WVO and fuel gauges

[almac]

hey guys,
i was wondering how the WVO users handled their WVO use, if they had gauges installed for their second tank, and what kind of gauges?

pics encouraged of course..
*whew* a lot of questions.

[Adam]

With Eric N's guidance I spliced the sending gauge wire from my stock tank and piped it through my 6-port valve, so that when I switch back and forth between diesel and WVO the the stock gauge on my dash would switch between the sending unit in my stock tank and the sending unit in my WVO tank. No extra gauge required. I'll see if I can dig up some pictures, but don't hold your breath waiting, my PCs are mostly still in boxes from our move.

[delicat]

Hey Adam, glad to hear you're into your new house!

I'd be curious as well as I have a fuel sender installed in my tank and the wire run up to the front but hesitating between putting an extra gauge or splicing into the existing one which would require to be compatible with my sender to be accurate...

[loki]

the splicing in is a great idea, would be nice to be able to manually switch it as well so you can check your other tank easily and quickly on the move. For this you might also want to include an indicator light somewhere to make it more obvious which tank was being monitored.

[Adam]

the splicing in is a great idea, would be nice to be able to manually switch it as well so you can check your other tank easily and quickly on the move. For this you might also want to include an indicator light somewhere to make it more obvious which tank was being monitored.

The 6-port Pollack valve runs off the same switch that you use to switch between tanks. When you switch over to WVO the signal comes form the WVO sending unit. If you quickly want to check your WVO or diesel level you just need to switch over before starting.

[loki]

the splicing in is a great idea, would be nice to be able to manually switch it as well so you can check your other tank easily and quickly on the move. For this you might also want to include an indicator light somewhere to make it more obvious which tank was being monitored.

The 6-port Pollack valve runs off the same switch that you use to switch between tanks. When you switch over to WVO the signal comes form the WVO sending unit. If you quickly want to check your WVO or diesel level you just need to switch over before starting.

I'm really forgetful so I would either forget the reading later while driving, or leave it on WVO and start it :(. you could probably use a relay and wire the manual switch and the feed from the pollack, it adds a tiny bit to the complexity of the install but not much I don't think, but too each their own right :)

[delicat]

Loki, I don't get how a fuel gauge could make you forget to switch over? Put a light with your wvo switch so that when your system is on the light comes on and a buzzer for when you turn off your truck and forget to switch back to diesel. Your fuel gauge isn't really an option to tell you to switch... 1/4 tank vs 3/4 tank means nothing really

[TardisDeli]

Hi Al, as we discussed, hoping you can visit the TardisDeli Motel soon. David Delicat lives nearby, so you can poke over his veg conversion. Jay TardisDeli helped him with the install. The TardisDeli just adds WVO into the regular diesel tank, no modifications done. See you soon. Christine.

[loki]

Loki, I don't get how a fuel gauge could make you forget to switch over? Put a light with your wvo switch so that when your system is on the light comes on and a buzzer for when you turn off your truck and forget to switch back to diesel. Your fuel gauge isn't really an option to tell you to switch... 1/4 tank vs 3/4 tank means nothing really

The gauge isn't going make me forget I do that all the time but if I have to switch the fuel to switch the gauge and I switch it over before starting the van to check the WVO fuel I might get distracted by my kids or something and end up trying to start the van on WVO. so that is why I was thinking it would be cool to have a manual switch (probably a momentary switch) and an indicator light. I also not trying to say that someone design is bad or anything, just throwing ideas out there, if someone wants to try it cool, if not, cool too.

[almac]

you need a rocker switch(on-on)with 2 lights on it. say red and green.
red=diesel, green=WVO. or just have a red light for the diesel position.

what would be special is have it designed somehow to 'reset' automatically back to diesel when you shut the key off. that way, the bus is always in the diesel position when you put the key in the ignition. not sur how this could be done.

i like these switiches here: http://4x4mods.com/
i suspect that i will be spending a fair amount of cash at their site...

im not really sure what i will do. im actually thinking of running 2 gauges. i like gauges!
maybe a WVO Fuel, and WVO Temp...

[Adam]

I'd be curious as well as I have a fuel sender installed in my tank and the wire run up to the front but hesitating between putting an extra gauge or splicing into the existing one which would require to be compatible with my sender to be accurate...

Hey David,

I remember the trick being to match the resistance of the WVO sending unit with the resistance of the stock sending unit so that it would read properly on the dash gauge. That required unwinding and shortening the resitance wire on my WVO sending unit/ I'll see if I can dig up the notes Eric sent me about this.

what would be special is have it designed somehow to 'reset' automatically back to diesel when you shut the key off. that way, the bus is always in the diesel position when you put the key in the ignition.

The problem with this is that you need to purge you engine of WVO before you shut down. You don't want to have WVO in a cold engine, believe me, I've been there, several times.....thanks god for block heaters.

maybe a WVO Fuel, and WVO Temp...

I like gauges too, trust me I'm not ain't gauge. I wanted to get a bunch of WVO temp gauges, one taking temp just after my coolant heated filter, one just after the VegTherm and one on the return line from the engine. Maybe on my L400 install I'll get all my gauges, might need a gauge pod for three digital temp gauges....

[loki]

I'd be curious as well as I have a fuel sender installed in my tank and the wire run up to the front but hesitating between putting an extra gauge or splicing into the existing one which would require to be compatible with my sender to be accurate...

Hey David,

I remember the trick being to match the resistance of the WVO sending unit with the resistance of the stock sending unit so that it would read properly on the dash gauge. That required unwinding and shortening the resitance wire on my WVO sending unit/ I'll see if I can dig up the notes Eric sent me about this.

what would be special is have it designed somehow to 'reset' automatically back to diesel when you shut the key off. that way, the bus is always in the diesel position when you put the key in the ignition.

The problem with this is that you need to purge you engine of WVO before you shut down. You don't want to have WVO in a cold engine, believe me, I've been there, several times.....thanks god for block heaters.

maybe a WVO Fuel, and WVO Temp...

I like gauges too, trust me I'm not ain't gauge. I wanted to get a bunch of WVO temp gauges, one taking temp just after my coolant heated filter, one just after the VegTherm and one on the return line from the engine. Maybe on my L400 install I'll get all my gauges, might need a gauge pod for three digital temp gauges....

might also be possible to use (probably with some mods either great or small) a stock deli sending unit?

[almac]

The problem with this is that you need to purge you engine of WVO before you shut down. You don't want to have WVO in a cold engine, believe me, I've been there, several times.....thanks god for block heaters.

so does this mean that when you park your deli for the night, a WVO user has to run diesel for a few minutes before shutting it off for the night? Hmmm... a turbo timer would probably be useful here, would it not?

[Adam]

so does this mean that when you park your deli for the night, a WVO user has to run diesel for a few minutes before shutting it off for the night? Hmmm... a turbo timer would probably be useful here, would it not?

I just picked a land mark 2-4 km from my house that I used to remind me to switch over to diesel before I parked it for the night. The railroad tracks were the perfect distance from my house to make sure my engine was full of diesel for a cold start. The Plant Drive kits come with a buzzer warning to remind you if you shut down without flipping the switch to diesel. I never bothered installing it because I was hyper aware of the fact that I was running on free WVO and not on costly diesel. The only times I got stung with WVO in a cold engine was when I was planning on going out within the next hour, but I pushed it to 2-3 hours, or forgot to go out at all. Some times it doesn't pay to be greedy, better to use a bit of diesel, then to spend an hour trying to start a cold engine filled with WVO.

[almac]

well i guess i have the WVO Fuel gauge issue solved. my new deli has 2!


as for the WVO switches? that's been covered too!

also a switch for the heated WVO filter(yellow).

andy sure did a nice job on the conversion.

two thoughts tho.
1. add a WVO buzzer.
2. replace the double gauge pod, with a triple! at this point, i'm thinkin: WVO fuel, Pyro, and Duel Switchable Voltmeter for 2 batteries.
the altimeter, while cute, is pretty useless... hell, i'd rather have a compass...
must... have... more... gauges! lol.