WVO experts needed

[robinimpey]

Looking for the latest information on getting a conversion kit and set up to filter oil for my L300.

I used to commute 20 kms a day, which turned into 70 and is about to got to 100+ so I thought it was time to get 'er running on WVO.

I need a full kit, tank, valves, etc. etc. I'm driving my van year round on the prairies and need a set up that is reliable. I'm good to do the install, but don't want to take the time to do a bunch of research that's already been done.

I know this will provide a quick ROI so I'm not afraid of spending a few extra bucks to do it right.

I also need to know the simplest and best way to filter & dry WVO. What types of places are preferred for getting WVO from? I know a few restaurant owners that I think would be happy to give me their WVO, but is some better than other?

Basically I get the concept, but need someone that is willing to tell me how to get all set up. I think all the information is on the site, but some is dated so I'm not sure if it's the best information.

Grateful for any help you WVO experts can provide.

Cheers,

Robin

[BCDelica]

Hello Robin,

No expert here, but would like to offer up a few starters point that might help.

1. Confirm an arrangement that you can obtain used oil from said restaurants, as there have been a few peeps that have worked hard to convert a vehicle than found themselves without a local, secure source. Another concern, is do you have the facilities to store and process oil? For example you can't leave your veggie cubes outside, in Alberta, for six months of the year.

2. Be sure that your Delica has a sound injection system and that of course all the prerequisite maintenance has been covered.

3. Decide on a WVO tank option; some type of container inside the van (don't do it, spilled WVO doesn't age well inside a vehicle), Custom made WVO tanks under the Delica ( Search AndrewH), switching the existing diesel tanks to WVO than installing a small, convenient diesel tank? Proper tank options are a difficult part of the L300 Delica WVO conversions. Of note, since returning to Canada I've discovered that 1000 liter totes are often available as a waste product of there own; at many refinery and gas plants I visit, they have to arrange and cover the expense of, disposal of used 1000 framed totes.

4. Purchase/choose a kit, and oil scrubbing hardware, from a supplier such as Plantdrive.ca or wvodesigns.com, for example.

Interesting you mention looking for the latest information, and wish to avoid the dated material; the diesel engine wasn't invented to run on dino diesel, and some of those dated information is regarding WVO conversions that have happily been running many years on the veggie. There is a long list of other tips that can be given, but it's I think best to answer those questions when the specific questions are asked (to filter or to fuge, looped or non loop return, your friend the thermocouple and kitty litter, to tank the heat..I mean, and so on)>

I hope to be able to have a vehicle to convert before summers end myself, most likely a 1KZ-TE and never the 1KD-FTV which I know from several examples wheres't the owners killed the injectors just by adding new veggie oil into the diesel. And this was in tropical temperatures. The KD is a great engine for power, smoothness, and economy; but the injectors problems are real (and really this engine dominates the market on Thai roads, and will be available for import to Canada next year). But I digress....

Cheers,
Kev

[delicat]

Hey Kevin, are you back in town? And what engines are those (forgive my ignorance!)

Not much to add, Kev is a great source of knowledge in the WVO segment. I'd suggest to look at what has already been done in form of L300 conversions, some great examples are available.

Yes, tank is the hard part and where to locate the valves and filter so they don't interfere with regular maintenance! On mine I had removed one of the 2 batteries and replaced it with a larger/better one which left me with enough space for the filter. Try to keep filter and supply valve close to IP to keep heat... I'm a big fan of PlantDrive, local, helpful, good price and a keep it simple attitude that works! Yes, best advice keep it simple! Easier to figure if something goes wrong and less to go wrong!

Good luck!
Mr. D

Sent from my iPorn using Tapatalk

[BCDelica]

Cheers Mr D!

My son and I live in Fort St John now!

The Toyota 1KD and 1Kz engines come in many trucks, SUV's, and Van in all the Asian markets. Toyota Hilux, Fortunner, and Hiace vans dominate the Thailand market, and the 3 liters mentioned are the most popular. The newer 3 liter, the 1KD, is an fantastic 4 cylinder diesel; shockingly smooth and some of the very newest, intercooled and bigger turbo'ed, versions put V8 diesel power levels. I drove many friends vehicles, including towing a boat on Thai roads, and this engine could compared to a north American V6 when driving then the smaller 4 diesels we know. It's a mostly a reliable engine, but with it's very high pressure injection system it's not veggie friendly without new, and expensive injectors. The 1KZ is a more famialiar feeling diesel, and there many examples of super high milaege motors in the vehicle I like as the oh so common toursit packing van. I would like the high roofed 4x4 version Hiace; wicked interior room - a motorcyclist from Chiang Mai could take his 2 bikes in the back and still have a full sized bed in front to sleep off the many beers that followed after a track day, with standing headroom for his girlfriend.

Any progress Robin?

[robinimpey]

Not much progress, but only because I haven't had much time lately to find what I need, i.e. WVO supply, filter system and conversion kit.

Cheers,

Robin

[TardisDeli]

Hi Robin, well you've had the 2 experts that I would ask already reply to you (delicat and BCdelica).

After 5 years, I am actually gonna convert to wvo myself. Till now I just added a third of wvo into the normal diesel filler tank with 2 thirds diesel in, but only if temp would not go below 50 F or 10 C at night, so June thru mid september only for vancouver. I had been thinking just to add the vegtherm, 2 strips of electric heated metal the size of a ruler on either side of the fuel line which you have extended, to place just under the passenger seat, mounted atop that flat bit of metal that you put tools on when working on your engine. This would warm the fuel just before the IP. But this does not warm the fuel tank so the wvo might gel too much to get up the vegtherm. Frisch on the Island, used just a vegtherm, way back 5 years ago, remember his photo of filtering WVO through jeans legs sewn up for first filtration, before it went to a proper filter. The "old" techniques work, they just take longer, as you have to filter through multiple filters to get progressively finer filtration without clogging up your filters prematurely.

Plantdrive is my best choice, Ed Begley has been familiar with L300 for many years, he lives in Salmon Arm BC. and many of us have his products, so you can ask details on this forum. Others have bought other brands, but many end up at deli mini meets asking for help with failed components, which few of us can help with as have no good working examples to compare. I have watched several wvo conversions done, mainly on L300s.

IN the past coupla years, some delica owners have been LURED by the internet and bought valves etc from China (for half the price, wow), then they leaked over time (ooooohhhh stinky veg on the carpet). That is the one thing I have been warned about by people I trust, don;t cheap on the valves.

Making room for the components is an issue. You have to move over yr existing fuel pump to now make room for the new heated oil filter etc. So playing around with shifting everything a few centimeters is slow. Strongly recommend Racor heated filter system (survive well on our search and rescue boats), not a cheaper generic. Get filter with the screw off glass water separater at the bottom, easy to empty. Yes its more expensive than generic, but so is a new engine.

In addition to the valves etc one needs a herd of fuel line connectors etc, good strong wire and electrical connectors.

The preferred site for a veg tank is in the spare tire space, custom tank costly, and mount a separate boat filler hose in the side corner of the van. I hear some people put the diesel in the spare tire tank, and the wvo in the usual delica tank, as they use more veg than diesel. Also heard recently someone suggest on auto L300s we have 2 tanks anyway, so convert bigger one to veg, and and add filler tank for smaller one; be careful on this as on purge-back some back swill of veggie gets into the diesel if not isolated.

Purging is crucial. switch to diesel 5 minutes before you stop, so it all works through the injectors and fuel pump etc. Rule: Start on diesel, drive 5 mins till engine warm, switch to wvo, drive; switch to deisel for 5 mins, then stop. IF you stop on warm weather on veg, you might be ok for half an hour for restart, if you stop on veg in cold weather, wvo gels and you aint getting it through the injectors without a campfire underneath your van. When we drive in convoys we radio back and forth to remind people time to switch. When you switch the valve back to diesel, part of the purge process can suction that wvo back into the diesel ... this might be a problem for you in the high altitude as much colder temperature outside. Do your research on this. Ask Ed Begley what he recommends, maybe his valves dont have this problem, I have not researched this yet.

the wvo quality is critical. When you get your cubies, smell and TASTE the oil, if you wouldnt want to use it for one last batch of french fries then you don't want it in your delica. Let cubie settle in quiet dark temp (ie closet in house) a couple weeks. Water sits atop, food sinks to bottom. Gently put a hose into centre of cubie, slowly extract clear wvo without disturbing top and bottom layer. stop extracting earlier than later. Let cubie settle another coupla weeks (combine the dregs of several cubies into one) if you want to extract more. Now, run though your filter system (gravity fed through blue jeans, or engine pump through another racor filter system. let settle again. make sure your newly filtered and settled stuff is not pumped from bottom, have the tap on the side a few inches from bottom. A superb wvo making process is to use a centrifuge, it truly filters the oil of crud. Costs more, but good (rmour has it that a delica in Surrey has this set up in garage, but I have never seen it).

Source of wvo: best to go empty it yourself from the deepfryer so you know the cleaning chemicals did not get into the cubie. The restaurant will love you. Ensure they don't salt food over the oil, ie put the basket of fries to drain off the oil, then salt them there. .. ouch aggggg chemical molecules broken by salt. By the way, if you spill veg oil on the floor, then sprinkle salt, it breaks the oily strands down and you can now wipe it up easier...so you don't want salty murdered wvo. When driving with wvo, glen of coombs country autos recommends adding a lubricity and cetone enhancer. I use Petrolabs Deisel Power Plus. A vegetarian restaurant is good, as they tend to use less pre-frozen food in the deep fryer ... frozen food equals water in oil. A good restaurant (so rare these days) will filter the oil each morning before turning the heat on, so that any floaters of chips etc are not BURNING in the oil all day, and breaking the molecules down.

I want to get mine converted in the next few weeks, so do you want me to keep in touch. Getting advice from other local L300 owners to help Jay and me. It usually takes several days, as there is always some problem.

PM or email me your normal email address, I can send you info as I go. I am not often on the forum anymore.

Cheers, Christine.

[BCDelica]

Great advice Christine!

One suggestion would be to test the viscosity of your oil using your fridge/freezer, you may be surprised how different veggie oils flow after time in your freezer. Lipid chemistry is fascinating, in our restaurant we used corn oil and peanut oil; corn oil flows normally after a night in the freezer yet peanut oil starts to solidify at cold fridge temperatures. Lower temperature limits veggie oils it can vary an awful lot, many list on the web state freezing points for common oils, and they seem so far off from what I've experienced, coconut and palm oils in particular. Just something to consider when deciding on deciding on in-tank heating.

Christine offers great suggestions for oil processing, but also consider water removal importance in your wvo processing; upon combustion that water will damage components in your engine.

Cheers

[whatthejeez]

"Water sits atop, food sinks to bottom."

I don't think that's the case. Water is heavier than oil and usually sinks to the bottom.

[BCDelica]

"Water sits atop, food sinks to bottom."

I don't think that's the case. Water is heavier than oil and usually sinks to the bottom.

Water, plus the particles that keep the emulsion, can either float or sink after settling. There is a lot of varity in the WVO you can collect. Timely settling and heat, or settling plus hyper settling (a centrifuge), followed with a good quality fuel specific filter will reduce most water.

A crackle test is easy to preform

One easy method for testing your oil is to use the crackle test. Heat a frying pan to approximately 275 degrees. The best way to figure out if it’s hot enough is to splash a few drops of water onto the pan. When the drops instantly vaporize with a loud crackle you have gotten it hot enough. Don’t let it get too hot as your oil can catch on fire if it’s too hot.

Next pour a small sample of your oil onto the pan. If it makes any crackle sounds from the water in it vaporizing, you have water. If no sounds occur, look for bubbles. A lot of small bubbles may be a sign of some water content. Only small trace amounts of bubbles are normal. If that’s all you get then you've passed the test for water-free oil. If not, de water it again by settling or heating and re-test later to be sure all water has been removed.

This is easy to do with both your newly received oil and your oil from different stages of your treatment process. I did attempt to de-emulsify samples of my wvo years ago to obtain a good measurement of water, using both dish detergent than shampoo, but results were very inconclusive and icky.

Edit, we also split the tanks on our first L300 WVO conversion, front tank diesel and the larger rear one WVO, and that L300 is still working this way I assume. Range is not a concern, in this case if you carry extra totes of WVO. Never did figure how to get the fuel gauge to work correctly with that Delica though; both tanks have their own level float.

[Aciled]

Plant Drive is your BEST option. One of his installers is located on the island .

Dr.Bjorn fixed me up, well worth the ferry ride
http://www.drbjornsauto.com/