Warning To those in Duncan buying Bio Diesel

[EnviroImports.com]

Hello everyone, I want to warn as many people as I can right now, i was just shown a destroyed injection pump yesterday by a mechanic in Duncan, The customer of his is a member of a bio diesel co-op and is buying his fuel. Im not saying the name of the place as not everything is clear yet, HOWEVER if you are buying your bio in the area you may have this issue allready.
Some bio diesel co-ops are getting there finished bio from home brewers and sources like that , Not a problem, but when converting things like hot water tanks to oil drums into makeshift processors, alot of the time the drain on the system is above the bottom of the tank, so its not getting tottaly drained like a cone bottom tank will drain , so the glycerin is left in the very bottom of the tank, and you dont want glycerin left in the fuel as it always settles to the bottom of any tank and Will kill your injection pump

Ok back to what has happined in a couple of cases now . the customers injection pump died, when it went in for repairs and to find out why, the very bottom of the fuel tank is covered in Glycerin, they are not using KOH , as the glycerin is semi hard and that only happens when using LYE.
So the fuel pick up in the bottom of the fuel tank, covered in a layer of glycerin and full on glycerin is all that was getting pumped into the injection pump. so far they are out WELL over 2K and the work is not done.
SO Please make sure your finished BIO is settled and all the glycerin is removed, so do what ever you can to be able to SEE the bottom of the tank or drum, Personally I only use White HDPE tanks for my finished batches for this reason. if buying from a coop ask if they use a centerfuge to make sure the glycerin is fully removed, it can be suspended in the finished bio, but will settle to the bottom over a couple hours.
If your engine is having issues, please either pull the drain on your tank, pull the tank and make sure there is no glycerin in the bottom , or have it done by a mechanic, the cost is ALOT cheaper than re building your injection pump
dont be afraid to ask questions of where you buy your fuel from ,this is becoming a legal issue,as the damage was done by impoperly finished fuel and several thousands of dollars are having to be paid, but who has to pay it?
the customer who bought the fuel? the seller of the fuel?
From what i have heard over the past few days, things are pretty lax about making fuel and some extra care needs to be taken.

[jessef]

dont be afraid to ask questions of where you buy your fuel from

Excellent advise.

[Bio-diesel Brian]

I'm with the Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op located in Duncan. We formed over three years ago to share information on bio-diesel and as a response to demand in the community to provide a local green fuel alternative. Along with our environmental goals we take fuel quality seriously and so if this issue is bio-diesel related and involves one of our members I'd like to help get to the bottom of it and find a solution.

I don't know the specifics of this situation you're reporting, but I can say that some of our members have been using bio-diesel for 5 years and none of us have experienced any injection pump problems directly attributable to using our bio-diesel. However, there are some common issues with using bio-diesel that people must be aware of such as the potential breakdown of non-bio-diesel compatible parts like fuel injection lines, residual glycerin in fuel filters, and the effects of cold temperatures. We do our best to be up front and educate people about these issues, how to address them, and where possible provide assistance.

Regarding the use of lye - our bio-diesel is ONLY produced using KOH, not NaOH (lye) as said in your post.

There are only a few members in the Co-op who drive Delicas and so far none of them have contacted us about injector pump issues. Even if this doesn’t involve one of our members, if this issue is bio-diesel related we’re willing to provide some help figuring out just what happened and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss.

Regards,

Brian

Cowichan Bio-Diesel Co-op
250-748-2694(COWI)
www.smellbetter.org

[after oil]

i think pre '93 delicas have painted fuel tanks. perhaps the paint is dissolving and making its way to the pump...