Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

[Lozzer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lozzer]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

My experience aligns with pretty much all that has been posted. Especially not bothering using any electronic fuel heating system.
I have had the two 20PHEs block up however after many years of use with polymer material.
Been able to clear one of them and reinstalled but can't seem to shift the blockage in the other despite lengthy soaking in ULP and many attempts blowing through with compressed air.
Re the eBay link to the stainless 30PHE (300mm long), would it matter much if this was mounted horizontally once the flow directions had been established?
Laurie

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

I recommend that it is laid on its back (opposite side to the I/O ports, as shown in the ebay listing I linked), but the back could be on a slope from 0 to 90°. That way, there would be minimal air trapped in the heat exchanger.

[Lozzer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lozzer]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Thanks Tony.

[Dr Mark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dr Mark]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Best thing is a hot shower unit from a 4WD store http://www.4wdworld.com.au/Glind-Car-Boat-Showers.html

The black thing in the middle is the heat exchanger - plumb it into your cooling system and you can use the other two ports for heating water for your shower, or, in thius case, just plumb your fuel lines through them

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Mark, that heat exchanger is similar to the Helton one I tested several years ago. If you need a lot of heat, then a FPHE is the solution. The same amount of work installing it even a 10 plate FPHE gives a lot more heat than one of those.
If you only need a little heat, just do a 5-10% ULP/95-90% Veggie blend in the veggie tank. Much easier and cheaper than mucking around installing a heat exchanger.

[Alga Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alga]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

I use helton HE's, never had a problem with then, they heat up really well, never get a blockage and are built for VO, not hot water or beer. They are copper, so heat fast and cover mine in insulating material, so the oil gets pretty hot. Got a few HE's for hot water, which have taken out of cars and installed heltons. My 81hdt cruiser had a hotwater heater which I've just taken out and will replace with a helton, they take up much less room and can be placed anywhere.

[Dr Mark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dr Mark]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Mark, that heat exchanger is similar to the Helton one I tested several years ago. If you need a lot of heat, then a FPHE is the solution. The same amount of work installing it even a 10 plate FPHE gives a lot more heat than one of those.
If you only need a little heat, just do a 5-10% ULP/95-90% Veggie blend in the veggie tank. Much easier and cheaper than mucking around installing a heat exchanger.

Not in my case - it was installed by the previous owner. It's up against the firewall on top of the rocker cover, and there's a spot next to it where I can install my Frantz 1 micron filter

[Johnnojack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnojack]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Dr Mark are you intending to install a Franz filter to filter your vege oil? Is it the type that use a toilet roll type of paper filter?

[Dr Mark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dr Mark]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Dr Mark are you intending to install a Franz filter to filter your vege oil? Is it the type that use a toilet roll type of paper filter?

Yep that's the one - I install it upstream of the standard filter. I consider it standard equipment on any car running on biofuels

[tillyfromparadise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tillyfromparadise]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Hi Mark,

I consider it standard equipment on any car running on biofuels

I have been making and using biodiesel exclusively for my diesel vehicles for the last 16 years and have never needed nor installed a Franz filter on any of them.

[Johnnojack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnojack]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Why I ask is that type of filter has problems with vegetable oil. The filter goes soft and forms tracks which means no filtering. Why I don't know, the same filter elements stay quite firm and solid when filtering engine oil. So I would recommend against using one. I have one on a shelf. As Tilly said the standard OM filter is more than adequate.

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

I would only ensure that there is a transparent case coarse filter prior to the lift pump (if your engine uses one) or prior to the main fuel filter. I use the one that is standard equipment on a Mercedes 300D. I try to position it so that it is easily accessible. I use "wingnut" hose clamps and carry a spare in a ziplock bag in case it gets blocked.

Iit is easy to swap while wearing good clothes and the dirty one can be put back into the bag for later cleaning.

[Dr Mark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dr Mark]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Hi Mark,

I have been making and using biodiesel exclusively for my diesel vehicles for the last 16 years and have never needed nor installed a Franz filter on any of them.

Yeah it's probably not necessary, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. But I've just set up my 1HDT on SVO and the Frantz was causing a bit of a problem. When I got up around 100kmh iut was starting to suffer fuel starvation issues. I wasn't surprised because when I was installing it I was concerned about the narrowness of the internal diametrs of it's fittings - about 4mm. I naver had a proiblem with them when running on bio, but SVO is of course thicker, even when hot.

But I fixed the problem by reaming them out and putting 1/4" BSP fittings in, with a much larger diameter. Problem solved, but my system now has a huge dead volume in it. Once the fuel gets into the engine bay it goes through the heat exchanger, then the Frantz, then the factory filter. So when I'm switching back to dino before I turn it off it takes 7 or 8 km driving to purge the system

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Change the location of the changeover switch to just before the stock filter, that way you only need to purge that filter.

[Dr Mark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dr Mark]

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Change the location of the changeover switch to just before the stock filter, that way you only need to purge that filter.

That's probably a little impractical as it would invovle a substantial amount of replumbing - a better idea is to fit a pair of 3-way solenoid valves to isolate the heat exchanger, which is the biggest contributor to the dead volume. I could then wire them into the tank switch so that when I switch back to dino the valves isolate the heat exchanger and it just goes directly into the stock filter. Anyone know where I can get some 3-way 12V solenoid valves?