For You Guys Who Missed The Biodiesel Show On "Trucks"

[ZZ]

It was on again today on Spike TV at 12:30 Central time. This is always the same episode that they show on Sunday's at the same time.

I just wish I had the 3 or 4 thousand that the machine costs. Stacey said the Biodiesel costs about 70 cents a gallon to make.

[doncannon]

Hello All,

ZZ: yes I know it would be nice to have 3-4k to invest. I remember seeing that a few months back and got on line to see how much it was. OUCH e WAWA that hurts the wallet. The only problem is how long it would take to pay that kind of investment off saving roughly 2.00 a gal (2.70 -.70). Although while I was watching it today I thought 55 barrels are readily available and the valves would be standard from a Hardware the only thing was the hoses. Wonder if the hoses would have to be anything special? Now all I would need is a pump and scale...hmm oh and a place to do it.

Just my thoughts,
Don

[ZZ]

I wondered about a homemade Biodiesel "still" too.

I made a mistake on the time. The show comes on an hour early at 11:30 Central due to a movie.

[doncannon]

Hello All,

ZZ: That is ok because it comes on at 12:30 here in the east. There are 4 valves on the bottom and one on the separate tank. 3 on top of the main tank so that is 8 valves you would need. Lye is available at hardware store and methanol at a race shop (according to Stacey). Now I just need some cc measures, a scale and some hose. Oh and cannot forget the pump.

Don

[de_lok]

Don and ZZ: If the 3-4K for the system you are refering to is the "Fool Miester" (yes I spelled it that way on purpose! :D :rolleyes: ) not to worry.
I have been making and using homebrew biodiesel in my 96 6.5 for several months and so far so good. You can build your own setup for less than $500 bucks buying almost everything new and have a much better system than the store bought one. Check out this link: http://biodieselcommunity.org/
You can also do a search on "appleseed processor" .
This is a well proven design that is open technology
meaning nobody can patent the idea and it is FREE ;)
! ! You will find several hours of very informative reading on the above link. Hope this is helpful.

[Subzilla]

I've heard over and over, stay away from that $3k machine. The plastic tanks don't tend to stand up to the constant heating. I just finished a workshop last weekend with "Girl Mark" who is the Jim Bigley of Biodiesel. She invented the appleseed reactor and does not have any patents or receive any money from us homebrewers copying and building the same system. I've got all the parts except for the water heater and a storage shed and I'm very eager to begin production. I figure about 70 cents a gallon will quickly pay for any expense I put into it. Check out the afore mentioned website for some great info and helpful people.

[Nelsoncat]

I have been following this closely and just watched the Trucks segment again after hours of web searching. I don't see any heaters on the Trucks' fuel meister but they are on the other ones that are available. I use very similar equipment to mix my chemicals for the farm. I think building one would cost far less. There is a guy in town that runs a VW diesel on french fry oil and I am pretty sure all he does is filter it and warm it up; he starts on diesel.
This would be cool!!!!
Craig

[ZZ]

I'm glad to see all of this interest. If too many get into this; then the used cooking oil will get scarce.

[de_lok]

ZZ
Worst yet, used oil will not only get scarce but the law of supply and demand will kick in. When these restuarant owners that have paid to have their oil hauled off for years begin to be haggled to death with people wanting thier used oil they will want to start charging for it. If they charge the same price to sell it (as they pay to have it picked up)
it could easily double the price of homebrew biodiesel.

Still with the total percentage of US consumer diesel owners being in the 3% range it shouldnt be a problem for a few years anyway. There have been areas in the US that have been activily making homebrew biodiesel for almost 10 years now.

If the new ultra low sulfer "clean" diesel opens the floodgates in the US market for consumer diesel vehicles like it is in Europe now the used oil will probably be bought by recyclers to make biodiesel. I probably wouldnt mind paying higher pump prices so bad if I owned a diesel Ford Focus like they sell in Europe that reportedly gets 63 mpg ! ! ! :D

My 2 cents worth anyway........ :D ;)

BTW I collect 30 gal of used fryer oil a week and actually use less than half of it (at present) and I have between 300 to 350 gallons stockpiled in 5 gallon buckets! ! :eek: I only collect from three resturants ;) :cool: So far its been a fun hobby that has actually paid for itself :cool:

[ZZ]

Glad to hear it is paying off for you. I can't get into it right now. I'm nursing a an infection in my leg.

I haven't heard about the Focus having a diesel, but I hear the VW diesels get close to 60 mph.

[de_lok]

The Ford Focus diesel is only sold in Europe.

I grew up in a junkyard in the late 60's and thru the 70's and have always tinkered with something :cool: When homebrewing biodiesel came along it was a natural ! ! ! :cool: ;) :D