Hi all!
Great forum! I'm just getting into this over in NZ and was wondering if anyone has any info in where to buy the phenolphthalein for titration and also where to best buy methenol in Auckland. I know this is primarilay Australian forum members but if you have any info to help a Kiwi get started I would apperciate it Mate! I have got hold of a supply of WVO from the chinese restaurant around the corner, they say it does go kind of solid when cool, I hope I can get the titration right and use the stuff or am I wasting my time? thanks all.

NZer,
Welcome to the forum.
There is a lot of information here in the Forum, just waiting for you to search for it. The in-built search engine is pretty basic, but you can use Google to search 'within the domain' to make use of the advanced search facilities provided by Google (Phrase search, AND/OR/NOT functions).

I suggest you search for "Tallow Biodiesel" or "Biodiesel from Tallow".

I look forward to hearing more about your oil supply and your experiences making biodiesel.

Regards,
Tony

Hi there NZER,

It seems that supplies are more expensive over here than in Australia but making biodiesel is still worth the effort if you have a good supply of waste oil. This forum has been a great source of info.

I would recommend using tumeric for titration as it is cheap and effective. I must say that isopropanol is hard to come by due to its use in p-labs. I did buy a tiny volume from Unichem, but you can just use methanol instead.

You can buy methanol (as racing fuel) off TradeMe $60/20L or $330/209L or call Kaurilands (I think was about $54/20L ~in South Auckland).

I got 1kg NaOH from Mitre10 ~$12 (got mine when on sale).

I just found a supplier of magnesium sulphate dihydrate for powder washing (as described on this forum) but haven't got a price on that yet.

And I also bought a cheap digital scale off TradeMe.

I would be interested to hear what vehicle you are planning to use it in..

Hope all goes well for you. Cheers, Paul

Hi,

I get my methanol from Pacific Race Fuels in Auckland. They charge me $360 delivered to Rotorua. I think they also sell on trademe as mentioned above.

Don't bother with phenolphthalein, you'll be hard pressed to find any. Just use tumeric, it works well and it's cheap and easy to get.

Get your NaOH from a chemical supplier or Bunnings. It's a little more expensive at Bunnings but at $18 for 2kg it's not a huge expense.

The solid/semi solid oil you can get should be fine but it may not make a good winter fuel.

Simon

Thanks for all the advice guys, not sure what vehicle yet its going in as I dont have a diesel yet but if this stuff works i will be buying one, not anything expensive, was thinking a nissan mistral, what do you think?

Also where exactly is Kaurilands in South Auckland or thier number please

Hi there,

I searched around and finally found an old note I made regarding methanol from Kaurilands Petroleum in Wiri. I wrote down "$60 + GST $67.50" and two telephone numbers (09-470-0840 and 362-0840). I wonder if they are still in business - I tried looking them up but couldn't find anything.

Anyway there are other options like the guys on TradeMe. That's where I bought methanol last time. The old notes also have more expensive suppliers like ~$85/20L from TMK in East Tamaki, and $92+GST from Methenex (min 3 x 20L) just for comparison.

By the way, I got 50 and 1 micron (nominal) bag filters through "Particle Solutionz" in New Lynn (826-3486) as they were so close to where I live.

Cheers, Paul

Once again Paul, thanks for the info mate! Awesome!
Cheers!

Hi again,

Ask for advice about diesel vehicles from a good diesel mechanic. The guy at Diesel Tune in New Lyn seems good and has used 80% biodiesel in a couple of older vehicles without any problems. He recommended certain Nissans (over my Holden Astra) - something with a timing chain instead of timing belt.

If you haven't bought caustic soda maybe you should find a supply of KOH instead. Everybody seems to say it is far easier to use - dissolves readily in the methanol and less or no soap issues. I haven't tried it yet but I will when I've used up my NaOH. You do have to use more of it and adjust for purity but it sounds like easier stuff to use. Just saw some on TradeMe in Dunedin 1kg 90% KOH $10 buy now plus $5 shipping.

Cheers, Paul