilters,socks,bags,etc.?

[greasemonky]

Ok I am flat out impressed with the centrifuge cleaning ability. I ran 30 gallons of the blackest nastiest used oil thru my pabiodiesel centrifuge setup. It made approx 8 passes thru the centrifuge. At first glance after removing the rotor to inpsect what it collected I was a little disappointed. Somehow I imagined it having about a 1/2" layer of tar built up inside it. All it looked like was a thin gritty film on the inside of the rotor.
Fast forward to tonight, with brake cleaner in hand I decided I would wipe it down. WOW! That gritty nasty film was seriously caked on there! Where I thought Id give it a quick wipe and be done, it actually took a good 5-10 minutes to get the grime off! It took quite a few sprays of brake cleaner to break this stuff out of there. That 30 gallons of oil I have no doubt would've clogged filters or bags very easily.

Now to get my super sucker completed.

It's awesome isn't it. I heat my oil during the process. And.
If you haven't tried heat yet you need to. It filters even better and really sticks to the rotor better, but you better clean it while the rotor is still warm or you'll be using a chisel to get it out.

 

[wmoguy]

It's awesome isn't it. I heat my oil during the process. And.
If you haven't tried heat yet you need to. It filters even better and really sticks to the rotor better, but you better clean it while the rotor is still warm or you'll be using a chisel to get it out.

oh yea, I heat mine to 150-170'ish. You are right about how it cakes on the rotor! I had to use several long sprays of brake cleaner and a bunch of scrubbing to get all the grime off. Incredible!

 

[gatorman21218]

subscribe!

 

[greasemonky]

I had one batch of oil that was not consistent with normal batches. I know it had some diesel oil in it cause it was very black. On that batch the sludge wouldn't "stick". I'm not sure if it had some kind of additive or if it was just because it was diesel oil. It would fisheye like it had water or something. I drained the whole batch into the garage waste oil heater tank and waited for a fresh supply, I didn't want to chance it.

 

[greasemonky]

When I first got mine up and running I spent more money in beer than I had in fuel oil. Nothin like sitting around the ol' centrifuge and drinking some brew.

 

[seriousbum]

I have never tested my oil as was suggested above. However, I run my oil through a 1 micron bag filter as a final step. I also use a SpinnerII centrifuge. I run both a bag filter system and the centrifuge. What I have found is that it cuts down the centrifuge time by using a bag filter. The biggest problem with used oil is not crud, it is water. Powerstrokes are allergic to water. That means you have to clean out all the water. My experience is that the crud comes out faster than the water. In order to get the water out, the oil has to be heated to 140degrees+. Some oil is bonded to the water, and that is the only way to make the water drop out.

Some of the systems that are shown here are bogus. I tried a whole house three stage water filter. There are two problems with it. The first is that I couldn't get more than 30 gallons out of a filter set. The sets are pretty cheap, but that is too difficult. I get 2000-3000 gallons out of a bag set of filters. The second problem is that with either type of filter, you can't get the water out.

In order to make a conversion pay, you have to be putting a lot of miles on a vehicle. That dictates processing setup. I have about 70k miles on my truck after the conversion, most of it on grease. Again, water is the biggest problem, not crud. I run sub-one-micron fuel. That is cleaner than ULSD. I rarely change the OEM filter on my truck. I never have to change it because it is blocked. I also have an auxiliary filter on my ULSD.