Fuelly Forums

Fuelly Forums (https://www.fuelly.com/forums/)
-   Introduce Yourself - New member Welcome (https://www.fuelly.com/forums/f6/)
-   -   A "smug" TDI guy! (https://www.fuelly.com/forums/f6/a-smug-tdi-guy-5538.html)

stinkindiesel 07-24-2007 04:58 PM

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.

MnFocus 07-24-2007 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stinkindiesel (Post 65253)
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 an '84 Benz 300SD/auto and an 85 Benz 190D/auto an early 80's Kubota 3-cylinder diesel tractor. NRA license plate frame, just wave and smile. I'll give you a blank stare for a moment and then smile and wave back.

Hahahaha ....you seem alright to me :thumbup:

Have you been studying Lapointe Algorithm Calc ? Love the FE arithmetic! ;)

omgwtfbyobbq 07-24-2007 05:59 PM

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

SVOboy 07-24-2007 07:14 PM

fuel economy forum
vegan recipes
green home improvement
honda gas mileage

Bill in Houston 07-24-2007 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stinkindiesel (Post 65253)
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.

Heh heh. I'm sure we're going to have fun. :-) Keep us posted along the way to 1700 mpg.

cfg83 07-24-2007 08:52 PM

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

skewbe 07-25-2007 03:53 AM

LOL, and if you see me, I'll be the guy in the gas powered $1500 metro getting %50 better MPG than you :p

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 07:18 AM

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.

Brian D. 07-25-2007 09:52 AM

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?

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 11:28 AM

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.

Brian D. 07-25-2007 11:42 AM

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.

Hockey4mnhs 07-25-2007 12:04 PM

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!!

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 12:26 PM

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.

Hockey4mnhs 07-25-2007 12:29 PM

soooo cool thanks for the info. do you have any pics of your cars and your bio setup?

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 04:10 PM

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?

cfg83 07-25-2007 04:22 PM

stinkindiesel -

Quote:

Originally Posted by stinkindiesel (Post 65422)
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?

I wouldn't go over 640x480 in terms of what you post because not all people have DSL, so they would prefer smaller images. If you have a favorite photo bucket site, put the pictures there and provide a URL for us to go to.

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

skewbe 07-25-2007 04:47 PM

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 :)

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 04:52 PM

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.

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 05:18 PM

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!

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 05:23 PM

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.

stinkindiesel 07-25-2007 05:33 PM

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!!

skewbe 07-25-2007 06:36 PM

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?

Bill in Houston 07-25-2007 07:01 PM

Ya, "drain the resultant" was not quite the level of detail you were looking for on by-products and disposal methods, huh?

mrmad 07-25-2007 08:22 PM

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?

cfg83 07-25-2007 09:16 PM

skewbe -

Quote:

Originally Posted by skewbe (Post 65458)
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?

What would happen to the waste oil otherwise? I think it would be recycled for re-use or ???????

CarloSW2

skewbe 07-26-2007 04:08 AM

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.

Bill in Houston 07-26-2007 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfg83 (Post 65486)
What would happen to the waste oil otherwise? I think it would be recycled for re-use or ???????

This must be one of those things that varies a lot by geography.

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.

stinkindiesel 07-26-2007 07:24 AM

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.

Hockey4mnhs 07-26-2007 08:32 AM

you should make a garage for your cars!!! so we can check um out!

stinkindiesel 07-26-2007 10:48 AM

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.

Bill in Houston 07-26-2007 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stinkindiesel (Post 65576)
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).

And she prefers the smell of petro diesel?

Maybe you can put lavender or vanilla oil in her batches. Could you segregate her batches and only get it from restaurants she likes?

stinkindiesel 07-26-2007 12:24 PM

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.

Bill in Houston 07-26-2007 01:03 PM

Seriously, not kidding at all, could you add a fragrance to the fuel? I do really like the smell of vanilla.

Hockey4mnhs 07-26-2007 01:17 PM

never liked brazilian guns that much

stinkindiesel 07-26-2007 01:33 PM

Better than the locally made ones (Corona, CA- Lorcin, Davis, Raven). Besides, even the worst Brazilian gee-you-enn wins any knife fight.

stinkindiesel 07-26-2007 03:16 PM

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.

Bill in Houston 07-26-2007 03:32 PM

mmmmm, baaaaconnnn....

skewbe 08-08-2007 06:38 PM

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?

Hockey4mnhs 08-08-2007 07:08 PM

Were did he go havent seen him post for a wile

stinkindiesel 08-13-2007 10:14 AM

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


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:45 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.