Filter Change

[sean]

Good trouble shooting Adam. I have never been very good with the electrical stuff but Eric sounds like he's got it covered.
As for your question regarding our tank heater, we have a submersible one that hangs in the tank. We don't move it because our system requires that we only need one 45gal to settle and heat, then it gets pumped through to the next tank and a 10 micron filter.

Eric, good to know about the 70 litres of diesel you have ran through your system. That makes me feel confident about switching the lines up a bit.

sean

[EricN]

Hey Sean what is it you use for the heater? I was going to find an electric hot water tank element and stick that in the drum but I wasnt sure on the size of them and if there is something simpler around.

[Adam]

Uh, bad news man. 87a will be powered when the relay is off. Turn the relay on and it will disconnect. I would try and install a second relay for the pump, dont put both loads on the same relay since that vegtherm is supposed to draw 30amps which is about the max for those relays. You can trigger the pump relay (terminal 85 or 86 of the pump relay) off of the vegtherm relay terminal 87 as it is only about 300ma.

Ohhh, I tested 87a for voltage, but I can't remember if it was on or off. Guess I should look at it again I did discover that the voltage on 87a dropped to nothing after driving for a bit switched over to WVO, so that might explain it. I drove down to Victoria and back today with the VegTherm and the pump wired directly to the battery, and I was still having stalling issues when I travel over 70km/h or so. It looks like there's an air leak that I've got to track down. I am able stop the van from stalling by switching back to diesel for a minute when I start to lose power, but it sure is a pain in the ass.

So it looks like my wiring really needs some work. I stopped in at Lordco yesterday and tried to get a replacement wiring plug for the relay, but they didn't have any in stock. I wonder if I should get two new relays. I'm not sure if I've fried the one in the van right now by over loading it. Are relays pretty common/cheap pieces?

I still need to install that surge tank you made for me with the hotfox. I don't think it will solve the stalling issue, but it might help things a bit.

[EricN]

If you want to test the relay, while it is still hooked up to the vegtherm, take your voltmeter, connect your red lead to terminal 30 and the black to terminal 87. With the relay off it should read 12v. Turn the relay on, if all is well, you should see something like .5v or so. This is also a good way to test how much heat is going into the relay. If you have alot of voltage drop (test #2 shows 2 volts or something higher) then the relay cant cut it.
Since you melted the connector, I would probably just buy a new relay. They are about $5-$10 depending on where you go and common would be an understatement.
Where does your fuel return go into, the tank or in a loop back to the feed line?

[Adam]

Where does your fuel return go into, the tank or in a loop back to the feed line?

Yup, the veg oil is looped back to the feed, but eh diesel is still returned to the main tanks. I guess I'll order a couple of elays from Lordco and give the wiring a shot again.

[EricN]

First, definately fix the air source. Second, an easy way to make sure the air is constantly purged without sending warm fuel back into the tank. Install that hotfox setup, then install a "T" fitting in the fuel line BEFORE the surge tank. Any air in the system will purge back into the surge tank and out of the fuel stream.

[Adam]

It looks like I fixed most of the air leak issue. The drain valve on the the bottom of the VegMax was not fully closed. There was a slight drip coming from it, which I incorrectly assumed was just collecting there and had originated higher up from a poorly sealed hose or unsealed filter element. Finally after hearing my wife complain one to many times about the small veggie stain on the driveway a put so much pressure on the plastic valve handle I thought I would break it. It looks like I might have a minor leak still which I'll need to track down, but after 50km of running the van hard up hills on the highway I was only able to get a small amount of air in the system, which I could purge by switching back to diesel for 30 seconds or so. A far cry from the trip to Victoria where I couldn't reach 70km/h on the flat without sucking so much air into the system that I was constantly in danger of stalling. I was lucky if I was able to drive 30% of the time on veg, now I'm sure I could do upwards of 90%.

I bought a couple of new relays from Lordco and some 5/16" fuel line so that I could replace the 3/8" stuff I used to connect to the Pollack value to the IP, it should have been 5/16" to seal up properly. I also bought another spool of 3/8" fuel/coolant line that I'll use to install the hotfox/surge tank. It'll probably be another few weeks before I find a block of time to do that, but I have to have all the pieces so that when I disable the van I'm able to put it back together again. The woes of a single vehicle family

An easy way to make sure the air is constantly purged without sending warm fuel back into the tank. Install that hotfox setup, then install a "T" fitting in the fuel line BEFORE the surge tank. Any air in the system will purge back into the surge tank and out of the fuel stream.

I was planning on installing the surge tank in front of the rear driver side wheel, which is where I think you suggested. So my set up would be the WVO tank (which is still behind the rear seats) > hot fox/surge tank > aux fuel pump > VegMax > VegTherm > Pollack valve. It seems like sending hot oil all the way back to the surge tank will take a bit of fuel line, but I'll do it if the air issue ends up being an issue again.

[BCDelica]

I was planning on installing the surge tank in front of the rear driver side wheel, which is where I think you suggested. So my set up would be the WVO tank (which is still behind the rear seats) > hot fox/surge tank > aux fuel pump > VegMax > VegTherm > Pollack valve. It seems like sending hot oil all the way back to the surge tank will take a bit of fuel line, but I'll do it if the air issue ends up being an issue again.

Sounds like a great plan!! We would all like to see pictures of your smarge tank install too please. Also using switching from 3/8" to 5/16" line will help; I've been down the same road too. Try a Q-tip dipped in veggie to lube the ID of your fuel lines when you get under the hood/seat next time.

One little stain of WVO in your driveway! Your lucky, you guys process and fill somewhere else right? I give part of my driveway a hot water power wash a few times of the year...

Regards,

[Adam]

One little stain of WVO in your driveway! Your lucky, you guys process and fill somewhere else right? I give part of my driveway a hot water power wash a few times of the year...

Well maybe it is a few little stains from the vehicle and a couple of large spills from filter changes and processing. Processing is a lot neater now that I have a system down, and I try to stick to doing just two things at once instead of 3 or 4 which usually results in something overflowing/spilling. I got a power washer for X-mas, so hopefully that will take care of driveway evidence of my oil indiscretions.

[BCDelica]

I run extra hose from the hot water in the laundry tub, works like a charm!