Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

[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

Helton sent me a dual coil biofuel one for testing after I approached them offering to test one on my 300D with a 4 channel recording thermometer.
I recorded coolant in / out and fuel in/out temperatures from a cold engine until the engine had achieved operating temperature. The fuel tank was full so there was little change in the 'fuel in' temp. The helton didn't get to 80°C unless the engine was at operating temp and idling. As soon as I accelerated, the fuel out temp. dropped rapidly. I will see if I can find the results for 10 plate FPHE and Helton. It was a few computers ago though, so I am not optimistic.

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

The barbs in the modern vo helton HE are 10mm, I use the single helton, tried a dual pipe one and it now sits on a shelf because it wasn't as efficient as the single input, even when you looped it. To get the best out of helton HE's you need to insulate them I found.

Have never tested the temp of the oil after the HE, but when you go to change an inline filter on the road and the oil almost burns your hand, that's hot enough for me. It can also depend on where you take the hot water from, I take it from as close to the engine outlet as possible and before the car heater so you get the most heat. Plus insulate the hoses from the he to the iP.

Tried a flat plate that Tony sold me many moons ago, but it tended to block a bit and put that down to the very cold weather here, never had that problem with the Heltons. But have had a stock filter clog up badly and put that down to a bad filter as replacing it fixed the problem.

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Thanks for the info. I belong to the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school of thought, and I've decided that since it's running fine as it is I'm going to leave it. I may revisit the idea next winter, but for now I'll leave it.
BTW I did some research into viscosities. For one vege oil the V at 20 deg was 75 centistokes, at 55 it had dropped to 35 and at 80 it was 26. So if my oil is at 55 it's right down on flat part of the viscosity curve

[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, Different oils have different viscosity curves and melting points, so check for your specific oil, not just "one vege oil"

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Mark, Different oils have different viscosity curves and melting points, so check for your specific oil, not just "one vege oil"

Yes I'm well aware of that (believe it or not) - the point I was making is that at 55 deg is down on the flat part of the curve, and is much less viscous than RT oil. The oil in mine ATM is cottonseed, which is more viscous than the WVO from my other source, which is soybean oil

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

Re: Pre Heating WVO before injector pump

Change of plan - I've decided I'm going to install a second HE, before the CAV filter. What's the story with the plumbing? The coolant ports on the Helton unit are smaller than the other heater hoses in the car. Do I have to tee it off the larger hoses somehow - and how would I ensure that the coolant circulated?

[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

Brass reducing tees are available in a number of sizes. Yes, tee off from the heater circuit. Check the fuel temperature from a cold start, it should rise in accordance with the coolant temperature. No coolant flow results in no or slow fuel temperature rise.