| Author | Message | ||
| Tom (Pengyou)
Registered Member Username: Pengyou Post Number: 2 Registered: 3-2007 Posted From: 220.205.81.106 Rating: N/A |
I did a search on this site for biodiesel and the last article I found was dated 3/2006. Is there anything new? Success stories? Failure stories? | ||
| RJmule (Rjmule)
Registered Member Username: Rjmule Post Number: 31 Registered: 2-2007 Posted From: 75.51.75.240 Rating: N/A |
daveMail@getdave.com Tom,Dave shows how he installed a waste oil unit in his bus, very interesting and something i would like to do in the future. Good Luck. RMmule | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Registered Member Username: Drivingmisslazy Post Number: 1873 Registered: 1-2001 Posted From: 75.108.81.156 Rating: N/A |
Here is a link to another board with a lot of posts on this subject. http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=3069.0 Richard | ||
| Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member Username: Tekebird Post Number: 146 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 71.59.75.212 Rating: N/A |
my 04's new owners are going to run B100......I tried to talk them out of it, but it's thier bus | ||
| steve gaines (Kysteve)
Registered Member Username: Kysteve Post Number: 85 Registered: 12-2006 Posted From: 74.140.165.225 Rating: N/A |
tekebird, whats b100, if its biodiesel, just out of couriosity why talk them out of it. ....Steve | ||
| Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member Username: Tekebird Post Number: 149 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 71.59.75.212 Rating: N/A |
It's pure bio diesel 1. it starts clouding at 60 degrees 2. requires tank and filter heaters 3 there is a big run of unheated line between the tank and the filter 4. it eats rubber so all rubber in fuel system will have to be replaced. for what they plan on doing with it I think it will add to the equation an unreliability factor. | ||
| John Feld (Wvobus)
Registered Member Username: Wvobus Post Number: 18 Registered: 2-2005 Posted From: 204.184.224.28 Rating: N/A |
Biodiesel can be a great way to save on fuel cost, if you have an education on useing it properly, or a nightmare if you have false information. The trouble with so many is that they don't know what they don;t know and can;t tell the BS from the truth. WVO is half the cost and less trouble to do. (Message edited by wvobus on April 02, 2007) | ||
| Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach)
Registered Member Username: Cowlitzcoach Post Number: 136 Registered: 4-2001 Posted From: 204.245.250.14 Rating: N/A |
One problem people have when discussing biodiesel is confusing biodiesel with waste vegetable oil (WVO). It isn't the same at all! I did quite a bit of research on WVO and was fully prepared to invest in the extra tanks and plumbing to run one of my buses on WVO. That is until I figured out how much the "free" WVO was going to cost me. It is one thing to go to your local McD's and ask them to fill up one or two five gallon buckets to fuel up your diesel powered VW or M-B car. It is a horse of different color when you ask them to fill up enough five gallon buckets to get your bus tank filled. I realized in order to make it work I would have to purchase a tank truck, set up a route to fill up with WVO, set up a tank storage and filtering system at home, and then worry about the potential road tax liability down the road. Not exactly free. And then several of the restaurants in our area went from paying to get rid of their WVO to leasing their WVO and only paying for the amount of WVO that was not recovered. In other words, no more "free" WVO. With diesel fuel now over $3.00 per gallon I am beginning to wonder if it might be less expensive to purchase five gallon buckets of vegetable oil from Costco. Regardless of whether you decide biodiesel or WVO is your choice of fuel, be aware you can't just pour it into your regular fuel tank without making preparations for the changes that will occur. As it has been noted before, the cloud point of biodiesel and WVO is much higher than diesel #2. Biodiesel and WVO will also play havoc on your rubber lines, hoses, 'o'-rings, and gaskets. Biodiesel and WVO will also disturb the yuck on the bottom of your fuel tank so be really prepared with a lot of extra fuel filters. And most troubling, if you are running newer equipment with electronically controlled fuel management systems you may not be able to run blends of biodiesel greater than B10 without some serious problems (the new Cat engines are particularly touchy about anything except straight #2 diesel fuel going through the pump). All I can say is if you plan to use anything except for #2 diesel be prepared for some interesting challenges with fuel availability the least of those challenges. Mark O. | ||
| R.C.Bishop (Chuckllb)
Registered Member Username: Chuckllb Post Number: 116 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 4.240.213.186 Rating: N/A |
Good post, Mark...and glad to see you " back"...again.  RCB | ||
| Blake (Mci8)
Registered Member Username: Mci8 Post Number: 1 Registered: 4-2007 Posted From: 65.41.52.167 Rating: N/A |
We just got back from a 3200 mile trip in our bus burning 70% bio for about half of the trip..Up to 95% for a few hundred miles.....It didn't seem to affect it in any way other then the exhausts smell!! We have the 8v71 engine turned to about 350 hp....Bio diesel is supposed to be a direct replacement for regular diesel without any mods to the engine. We run 80% to 100% (it depends how cold it is. If its to cold it will gel up) bio in all our farm equipment. So yes I would say you can run bio in your bus!! Although bio at the pumps is actually more expensive the regularly diesel.. We have a friend that makes all of our out of waste oils for about 1.50 a gallon so it is alot cheaper to run for us.. Bio diesel does not gel up until about 35 degrease! All this winter running 50% bio in all our equipment we had no trouble at all even to -15 a couple days!! It will eat at seals on vehicle's pre-1995 after that the rubber is supposed to be compatible with it. Maybe im missing something but I have never heard of a tank heater for bio diesel. Now straight veggie oil is a totally different story!! We have been using bio in over ten different engines for the last year or so without any problems at all. | ||
| Gary Pasternak (Cessna5354)
Registered Member Username: Cessna5354 Post Number: 12 Registered: 2-2007 Posted From: 205.188.116.13 Rating: N/A |
I have read that Detroit Diesel will only allow B10 in their engines. Not only does the fuel gel, actually crystalizes at low temps, Requring additional fuel filter changes. It will also migrate into the crankcase. Once there it does not evaporate like dino fuel. This dilutes the oil and requires more frequent changes. I will not be chancing a $15,000 engine rebuild... Gary | ||
| Blake (Mci8)
Registered Member Username: Mci8 Post Number: 2 Registered: 4-2007 Posted From: 65.41.54.45 Rating: N/A |
Its totally up to you!!I can tell you we have way more then 15K worth of engines running on it with no fear! We have run it over a year and the engine oils are cleaner they run just as well or better then before...........Theres a lot of hearsay out there..allot comes from the big oil company's....They don't want us using alternative fuels!!!I get tired of all the negative opinions about bio from people that have never run a drop of it through their engines.....There is tons of proof that it is better for the entire system....100% Biodiesel is now available at many normal service stations across Europe..... | ||
| Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach)
Registered Member Username: Cowlitzcoach Post Number: 137 Registered: 4-2001 Posted From: 204.245.250.2 Rating: N/A |
Running B10 in an old style mechanically controlled diesel injection system is not that dissimilar to running ethanol/gasoline blends in low compression gas engines--it works great in the Dodge Neon but works really crappy in the Dodge Charger with the 440 6-pack. Using blended fuels will work and once you figure out the pitfalls it can be a good choice if the price is not very different. The problem comes when you try to use the higher percentage blends of biodiesel, particularly in newer electronically controlled diesel injection systems. I don't even pretend to understand the chemistry, or the physics, or whatever the differences are between bio-diesel and dino-diesel. What I do know is if you try to run the higher percentage blends you will void every engine manufacturer's warranty. Again, I don't know for sure what happens in the injection systems when you use the high percentage blends of bio-diesel. It may have something to do with the extreme high pressures used in the new electroncially controlled fuel systems(in excess of 10X of what the pressure is in a mechanically controlled system). Under those extreme high pressure conditions something must happen to the bio-diesel that doesn't happen to dino-diesel. What I do know is the results, particularly in the new Cats. You end up having to totally disassemble the fuel system from the filters to the injectors. Everything in the fuel system has to be cleaned out of all of the bio-diesel. I would agree that if you are running the old style 2-cycle DD's with mechanical pumps and injectors the use of bio-diesel blends might work really well for you. I would agree the lube oils will not appear to get as dirty as soon (I would be using oil analysis to be sure however). I would agree the exhaust may actually clear up although it may smell differently. But as long as you have to pay a price premium for using bio-diesel blends I think I will stick with dino-diesel. Mark O. |