I didn't intend to start a debate, but its more than what you can see in the oil. Clear does not mean best. Most older diesels are tough enough you can do whatever you want. Get any oil you want, strain through some jeans, run 24/7, start and stop on it, etc., and you still may get 200,000 this way. Then again, you may not. My post was to simply dispute the "WVO will kill a motor" claims, or decrease the number of miles the motor could have given you. The better you do it, the more miles you likely get. Just like with any other car maintenance.
For anyone interested, (I was interested), there is a lot of physics that go into this. Just like not changing oil every 2,500 miles 40 years ago would likely decrease engine life due to sludge, etc. Oil technology has improved to the point they are now recommending 5,000 to 7,500, and more on synthetic.
One example;
Common physics proves that when your heat exchanger in your veg tank (mine just a trans cooler attached to heater hoses) gets veg up to 180 (or near whatever your engine coolant temp is) the constant heating and then cooling down when you turn engine off, causes moisture build up in your "clean, settled, de-moistured, or centrifuged" veg again. For this reason I have a 6 gal boat tank as the veg tank. At around 25 miles per gal, I carry 1 extra 5 gal container and refill every other day. Not that many heat up and cool downs before the 6 gal is gone. No 15 or 20 gal tank to linger and collect moisture. Plus, my 5 micron filter near the engine is rated to trap moisture. I have taken longer trips with 3 or 4, 5 gal plastic gas tanks with me. Stopping every 150 miles to refill the tank didn't kill me.
The decrease in engine life is mainly due to moisture and "stuff" in the oil that does not burn clean, thus causes "coking" or carbon build up. This freezes the rings in place which then scores cylinder walls, then comes the blow by. Similar issues with bearings, etc. i know I'm preaching to the choir. you can take crystal clear veg, add various chemicals like mineral spirits, turpentine, etc., and that will bind to some of that "invisible stuff" and settle to the bottom of the jar. Then ask yourself "where did that stuff come from".
Best way to avoid this as much as possible is "good veg", no moisture, and as much "bad stuff" filtered as possible, and that's not always what you can "see". I have been studying this stuff for 10 years and the one thing I'm certain of is a million people have a thousand different ways and spend countless hours debating such. My way with the cent is fairly quick, simple, reasonably backed by science, and most importantly, works for me. Just thought I would share.
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I use coffee filters and denim cold. Have a solar holding tank. No problems here.
Boyd
Now Mike has a real great setup but he is doing one thing wrong. To speed things up he heats the oil...WRONG. The problem with heating the oil is more "stuff" gets through. I've had many a settled highly heated and refined five gallon jug of oil have silt on the bottom. Heating while filtering allows more through the filter media. I cold filter through denim. I get very little silting after letting filtered oil sit. If I worry about water I just don't use it. Settling gets rid of most of the water. My oil looks crystal clear. If it's foggy I just don't use it or much of it. Lawrence Rhodes........ Re : Veggie Oil KILLS Diesel Engines Posted by: "Mike Glavin"
magconsulting2@yahoo.com magconsulting2 Date: Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:58 am ((PDT)) I too have run veg oil and believe it to be as good as diesel if done right. Mine is run through a centrifuge that claims to filter out particles less than a micron. Regular oil filters are only about 25 microns. It has an engine coolant heat exchanger in the spare tank in the trunk and a electric heated 5 micron filter before it enters the injectors. I start on diesel and don't switch over until engine coolant is at full temp. About a minute or so before I get to where I'm going, I switch back to diesel to flush the injectors. The 82 300D runs better on veg than diesel. Probably because the cetane level in veg is generally better than diesel. My cost is what ever I pay for the veg and electric for a 2 hour run of a 1/2 hp elect motor and single water heater element per 55 gallons cleaned. Centrifuge is mounted on top on 55 gal barrel. Veg is pumped from the bottom into the cent at 90 psi via the motor. Heating element is inserted into the side of drum with a similar threaded port as a water heater. I have it on a 220 cable that plugs into my dryer outlet. I pick up the veg. Pour through a strainer as I fill the drum. When full I plug in the heater. Come back in about an hour and if it 180-200 deg, I unplug heat and turn on the pump. Come back in 2 hours which equals about 4 passes of oil through the cent. The temp cooks off moisture and thins the oil so dirt can be spun out in the cent. 55 gal of near see through oil no matter the color going in. Unscrew the cover to the cent, wipe out the sludge with a shop rag, good to go another drum. Not counting pickup, about 20 min invested per 55 gal Mike Glavin 573-338-6539
