Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO): Headache or "The Answer"
I've been running two waste vegetable oil greasecars for a while now, and even though the WVO cleans the injectors and produces less toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases, THE SYSTEM TAKES MAINTENANCE.
Anyone who tries to sell you a WVO or SVO conversion kit that says that all you have to do is install it and then drive for free for the rest of your life is a liar.
Right now I have a dead vegetable oil level guage, two coolant lines that have worn because they've been rubbing against the frame, and they need to be pulled and re-routed, and i just lost my source of waste vegetable oil (the restaurant owner wants to use it for himself).
Now, I have found new source of oil that is really great stuff, but I still need to set up some way to get the water out of it since the cooks clean the fryer with water. (Water + WVO = dead Injection Pump = $1,000-$2,000 repair).
So sure, WVO is a great way to help move the world to a less-fossil fuel dependent state, and sure it helps reduce our contributions to global warming, but don't be blind: it takes maintenance and work. At times I can completely understand people who just want to roll up to a gas station and say "fill 'er up."
Anyone who tries to sell you a WVO or SVO conversion kit that says that all you have to do is install it and then drive for free for the rest of your life is a liar.
Right now I have a dead vegetable oil level guage, two coolant lines that have worn because they've been rubbing against the frame, and they need to be pulled and re-routed, and i just lost my source of waste vegetable oil (the restaurant owner wants to use it for himself).
Now, I have found new source of oil that is really great stuff, but I still need to set up some way to get the water out of it since the cooks clean the fryer with water. (Water + WVO = dead Injection Pump = $1,000-$2,000 repair).
So sure, WVO is a great way to help move the world to a less-fossil fuel dependent state, and sure it helps reduce our contributions to global warming, but don't be blind: it takes maintenance and work. At times I can completely understand people who just want to roll up to a gas station and say "fill 'er up."
posted by Kristopher Setchfield at 2:57 PM
1 Comments:
Yes, I hear that.
I have been lucky so far. When I first converted the car (two tank 300d), I had many air bubbles in the fuel (diesel side). It took me a month of tinkering with it to finally figure out the problem. (I had a "bad" tank design that was letting air in).
Now however, I have gone 10,000 miles without any problems at all. The only time I 'pop the hood' is to show people the veggie oil set up.
Yes, it does take a lot of work to gather the oil, and filter the oil, and de-water the oil (I use a hot water heater element inside my 55 gallon drum), but it makes it all the more satisfying.... Kind of like growing your own food.
I am living 'hand to mouth' with my veggie oil. I worry all the time that I won't have enough oil to get to work.
I too, just "lost" my local veggie oil supply... But, I have found that there is always more good oil around. I have since found a "better" source.
In conclusion, a veggie car is not for everyone... And that is how I like it!
Greg.
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