715 Miles On A Donalson

[waytallwhitey]

On my way to Schenectady this morning, (162 miles one way) the green light started to flash and finally shut off; I only had 715 miles on the filter. This is strange because on my first filter I got ~1700 miles, and on the second I got 2465 miles. The amount of wvo in my holding tank doesn't really change by much as I usually put in a little more than I take out; since I filter to 1 micron, I must believe that water is the culprit. Input?

[Wilson]

i forget.. . did you ever mention your wvo pressure setting?

[Clay]

Waytall, after talking to you last week you were not draining off settled water...are you still doing your dewatering/filtering like this? or have you changed your methods?
You can filter to 1 mic all day long but if you havne't removed water from settling/draining it, then your goin gto have issues with the filter.
On the other hand there have been lots of pressure related issues cropping up here - including myself over the weekend - and there may be something there than Jason will address.

[powerstroke73L]

I must have missed something here-so the Donaldson will swell up and plug like a Goldenrod water block filter when there's moisture in the fuel?

[waytallwhitey]

I can't check pressure yet as I have no pressure gauge.

I am draining off the "snot" but just started that. The only reason I suspect water is because with all other variables being the same, I had gone longer on previous filters, although not as long as some of you. This weekend I am going to drain off some wvo from my holding tank and see what comes out of there; I may end up puming it all out and resettling and refiltering it all.

Clay, where can I pick up a filter housing like in your set up?

[Clay]

get a tire pressure gauge and read the pressure with the V3 on. If its low, adjust it to 75psi.

[Clay]

Clay, where can I pick up a filter housing like in your set up?

here is a post containing a link to it and a part number.

http://dinofuelalternatives.com/DFAforum/showpost.php?p=2697&postcount=4

[waytallwhitey]

HOLY [email protected]$ they don't give those things away!!!

[Clay]

HOLY [email protected]$ they don't give those things away!!!

sure they do, just give them a VISA number and they will give you one!
Seriously, these are pricey but they are quality.

[waytallwhitey]

sure they do, just give them a VISA number and they will give you one!
Seriously, these are pricey but they are quality.

Can't do it, trying to clear the debt now, I'm going to have to find another way, just getting the V3 and all the other support equipment has me tapped out.

[Marv]

Waytall, I'll second Clay's notion that the McMaster unit is worth the money. Yes they are pricey, but they are also really nice units. If you're not draining off the crud, I could see how that could give you problems. But, then again, I've been using Clay's method from the start and I've had my fair share of filter/pressure issues.

Regarding getting the snot out, I've noticed that since the temps are finally seriously dropping around here (upper 20's, low 30's), I can more easily tell the difference between good, clear oil that has really settled and oil that still has animal fats and water in it. I've been letting oil settle for a week or more at a time, which is much, much more than I was. I hope this will result in fewer problems with clogged Donaldsons. Bottom of the cubes are almost brown, while the upper 4/5s is coffee colored. Pour it out and the top is crystal clear and gold...the bottom is more cloudy and almost looks like coffee with milk in it.

So, I've been pouring off the good portion and pouring the cloudy mess into one cube to let it settle some more. I'll pour the top off again and repeat the process until I feel like I can't get anymore good oil out of it.

Anyways, just my $0.02...I'll quit rambling.

Good luck man!

[waytallwhitey]

Waytall, I'll second Clay's notion that the McMaster unit is worth the money. Yes they are pricey, but they are also really nice units. If you're not draining off the crud, I could see how that could give you problems. But, then again, I've been using Clay's method from the start and I've had my fair share of filter/pressure issues.

Regarding getting the snot out, I've noticed that since the temps are finally seriously dropping around here (upper 20's, low 30's), I can more easily tell the difference between good, clear oil that has really settled and oil that still has animal fats and water in it. I've been letting oil settle for a week or more at a time, which is much, much more than I was. I hope this will result in fewer problems with clogged Donaldsons. Bottom of the cubes are almost brown, while the upper 4/5s is coffee colored. Pour it out and the top is crystal clear and gold...the bottom is more cloudy and almost looks like coffee with milk in it.

So, I've been pouring off the good portion and pouring the cloudy mess into one cube to let it settle some more. I'll pour the top off again and repeat the process until I feel like I can't get anymore good oil out of it.

Anyways, just my $0.02...I'll quit rambling.

Good luck man!

Not rambling, this is what me, and I'm sure others, need to hear

I hadn't been draining off the snot, just started doing that last week. I've got 55 gallons settling out from last week, so it should be good and settled when I get back home on Friday. I heat it up to where it's moving pretty good in the barrel and just shut if off and leave it for a week.

I do the same with the cubes; pour off the good stuff and transfer the rest to another cube.

Someone here mentioned using a water bed heater to help with the settling of the cubes, I'm going to see if I can find one and give it a shot.

Thanks you guys! :cheers:

[Clay]

Not rambling, this is what me, and I'm sure others, need to hear

I hadn't been draining off the snot, just started doing that last week. I've got 55 gallons settling out from last week, so it should be good and settled when I get back home on Friday. I heat it up to where it's moving pretty good in the barrel and just shut if off and leave it for a week.

I do the same with the cubes; pour off the good stuff and transfer the rest to another cube.

Someone here mentioned using a water bed heater to help with the settling of the cubes, I'm going to see if I can find one and give it a shot.

Thanks you guys! :cheers:

Waytall, with all due respect, this is overkill unless you have some oil that just won't pass a Hot pan test. Settling occures durring the first 4-10 hours so one day (24 hours) will settle all the junk out if you have removed the heat to stop convection. I have never had issue with settling for 20-24 hours. Keep it simple as possible. And don't worry about settling in the cubies, if you have a still like Marv and I, it cost alot of money but it does all the work for you...let it do its job. Just pour the entire cubie in the barrel and heat it up.
And Marv, that creamy stuff isn't snot, its animal fat probably and it is great fuel. Take that creamy stuff and pour it into a pan, heat it seperately from the coffee looking stuff and see how well it liquifies and how nice it clears up.
Pour that into your settling drum and it will heat up nicely in your HWH and crud will settle out of it just fine. Again, waiting a week to drain off the water will give you false results as you will be visually seeing the creamy stuff again as it has cooled enough to partially solidify. Also you will likely NOT get all the snot out if draining while il is too cool - it won't flow well from the HWH. Drain when the oil is no less than 85*- 90* and then filter while its still warm.
Remember, keep it simple as possible, if its not working, your missing something in this procedure and we just need to fine tune it.

[waytallwhitey]

Waytall, with all due respect, this is overkill unless you have some oil that just won't pass a Hot pan test. Settling occures durring the first 4-10 hours so one day (24 hours) will settle all the junk out if you have removed the heat to stop convection. I have never had issue with settling for 20-24 hours. Keep it simple as possible. And don't worry about settling in the cubies, if you have a still like Marv and I, it cost alot of money but it does all the work for you...let it do its job. Just pour the entire cubie in the barrel and heat it up.
And Marv, that creamy stuff isn't snot, its animal fat probably and it is great fuel. Take that creamy stuff and pour it into a pan, heat it seperately from the coffee looking stuff and see how well it liquifies and how nice it clears up.
Pour that into your settling drum and it will heat up nicely in your HWH and crud will settle out of it just fine. Again, waiting a week to drain off the water will give you false results as you will be visually seeing the creamy stuff again as it has cooled enough to partially solidify. Also you will likely NOT get all the snot out if draining while il is too cool - it won't flow well from the HWH. Drain when the oil is no less than 85*- 90* and then filter while its still warm.
Remember, keep it simple as possible, if its not working, your missing something in this procedure and we just need to fine tune it.

The reason I let it settle for a week is I usually deal with the wvo on Sunday before I head out for the week; so it's going to settle all week anyway. Its going to be a little while before I can put together a still

[HORSEMOVER]

I also have a similiar setup to Clay and Marv with the McMaster unit and love it. It is really simple to use and does a great job. I still can't get over how well the still cleans up nasty oil. Waytall I see you are in NY - I am in NW PA (about 1 1/2 hours from Buffalo) so if you ever get over my way and want to see the setup first hand just let me know.