A "smug" TDI guy!
Hey, how's you'se guys doin'?! I'm a transplanted New Jersey guy living in So California. I've got a wife who loves me, a son who thinks I'm a superhero, and a God who blesses me.
I said "smug" because I thrashed around in the "diesel" forum, under "thoughts on TDI's" and I guess I came across as, uh... smug. I love my TDI and lifting up such a near-perfect vehicle to extoll its virtues and seeking others' praise may APPEAR smug, but I'm actually very humble. Almost perfectly so. I'm flogging a 2000 Jetta TDI/5-speed with 140K on the clock, 100K+ on home crafted biodiesel. Since joining this group, I've used the info gleaned to go from 44-point-something MPG to 52.2 MPG in three tankfuls. At this rate, I'll be getting over 1700 MPG in six months. I can't wait!! The rest of the fleet consists of a '93 Dodge Cummins/automatic that brings 17-21 MPG to the table, an '84 Benz 300SD/auto that pulls mid-20's, and an 85 Benz 190D/auto that gets mid-to-upper 20's. Oh yeah, an early 80's Kubota 3-cylinder diesel tractor. The MPG is nothing to brag about, though. I tried raising the tire pressure, putting fairings over the wheels, and a belly pan, but I've seen no increase in FE:D Biodiesel. I love it. Fuel, parts cleaner, hand degreaser, rust-buster... what can't it do? Great fuel, lousy beverage. I like to laugh, try not to get bent out of shape too easily, and I don't "flame". I try to take some time to think before I shoot off my mouth. Or fingers. Whatever. If you're in So Cal and you see a black Jetta that smell like a Chinese fry joint, has "Nemo" stickers in the back windows, and an NRA license plate frame, just wave and smile. I'll give you a blank stare for a moment (the hood springs on the Dodge are a little weak, and the slightest breeze will close it with concussive results) and then smile and wave back. |
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Have you been studying Lapointe Algorithm Calc ? Love the FE arithmetic! ;) |
With a TDI you should be able to hit at least ~75mpg@55mph with the right stuff, but, people on the 15 are biatches. I can get away with it in my beaters, but imo that's only because they look like they can't go much faster. :D
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stinkindiesel -
Welcome to GS! If you see me (in the right lane) on the freeway, I have the GasSavers.org reflective letters in my third brakelight and tons of Pokemon figurines in the back window. CarloSW2 |
LOL, and if you see me, I'll be the guy in the gas powered $1500 metro getting %50 better MPG than you :p
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skewbe- you may be getting 18% better MPG than me, but MY fuel costs me about .65 cents per gallon. That means when diesel is $3.15 at the pump, I can make 4.8 gallons for the same money. Multiply that by my last tank MPG of 52.2, and I can drive 250.5 miles for $3.15. It's like getting 250 MPG, almost. If I squint and look out the corner of my eye... yes... there it is. Just like 250MPG. With the A/C on. And a box full of In & Out.
I know it's NOT 250 MPG, more like 250 MP(cost of diesel)G. |
Stinkindiesel
So, do you have a whole onboard setup in your Jetta, or do you have everything at home in the lab/garage? How much time does it take, and how many gallons do you typically make at a time? I've read a few posts on homemeade biodiesel. Do you have any issues with congealing, or keeping the stuff warm? I'm just wondering what happens when the weather finally turns cold on biodieselers and the pipes get clogged.
Finally, as I'm sure the Chinese food places are keen on what you're doing with their grease, have they demanded any kittens in return yet? |
Brian D.-
It's a stand-alone setup that takes up 30" X 72" in a shed in the side yard. I'd rather have it in the garage for ease of access, but the prettier half says she can't stand the smell of Chinese food. A 100-gallon batch takes me about 45 minutes prep-and-run, go back the next day and spend another 15 minutes, then it's ready. Maybe an hour, total. Niiiice. I've had zero problems with congealing or thickening, but I add some commercial diesel anti-gel into the finished product when I know it'll dip into the 30's. I've done cold starts on a tankful of bio at 12degrees with no problem. Of course, I let it idle and warm up for 5 minutes or so when it's that cold. Any diesel engine benefits from a bit of a warm-up, yes? As far as kittens go, they ARE more tender and less strongly-flavored than the older cats in the neighborhood, but the cookeries I go to won't prepare them for me. I DO look into the dregs in the oil cubies and rummage through the filter on my honeydipper rig, and all I've got to say is... I'm truly an omnivore. And open-minded, dietarily speaking. Actually, they're happy enough with my -free- oil disposal service that I almost always get a nice hot bag of to-go grub from most of my clients. Be courteous, reliable and clean, and you'll be set. And look hungry- compliment the boss on the great smell from the kitchen. |
You're an absolute riot! Keep posting here; I may even need you for some biodiesel 'how-to' advice somewhere down the road if you don't mind.
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your operation is awsome. how much did it cost to get into it? And how often do you have to make it? Welcome to the site and give us some more info!!
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It ran me @ $700 to make the processor, another $400 in pump rig, storage barrels, etc... gotta admit, I bought a commercially marketed one called a Fuelmeister. It worked great, but I got spent on making 6 batches a month to keep me & family in the B. I basically just "up-sized" everything to a 130 gallon reactor vessel and 30 gallon catalyst tank. I've been running this setup for about a year with zero duds or problems.
Hey BrianD- where in VA and NJ? I'm from Paramus, NJ and lived in VA (Ferd-berg) for 10 years. And I'm more than willing to yap about biodiesel till your ears hurt, hoping someone will learn from my mistakes. I drove a commercial truck for 15 years and finally got wise to bio-d when it crept toward $2.50/gallon. Saved a bucket of $$ in '04 when it hit $3.50+. When you're driving a 30-ton beast that gets 4 or 5 MPG, it really helps. Now I'm a GM for an insurance agency, and my fuel needs have dropped (what with the Jetta being my #1 ride now, instead of something much bigger). Still saving the long green, though. |
soooo cool thanks for the info. do you have any pics of your cars and your bio setup?
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I s'pose I could toss up some pics... I'm electronically challenged, though. Electrons do NOT seem to work in my favor very often. What would be better for the site- 3 megapixel or 7 megapixel? And to what forum would I post it?
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stinkindiesel -
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Here is a good example that is also something you may be interested in : LA Biodiesel Coop : https://www.biodiesel-coop.org/ https://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5389/img1977ey4.th.jpghttps://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3...1978wo6.th.jpg Little pictures in the thread, but the option of users going to the big stuff. CarloSW2 |
Speaking of bio-diesel, I've only seen a small scale methanol-lye conversion, which supposedly extracted the glycerine from the veggie oil. Just curious how you process 100 gallons, and in no small degree I'm curious what byproducts it creates and what their disposition is?
Or are you running straight (filtered) WVO (might be able to get away with that in warm climates)? Also did you mention a "winterizer"? Thanks. P.S. if we are doing a price of ownership comparison, you've got a long way to catch up :) |
Yeah, I know those guys- good crew. There's an outfit in Santa Ana called Extreme Biodiesel, and they're running a biodiesel coop, too. I think they're getting @$2.65/gallon, and it's phenomenally high quality stuff. Todd and Bob are not just cranking out fuel, they're also developing some cutting edge processing and filtering technology. The don't pay me anything for saying stuff, so you know they're doin' something right. www.extremebiodiesel.com
Ahhh, the good old 640X480... I had one of those in high school. Mine was the straght six model with a three on the tree... uh, what? Never mind. I'll find a kid to help me. |
Back to skewbe- I also do the methanol-lye conversion, but a bit different. If the oil is good stuff, I divide the run the batch with 75% of the catalyst (methanol and lye mixture), then let it settle overnight. Drain the resultant glycerine, then re-process with the remaining 25% of the catalyst (mix it fresh- don't let this stuff sit because it turns "stale" within an hour or two depending on temps). The second glycerine yield is significantly thicker and darker.
Running a batch with the full dose of catalyst will give a glycerine yield of 12% to 16%. Doing the two-step method, the yield is increased to 16% to 18%. The bottom-most portion of the biodiesel is used in the tractor and Mercedeses (Mercedi?). Not because it's bad, but because I like to treat my VW and Dodge to the best. My favorite dog gets table scraps, too. If the oil is high in free fatty acids (animal fats, really used veggie oil), I treat it with 98% sulfuric acid to the tune of 1 ml to 4.5 ml/liter of oil, depending on the titration. Let it work for @ 6-8 hours, drain the water and schutz from the bottom, re-titrate and run it as usual. I hate high-FFA oils. They usually come from chicken fry joints, so the exhaust smells... sniff-ahhh... great, but it's a pain in the grommets to deal with. By the way, the BEST smelling oil I ever got was from a Krispy Kreme. Usually, the donuts absorb the oil as the day goes on, but a fired employee hawked a lunger into the fry river, and I lived happily ever after. My Dodge's exhaust smelled like vanilla pastry heaven for a week and a half! |
Skewbe- sorry, I use a commercial anti-gel that I pick up in the truckstop at the 15 and 10 freeways. It's diesel winterizer, and I whip some into the finished biodiesel with an electric drill and paint stirrer. Like 8-oz/100gallons. Works gooood.
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And as far as the price of ownership comparison goes, my fuel cost is 1.24cents/mile. Oil change interval is 10k. I don't know how much $$ you're into your car, or your operating costs, but I AM catching up. Quickly.
Check this: 100K of fuel cost me @$1500.00. YEAH, BABY!! |
I don't know about quickly, I figure you'll be caught up in 27 years LOL. But certainly that is not the point (though the fact that you ARE catchin up is something). The example you set by living an alternative fuel lifestyle IS downright admirable.
I do need to understand the byproducts equation a little better. Do you extract some of the methanol from it? Do you use it for fertilizer? Do you just roll around in it? |
Ya, "drain the resultant" was not quite the level of detail you were looking for on by-products and disposal methods, huh?
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Welcome to the site, we need some more demented people here. I know little about diesels in general, and almost nothing about bio diesels, so having you here should be an education. One question I had is how much of a fire hazard is it to have the equipment you have and the storage tanks on your property? Probably wouldn't be a good idea to live next door to a meth lab. And does a diesel car still have pass CA emissions?
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skewbe -
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CarloSW2 |
I understand your point Carlo, I wasn't trying to bust your chops Stinky, just trying to understand the whole picture. 25 gallons of methanol/lye/glycerine mixture per batch is the only thing keeping me from a serious conversion effort to bio diesel, I want to know if/how others have solved that problem because it is something I really want to do, not because I think it is more hazardous than 4 times that much used cooking oil.
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Around here, the waste oil is quite valuable and we have had problems with rings of thieves stealing it. Most restaurants sell it back to a recycler. But in some places, it must be expensive for the restaurants dispose of, since guys like stinkindiesel are encouraged or even rewarded for taking it. |
The goo (mostly glycerine, some uncatalyzed methanol and lye) is DISPOSABLE at the city dump. It's chemically a C-H-O molecule that looks and acts like a starch (sugar) and is biodegadable. Josh Tickell, a noted tree-hugger and pioneer in bio-d in the USA, says to pour it down the sink. It's just glycerine (soap), with a bit of alcohol and drain cleaner mixed in. He equates it to spilling a little sippin' whiskey into your bathwater before you drain it.
I think it's a little more soapy than bathwater. My effluvia comes to @ 18-gallons per batch. The local dump freaked the first time I brought it in, but they've gotten used to me now. The shmutz looks like molasses but smells like concentrated "whatever was cooked" plus poo. Don't spill it. |
you should make a garage for your cars!!! so we can check um out!
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Out here in Cali, there's grease collectors who sell WVO for a buck a gallon of clean, dry oil. Most big collectors (Baker Commodities, Darling, JNC grease) charge between $30 and $80/ visit for picking up oil. I do it for free. They are happy, I am happy. My three-year-old likes eggrolls, so he is happy. My wifey likes not having a balance on our gascard, so she is happy. Happy happy, joy joy.
They only bee in the boquet is the occasional mumbled "observation" that she can sometimes smell the Mercedes' exhaust inside the car even with the windows rolled up (see previous note on wifey's dislike of Chinese food). I remind her REAL diesel is over three bucks a gallon. She gets happy again. Funny, isn't it- it'd be cheaper to run a car on milk or Pepsi. Anyone explore THOSE alternative fuels yet!? I'll try to get through my (what's the opposite of being a savant?) regarding uploading pix on the web and post some stuff. |
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Maybe you can put lavender or vanilla oil in her batches. Could you segregate her batches and only get it from restaurants she likes? |
Nah, she doesn't like the smell of #2, either. She preferred the near non-existent smell of her old Ferd Taurus. The only Taurus i EVER liked... was chambered in 9mm.
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Seriously, not kidding at all, could you add a fragrance to the fuel? I do really like the smell of vanilla.
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never liked brazilian guns that much
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Better than the locally made ones (Corona, CA- Lorcin, Davis, Raven). Besides, even the worst Brazilian gee-you-enn wins any knife fight.
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Bill in Houston- sorry I didn't see the ?? Yes, absolutely, any oil-based scent would work. Speed shops sell additives to make your exhaust smell like everything from apples to root beer. I poured patchouli oil into a tankful once and couldn't get the hippies to stop following me. Dang things were like stray cats at a fish market.
You can use any oil to make it smell "different", remembering that you're starting with a scent that resembles a smokey Chinese restaurant. Vanilla on top of that? (retch) Maybe if I could find some fortune cookie-scented oil; that'd be nice. Or if I used bacon grease, I could get some egg scented oil. Yes... you've given me some stuff to work on. |
mmmmm, baaaaconnnn....
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Hey Stinky, where's your garage entry?
I've been swimming around diesels a lot more lately, driving by vw dealers that aren't on the way home, ebaying for old (and probably smokey) rabbits and royal enfields... Seems the populous is bent on ethanol cuz most of the current fleet can use it, but dang if biodiesel isn't a hell of a lot more productive, especially that algae thing. Sure wish there was a better use for the byproduct though. I wonder what willie does with his? |
Were did he go havent seen him post for a wile
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Been in the hospital. Everything's good, though. Addressed a few defects that weren't apparent until the intestine bulged through the bellybutton. Quite uncomfortable; if you have a choice, take a "pass" on the experience.
Today is my first day back, and I'm doing it sans painkillers... not because of an aversion to 'em, but because I like 'em so dang much I tend to stay stupid until I'm healed up. They reduce the initiative to do anything, but they are HANDY lemme just say. I'm also less likely to do something that would jeopardize my structural integrity if I can actually FEEL it. I'm freakin' SUPERMAN on Vicodin. Good to be back, though, brain still a bit muzzy from the... what?...was that a bee?... I smell cotton candy, yeah, like a purple dandelion... Garage coming up when I can figure out how to do the photo thingie. If you find a smoker Enfield, lemme know. Muchas Thank-yas |
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