Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2005 15:34:33 +0100
Reply-To: Paul Clarke <paul.clarke@IQEA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Paul Clarke <paul.clarke@IQEA.COM>
Subject: Re: Vanagon running on vegetable oil
In-Reply-To: <11dcddf8050826063227762abc@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Doesnt happen much here as far as I can figure, and Ive also
discovered that it is illegal unless you pay tax on the oil! Nothings
easy in dear old England eh!
Paul
On 26 Aug 2005, at 14:32, Christopher Gronski wrote:
> This article was in my local (London Ontario) newspaper the other day,
> its veggie oil Jetta... engine conversion anyone????
>
> David Marshall at www.fastforward.ca has mentioned a heated tank
> (under the sliding door) a couple of times, but I'm not sure if it is
> for sale yet.
>
> Chris
>
> Car hums on used vegetable oil
>
> Gary Clark's vehicle smells like french fries but that's a small
> price to pay.
>
> BRIAN CLEEVE, Special to the Free Press
> 2005-08-24 02:14:54
>
> CHATHAM -- Whenever Gary Clark is low on fuel, he steers his
> Volkswagen toward a nearby restaurant for a tank of free vegetable
> oil.
>
> His car smells like french fries -- which he figures is a smaller
> price to pay than the cost of diesel fuel.
>
> And, although the 38-year-old Chatham-area farmer spent $1,500 making
> the mechanical conversions to his 1997 Jetta, he expects to save that
> much in fuel costs within 40 weeks.
>
> "That's if the price stays the same (93.9 cents for diesel as of last
> week). If it goes up, I'll save even more."
>
> Clark estimates he had been spending $35 a week on diesel fuel.
>
> "I like driving by the gas stations and smiling when I see those
> people lined up to pay for diesel fuel."
>
> The changes he's made to his VW, including installing a special tank
> in his trunk, are portable and can be put on another vehicle.
>
> Clark has been using vegetable oil since Aug. 1, after reading an
> article about it earlier this year.
>
> He goes to independently owned and operated restaurants and asks for
> any leftover vegetable oil.
>
> "They have to pay to get rid of the used oil, so they're happy to give
> it to me," he said.
>
> Clark drives about 1,200 kilometres a week, between his job as a
> locomotive engineer in Sarnia and personal business in Windsor and
> Burlington.
>
> "I stop at restaurants in those places and ask for the vegetable oil.
> I fuel my car and my stomach at the same time."
>
> His vehicle's engine requires diesel fuel to ignite. But after Clark
> has driven about a kilometre, he flips a toggle switch on the
> dashboard that allows him to change fuels while driving.
>
> Clark switches back to diesel fuel just before shutting off his
> engine. He still has most of the diesel fuel he put into his 45-litre
> tank three weeks ago.
>
> He has installed a special filter that needs to be kept cleaned. The
> vegetable oil goes through the screen three times before being drained
> into the special tank in his trunk.
>
> Keeping the vegetable oil warm is one of the biggest challenges Clark
> will face as winter approaches. He's not yet sure how to solve that
> problem.
>
> Al Wissink, service manager at Richmond Motors, Chatham's Volkswagen
> dealership, said using vegetable oil won't damage the diesel engine.
>
> He noted the vegetable oil needs to be heated to about 21 C for it to
> be operational.
>
> But Wissink added that almost any fuel will operate a diesel engine.
>
> "The only difference here is that he gets it free," said Wissink.
> "Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth his while."
>
> Clark said there are about 20,000 such vehicles in Canada and the
> United States.
>
> Copyright (c) The London Free Press
>
> On 8/26/05, David Bohannan <fjazzbass@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have heard of diesels being able to run on WVO (waste vegetable
>> oil).
>>
>> 2 of the major components involved are as follows:
>>
>> Filtration: The oil needs to sit and sit and sit for a long time for
>> the crud to settle at the bottom...then it needs to go thru an
>> inordinate amount of filtration...I think there is a website that
>> chronicles this
>>
>> Heat: this stuff needs to be heated to be able to flow thru the
>> diesel's lines and injectors, etc...so part of converting to WVO you
>> need to heat the WVO tank somehow...
>>
>> Here is a website that discusses it in detail:
>>
>> http://www.greasel.com/
>>
>> Dave
>>
>
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