Ready to start filtering my WVO

[zyand]

Heya every1 after 2 yrs and a baby i have my van running on veg and ready to start filtering my own veg. I have my source of veg now and i need to decide on how to filter it. i like the WVOdesign RPC, looks simple enough . Has any1 got this? plz let me know if its worth it. Are there any other methods that would be as simple? would appreciate and advice i could get.

[TardisDeli]

HI Zyand, congrats on converting to WVO, my L300 loves it, but I just add it my diesel tank in warm weather only. We live just the other side of North Road from you (Burnaby side). Delicat's old system was great, and now he is tweaking it so there may be some parts and storage drums etc available (he lives near us).

Some good ideas.... Collect your canola oil in the 17 litre plastic cubes, leave sitting on shelf in garage, the longer they sit the better (ie weeks not days) thus the more the oil will settle into layers, any water will sit atop, crud sinks to bottom. This is the crucial step. Then do not move them, use a little hand pump and drop the inlet line carefully into the clear centre of the oil, and pump carefully out ONLY the clear oil, into CLEAN cubies. Let settle again if you wish. Also let the cruddie mostly-empty cubes settle again so you can get more clear oil out. Run the clear stuff through a fabric or mesh filter 10 micron, you can set up a gravity fed filter back into CLEAN cubes which is cheap. If you want to spend money, then buy a fuel pump, and 10 micron racor diesel filters. Store the finished stuff in cubes is easier to use. The better the quality of the wvo to start with, the better the result. Ensure NO cleansers or degreasers or salt get mixed in the wvo before you collect it, as they destroy the oil molecules.

Cheers, Christine.

[zyand]

Thx for the tips Christine. I didn't realize about salt added to the mix. I'm a carpenter here in the film industry and I'm getting my oil from the shows caterers. I don't think they add salt to their oil but i will ask.
I'm thinking of building a sort of hot box made of glass set it up in the sun to sort of spd this part of the process up. Was wondering if any1 else may do this. I am thinking of getting a pre-made system to clean the oil as my wife gives me a hard time about how messy the oil can be.

[TardisDeli]

Hmmm, hot box, havent seen anything about that. Don't store the cubes in the sun, as I think they have the recycling triangle on them which means they will break down with UV. Oil in UV sunlight, shouldnt be a problem here at 49 degrees latitude.

Salt is a problem when people sprinkle salt over food as it drains in the fry basket above the oil, or if using prepared food with very salty crumb coatings. The best way to clean up oil spills on restaurant floors is to sprinkle salt, it will break down the slippy oil molecules.

If the oil you get is still vaguely see through, that is good, if it is so black you can't see thru it, then it might have been overheated. Taste it before you filter it if you want to ensure it is good.

Send a PM to delicat to see what storage and filtration parts he might be selling.

Cheers, Christine.

[delicat]

Good on you to get started, it`s highly addictive!

Just a few clarifications... Water won`t raise to the top as it`s heavier than oil so it will sink at the bottom just like the rest of the crap. The only thing left at the top aside from clean oil will be whatever floats...

This is how I do it and not necessarely the best way but a pretty good one anyway! I settle my cubies for a min. of 2 weeks, it`s the first filtration stage. I can let them rest for months as well depending how much I need to go through. Longer=better.

I don`t put them in the sun, not so much a concern about the plastic breaking down but simply because heat will create a movement of the oil in the cubies and to some degree mix your oil with the contaminants from the bottom of your cubie. Not sure how much of an effect it has but it`s simply not required.

I pump from the cubies starting at the top but leaving the last 2" at the bottom untouch. I usually pump enough cubies to fill a large drum or in my case a tote where I leave it resting again (can`t hurt and I have enough to rotate my drums or totes). The remaining left overs from each cubies are then used to fill a few cubies which will again sit for weeks.

I use cold upflow system. Search google, plenty of good explanations out there. Simply put it`s a 40L drum with the top opened sitting on top of a sealed 200L drum connected via a 2" pipe going down the large drum all the way down but stopping about 8" before touching the bottom. At the top of the large drum there`s a 3/4" pipe coming out and going to a 10u filter then to a catching drum (that`s your filtered oil). Add a valve before the filter to regulate your flow when you fill the upper drum with dirty wvo ie. dirty oil in the upper drum forces it`s way down via gravity and pushes the clean oil from the top of the 200L drum out via the 3/4" pipe and filter...

Hope it makes sense but if it`s easier to drop by my place one day you could see what I`m talking about...

Cheers,
Mr. D

[TardisDeli]

Delicat the Master hath Spoke! Thanks for correcting my error that water floats. Interesting about keeping the sun off the oil to prevent convection, makes sense. I should help you do some filtering so I can learn more. Christine.