Re: Biodiesel Home Made?

Hi,

I'd like to ask a question about bio diesel.

I've been doing a bit of reading lately and found some interesting
information about bio-diesel.

see http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

I've also found a list of UK suppliers who are happy to sell the stuff if
you don't want to make your own.

see http://www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk/outlets.htm

What I'd lie to know is has anyone tried the stuff.

In theory it all sound really good. What with less nasty emissions and the
price of diesel toping at a £1 a litre, bio-D seems attractive.

I'm seriously thinking about trying it and according to the above
information, I should be safe as long as the fuel filters are changes
regularly for the first few months.

Does anyone have experience of using Bio Diesel - particularly on a TDi
engine?

thanks

G

On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:42:24 +0100, Gail <[email protected]> wrote:


> Does anyone have experience of using Bio Diesel - particularly on a TDi
> engine?

I've been vaguely experimenting for the last two months. My land rover is
a 1997 300Tdi 110. I buy mine from a local supllier and just stick it in
the tank. I started using small ratios of bio to regular diesel, and
gradually increased the mixture. Just before the really cold weather I
reckon I was running on 80% biodisel.

I added a cheap see-through fuel filter from Halfords just before the main
filter in the engine bay. This filter is easy to change and cheaper than
the main eingine filter. I've changed it twice in about 2000 miles.

Performance-wise, it feels fine (and these remarks are based on quite a
short period of not very scientific testing!). The engine is definitely
smoother and less clattery on biodiesel, but there's no loss of power once
it's warmed up. When the weather's cold, and when I was running on 80%
biodiesel, it took more cranking (5 or 6 seconds maybe) to start the
engine, was a bit smokier to start with, and for the first mile or so the
engine was reluctant to rev and was quite sluggish. However, I'm prepared
to put up with that for the sake of cheaper and cleaner fuel.

What I don't know is
a) What ratio of bio/regular diesel I should be using at MoT time.
b) What, if any, the loong-tem effects on the engine will be.

The down side for me is that it takes a bit more organisation to run on
bio (phone supplier, check that he's got some, arrange time to pick it up)
and for the last month I've been too busy, and have ended up just filling
up with regular diesel. It's also messy - I get it in 25 litre
containers, so I need to decant it into small fuel cans and then into the
tank, or get a friend to hold the funnel whilst I pour the whole thing
into the tank. I always spill some, usually on my shoes! I hope that one
of these days it'll be on sale with proper forecourts and pumps and the
like!

hope some of that helps

Olly

i use 50/50 svo in my 200tdi.
the winter has been fairly mild here, so havent reduced it this year. when the temp is down to zero then i will use just 10%.
thinking of using a twin tank set up this year. with a veggie oil heater.

as to the long term use, no one really knows what damage may be done to the engine and the IP. there isnt enough experience out there.
i dont really care cause my car is worth about a grand. i can save that in 1 year on svo and in 6 months on wvo.

ps.
i would think twice about using this stuff on a newish car with a warranty on it.

Olly R wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:42:24 +0100, Gail <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>> Does anyone have experience of using Bio Diesel - particularly on a TDi
>> engine?
>
>
My 110 2.5TD has been on (and off!) it for the last 6 months. I stopped
using it during the winter as it was too thick and really reduced the
top speed.

I have a heater (using the hot water from the heater circuit) but over
the summer I will be fitting an electric pre-heater and the valves I
need for a two tank system so that I can use veggie fuel all year round.

My local veggie fuel is 95p tax paid. The problem is that Customs &
Excise don't consider veggie fuel to be bio-diesel and as such they
don't get the 27p reduction in duty (daft or what!)

I'll keep you posted as I develop my system.

Cheers

Peter

On 2006-04-26, puffernutter <[email protected]> wrote:

> My local veggie fuel is 95p tax paid. The problem is that Customs &
> Excise don't consider veggie fuel to be bio-diesel and as such they
> don't get the 27p reduction in duty (daft or what!)

Some of the bio-diesel sellers I spoke to at the end of last year said
that the 27p reduction may be scrapped, I'm not sure if the final
decision came in yet as I kind of lost interest in bio-diesel since I
stopped almost all of my driving.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:28:23 +0100, puffernutter
<[email protected]> wrote:


> My local veggie fuel is 95p tax paid. The problem is that Customs &
> Excise don't consider veggie fuel to be bio-diesel and as such they
> don't get the 27p reduction in duty (daft or what!)

Another problem is the vague and interchangeable terminology.
'Bio-diesel' seems to cover a variety of things. The stuff I buy is
called 'Modified Waste Vegetable Fat' (and is on the 27p duty rate), but
I've seen all sorts of other stuff made from new (virgin )veg oil with
other solvents added to varying degrees.

Olly

In article <[email protected]>,
puffernutter <[email protected]> writes

>My local veggie fuel is 95p tax paid. The problem is that Customs &
>Excise don't consider veggie fuel to be bio-diesel and as such they
>don't get the 27p reduction in duty (daft or what!)

Is that per litre? If that's the 2p less than pump Diesel I think, it's
hardly worth it on economic grounds alone, which is a dreadful shame.

Regards,

Simonm.

--
simonm|at|muircom|dot|demon|.|c|oh|dot|u|kay
SIMON MUIR, BRISTOL UK www.ukip.org
EUROPEANS AGAINST THE EU www.members.aol.com/eurofaq
GT250A'76 R80/RT'86 110CSW TD'88 www.kc3ltd.co.uk/profile/eurofollie/