Newly converted, and we can't get the pump to work. What's wrong?

[triviality Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close triviality]

My partner and I have been (trying to) travel in our newly converted veggie van for the past several days, trying desperately to get it to run smoothly. We have a 12 v electric fuel pump from Northern Tool (Northern Industrial Tools Portable Diesel Fuel Transfer Pump — 12 Volt, 10 GPM | Air-Operated + Electric Pumps | Northern Tool + Equipment) which we were trying to pump through 2 Goldenrods, 1 normal and 1 Water Block. We weren't getting anywhere with that, and out of desperation we shaved it down to one water block and pumped out of what seemed to be a fried chicken dumpster with relative success. We ran all day without any problems, but it apparently killed the (rather ancient) fuel filter under the hood, and we had to spend $50 US replacing it the next day.

When it came time to fill up again, we had no luck finding good oil that we were allowed to have. We were considering some stuff from a Mexican place that was copious, but also bright orange, which distressed me. It was good that we didn't pump it, because the residue on our tester bottle had congealed considerably. That was yesterday, and today we tried to pump from a fast food place that had relatively clean oil, except for a milky murk that I took to be a semi-hydrogenated mixture. We used two filters this time. We got a few gallons going, and then nothing, which persisted even after changing the filters for safe measure. We probably spent 4 hours troubleshooting every possible thing we could think of, and still couldn't pump a substantial amount.

We're pretty much broken down until we can resolve our issues, and any insight would be greatly helpful. Is the oil too murky to pump properly? Are we using too many filters? Does the pump have to be primed every use? I'm sorry for the newbie questions, but we're just absolutely baffled and stuck until we can figure it out. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

[Guest Close David]

Re: Newly converted, and we can't get the pump to work. What's wrong?

Hello,

You really haven't provided a lot of relevant info here so I can only make some guesses to help you so please understand if some things may be obvious or irrelevant.

Have you checked the water block filter? These in fact do block the flow of anything through them once they become saturated with water. If the first drums you pumped did have water in them or the oil had a lot of disolved water in it, your filter may be finished and you need to replace it.
I would check the filter and make sure this isn't the problem and replace the filter element anyway so you know where you are at.

I read on the reviews of the pump you linked to that they blow fuses when pumping WVO. Is your pump running and if not have you checked the fuses?

What is the climate like where you are? Oil when it gets cold becomes much harder to pump than when it is warmer. I use a mains powered pump running off a generator and while it will pump oil that is at 20oC at a rate of 30-40L a min, I have come across some oil which dosen't look to bad but is too heavy for the pump to move.

I would suggest you buy a gallon of normal diesel and see how your pump goes with that. If it pumps fine ( and check the pressure of the output as well as the flow) you just need to find thinner oil or maybe get yourself a rotary hand pump to use on the thicker oils.
If the pump has trouble with the diesel, then you probably have to look at the fuses, impeller etc. on the pump itself.
I find on my pump that if I leave some oil I collect in it particularly the fatty stuff that comes from the bottom of drums, that I can't get it to start properly when I go to pump the next lot. Purging on good thin oil or diesel may be helpful in your case as well.

I have read that there is a type of pump that easily burns out when pumping WVO and there is a link on one of the websites to a disassembled one showing the damage to them. I can't find the link right now but from memory it seems the pump may be the one you have. Like I suggest, try the pump on diesel and see how it goes and you can then start trouble shooting from there.

Check and change the filter element and test the pump and get back to us from there.

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Newly converted, and we can't get the pump to work. What's wrong?

While it soulds easy to just pull up at the dumpster and refuel directly, most people who try this either have a sophisticated filtering system which can cope with a large amount of solid contaminants and then remove any water from the oil.
Using a couple of standard diesel fuel filters may be fine for oil which has been allowed to settle for several weeks, in peace (you won't have this opportunity while travelling ), but that same oil, direct from the dumpster can rapidly block your filters. Get a bag filter and pump the oil from the dumpster, thru the filter, into a container from which, after checking for water and drying if necessary, you can refuel your vehicle.

Your pump is designed for pumping petroleum diesel or gasoline. It must work very hard to pump unheated vegetable oil. Get a hand operated pump (rotary ones are easy to use and reliable) to transfer the oil from the dumpster, thru the bag filter.

As I normally allow my oil to settle for 2 weeks, I use a 5 micron bag filter and filter the oil once before refuelling.

If the oil is very viscous, and the vehicle has a fully heated vege oil fuel system, the oil can be heated, (mains electric heater or engine coolant heater - copper pipe connected to cabin heat plumbing) to allow it to flow thru the filter more readily. Be wary though, this oil can partially or fully solidify once it cools down again.

I hope this helps,
Keep up the good work,
Tony