Used oil as fuel

[-=DeanstuD=-]

This may be considered to be in the wrong category

BUT this is where I post and who I wanted to share with. Mods please move it where it belongs if you think it is necessary

Anyway, I got 4 55 gal drums of used oil from a guy off of Craig's List. He said he recycled a Medical X-Ray machine (I think that is what he said it was.) He said this oil was used for cooling it. I also don't remember exactly, but I think he mentioned a manufacture date of '78 or '88.

So, he loaded it in the truck with a forklift. DOH how do I get it out!?!

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While I ponder that I have just left it in back and driven around @ 9k# all week. I am going to pick up an engine, trans, transfer case, so I need the bed space. Well, Calvin(6xcrew) came over after work and we pumped out 2 of the barrels to give me some space. During transfer I was noticing that the oil was so thin and clear/clean, we decided to fill the rear tank with it. I have read all the posts all over about using WMO and filtering and good results and bad results. Percentages and stories of people running it 100%

So I am going to run it tomorrow and see how it goes. I have 2 fuel filers (spare) and I will fill the front tank with pump diesel before I leave town. From all my reading I am thinking it will work out. I have run veggie before and it seemed thicker than this stuff. This seems nice and thin, thinner than creme but thicker than 2%. I am pretty sure this is the cleanest used oil I will ever get. Really it isn't even USED, it was just siting inside the cooling fins of the machine all these years...

Here is a youtube video of pumping some in the rear tank.

bear with me, it is night, and I am using my cell phone. I do finally get focused and still in the last few seconds.

Here is some sucked right off the bottom of the drum in a jar.

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[Agnem]

Looks like a mineral oil. I don't know how old X-ray machines worked, but there is nothing like this in todays machines. Most likely, this would have been some kind of transformer oil, and given the age, probably from General Electric, and gosh I hope it's not PCB's! The truck will probably run fine on it, but you will glow at night. I've run up to 20% WMO in the Moosestang with no ill effects, and this stuff is a lot cleaner looking than that, so you should be OK with it.

 

[shorthair]

dean take a small sample to see if it will burn some oil is synt. & doesn't burn. then just siphon out of the barrels into any mt clean one or if the bungs are good I have laid barrels on thier sides & rolled them down a couple of 2"x8" planks. an alternative would be to bring them to me & I will be happy to pump them out into my storage.
dean always filter any waste oil you are going to use before filling your tanks.70% wmo is fine in warm weather for my truck.

 

[subway]

nice find, i would still filter it down for piece of mind but you should be ok. i have run up to a 50/50 WMO mix and diesel lately in this warm weather and it was fine. just smoked a little more when i got on it.

for un loading i have some extra drums i pump into. they are to heavy for me to muscle around without shooting parts out my back.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

So, he loaded it in the truck with a forklift. DOH how do I get it out!?!

Can do what I've done before. Take a couple of old tires off the rims and roll the barrels onto the stack of tires to cushion the fall from unloading off the truck. Usually does pretty good for me and leaves the barrels pretty well unscathed.
Yep the full barrels are heavy for my scrawny butt.

 

[sle2115]

Can do what I've done before. Take a couple of old tires off the rims and roll the barrels onto the stack of tires to cushion the fall from unloading off the truck. Usually does pretty good for me and leaves the barrels pretty well unscathed.
Yep the full barrels are heavy for my scrawny butt.

That's how we did it at the machine shop!!!

 

[Exekiel69]

The truck will probably run fine on it, but you will glow at night. I've run up to 20% WMO in the Moosestang with no ill effects, and this stuff is a lot cleaner looking than that, so you should be OK with it.

I would filter it first, just in case.

 

[GenLightening]

The oil in X-ray tubeheads is used to absorb the heat from producing radiation. The newer units still have oil, just not as much, so they don't weigh as much as the monsters from 20 years ago. It's a lightweight oil and doesn't get dirty from use, plus it's in a airtight sealed envelope so it shouldn't age much. I would filter it just to get out anything that might have been in the drums before this oil.

 

[Diesel JD]

Still wonder what it is though. But I agree, in warm weather and IDI will burn that stuff just fine.

 

[-=DeanstuD=-]

Just an FYI update...

I have run through nearly 3 tanks of the oil, and all seems fine. It is hard for me to tell, since my truck barely smokes, but I think it even smokes less on this than the diesel.

I did confirm the date of manufacture was 1988, so hopefully it is health safe. I researched PCBs and yikes. according to Wiki the last legal DOM was 1977.


I did get a hiccup after the first tank. I went about 200 miles on the rear tank which had this oil in it. It was most all near full throttle freeway driving, since the truck only goes 75. Keep in mind that I am basically new to this truck so I have only experienced needing to switch tanks once or twice. I got some surging and dieing at stoplights, and so I switched to the front that had reg diesel in it. I don't know if the rear was empty or not because the surging went away and the truck ran fine, but... When I had been driving on the front for awhile, it still would die when coming to a stop.

Well, I figured maybe I had some nasties in the oil since I hadn't filtered it. I decided to change the fuel filter the next day, assuming that must be the problem.

Well i changed the filter and went out for a good warm-up run.
Here is a pic of the contents of the filter. After seeing that, I again concluded that it was a filter problem. (remember I'm a noob)

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Well, sad to say, it ran fine, but come to a stop and it would die. Restarted easily, but it would not idle.

So, I was reading the owners manual, and seems there is a water separator. I pulled the ring to drain it and nothing happened. Well, it has been bypassed by a previous owner.

OK well that is it on my know-how. I figured it is running fine, and just doesn't idle, BUT if I hold the throttle it WILL idle @ 700 rpm just fine. Maybe the vibration from so much WOT on the long highway trip maladjusted the idle screw? I tuned it one full turn in, and now it seems fine.

 

[-=DeanstuD=-]

So, truck is unchanged from the above. I am ASS.U.MEing since no one freaked and yelled NO DON"T DO THAT! My theory about vibration just messing up the idle is reasonable?

 

[Diesel JD]

Well, one possible reason for stalling is the idle set too low, if it was below 650 before then that may very well have been part of your problem. You hand some real nasty stuff in that old fuel filter. Hopefully the fuel system is clean now. Sometimes it takes awhile, even a couple filter changes to get all that gunk worked out of the system. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this nice oil is also a pretty good solvent, which might have loosened up some of that "fuel tank vomit" same as biodiesel or kerosene might do... good luck and keep us posted. Also keep an eye out for any air leaks as this is without a doubt the most common cause of stalling these diesels. Any wetness around the return caps or visible fuel leaks are a good sign of a problem.

 

[-=DeanstuD=-]

Looking at that first pic of the contents again, I thought I would say that the different color on the bottom is some other liquid that isn't mixing with the oil. Just thought it could look like just a thick bottomed glass. It is a regular old Ball canning jar.

I have inspected all the fuel lines from head to tail, and can proudly say it is all dusty rusty dry. Around the injectors and such, it is so dry in fact, that wherever paint has chipped off it has surface rusted.

 

[Neal J. Moran]

If you want some more information on burning oil, go to ShaferLabs.com. He's a step ahead of us.

 

[-=DeanstuD=-]

Neat site! Thanks for the link. I actually had imagined re-refining the oil after seeing a Modern Marvels show and learning how Gasoline is made.