Hi Im new to the forum but have been lurking for a while.
Ive got a very late model common rail diesel and have long wished to use a more environmentally friendly fuel.
I didn't want to use "home brew" until the warranty runs out in 2 years so we bought a commercially available biodiesel. Now Im no expert but 2 of my freinds make their own and theirs is a lot thinner, less viscous.
Anyway I used 3 tanks before the car ground to a halt one day.
The lines were all full of a white creamy substance that was analysed in a lab and deemed to be 50% caustic water and biodiesel, stabilised with sodium and potassium ions. ie an emulsion.
WTF!
We've only run the car on commercial mineral diesel (mostly Gull and United) and the bought bioD so where did the water at 9-10 pH come from?? Id given some of the "professionally" prepared bioD to a friend who ran it in his 1994 Nissan till it too blocked up 3 days ago. He was able to blow his lines out flush his tank and dismantle the pump and injectors himself, (I couldnt and had United Fuel Injection do it) the job took all day and cost him several filters before it was all gone.
He then took 18l of what I gave him and mixed in 2l of pure methanol and 35g of sodium hydroxide, the next day he had just over 2l of glycerine at the bottom of the container.
Anyway to cut a long and expensive story short we (the wife and I) are $3000 out of pocket and the makers of the stuff wont talk to us directly all I get is an office girl and she knows b#&&er all!
I strongly believe that I got an (accidental) batch of partially reacted bioD but as I said before Im not getting any answers from the makers.
The lesson is if in doubt stop and check the purity of your fuel even if it comes with supposedly impeccable credentials.
Ive mentioned no names or places as I may yet be able to work this out amicably, I am as you can gather a bit pi$$@d off.
We were pretty excited about becoming "green" and reducing our environmental footprint but the whole experience has left us both very disallusioned and reluctant to have another go.

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I empathise with you. There are horror stories with PetroDiesel as well. Would you care to elaborate on the supplier?

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Joe Morgan
Brisbane Biodiesel Site Admin
http://www.brisbanebiodiesel.com

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No, I dont want to start a mudslinging match yet. Im drafting a document to mail to them outlining my grievenses, I need to collect all the facts. Im 99.9% convinced that the problems are as a result of partially converted oil mixed with a small portion of water. The problem didn't arise until the pump was put right to the bottom of the drum and the last 50l was pumped into my car. Until then the car was happy to digest the bioD. The economy dropped from 6.3l/100km to 7.8l/100km even on a long trip, but I didnt complain about that. Ive read that bioD hasnt got as high an energy rating as mineral diesel.
My mates problems arose at the same point in the drum. He decanted his into a clean new drum but at the bottom of xxxxxxx's drum we found a gluggy thick, viscose, dirty looking substance that we bottled up separately. A bottle went to xxxxxxxx and my mate took a bottle home. The company (read office girl) said that the bottle of dirty s#!t was just cold bioD and that if heated it converted into clean bioD.
My mate put about 300ml of methanol with it and shook it up to see if it would dissolve (more about that later) and within an hour or 2 he had glycerine settling out. The end result was about 40/60 glyc/bioD.
Now that was not representative of the whole drum, just the last few litres at the bottom. He thought his vehicle would digest the "clean" bioD from the top but obviously he was wrong. He is mightily pi$$ed off, but it didnt come directly from the supplier so theres not much that can be done. All it does give us is a heads up that even older diesel vehicles will not stomach what weve been sold, its' just cheaper to fix them when they stop.

The reason he mixed the methanol in was, I had been told by the office girl that she had been told that the white creamy stuff I had all through my filter, lines, tank, pump and injectors was wax. That because it has been cold the bioD gets waxy and blocks filters. All I had to do was heat the filter and all would be well. Also that kero and min diesel dissolves the cream and to put a heap in the tank to stop waxing.
Well I gave them a sample of the cream (the whole filter dripping with it) and the bioD I had been sold and told them the white stuff does not dissolve in anything, kero, diesel, petrol. Only metho would shift it and it was way heavier than all of the petrochemicals I'd used.
OG assured me that the samples Id given them was indeed bioD and all I had to do was heat it.
Well I put it in the microwave and raised it to 40 degrees and it steadfastly refused to change from double cream into anything remotely resembling bioD.
The fuel injector people put some of the 8l they found in my car into a microwave and BOILED it and it stayed the same. So my I was getting a wet feeling in my pocket. Thats when I had it professionally analysed ($300).
50% caustic water and 50% bioD with a very small proportion of mineral diesel (used in a futile attempt to flush out system).
So there you have it
Im not a vindictive or naturally litigous person all I wanted was some straight answers, what I have been getting are people pi$$ing in my pocket.

Well its' been over a week since I sent a letter to Biodiesel Warehouse detailing my woes and Ive had no reply. However as a result of posting here I have been in contact with others who have been sold contaminated fuel that has caused them grief. Ive started the ball rolling with the Small Claims Tribunal.
Im pretty pissed off with the whole business and Im unlikely to trust another commercial maker. Surely WA has some form of control over fuel quality or can the fuel companies sell any old **** they want?

Your right there are some shonky operators out there but dont be put off. Ask around and see who will supply clean fuel.

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Joe Morgan
Brisbane Biodiesel Site Admin
http://www.brisbanebiodiesel.com

Searching tips using Google - SVO Dual tank systems
SVO, Common Rail and Direct Injection - Vehicles converted to Used Cooking Oil

Hybrid Fiat,
Unfortunately, I doubt that Consumer Affairs does any more than verifying the "weights and measures" used in dispensing the fuel. Perhaps you should enquire to them, asking what they do to verify that the fuel sold, is what it is described as and meets Australian Biodiesel Standards.

Should you need support, I am sure that WARFA would be interested in lending support to your cause.

Regards,
Tony

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Thanks, Ill keep you posted on my progress, or lack of.

This morning my wife and I go to the Small Claims Tribunal to state our case Ill post today with the outcome.

Keep as updated.

Sounds pretty horrible.

Were you buying B100? (100% biodiesel)

I was under the impression that could now only legally be supplied to self maintained fleets?

What do you mean when you say they boiled some of the sample in a microwave, and it stayed the same?

By definition, if something is boiling, it is changing from a liquid to a gas, so something was changing (just perhaps you couldn't see it).

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