Author Topic: $0.81/L (Read 2922 times)

slorimer · « **on:** June 04, 2008, 09:11:23 am »

I found vegetable oil (canola oil actually) at costco for 81c/L in the big pales. Now I know running straight veggie is risky (or any veggie for that matter) and pump/engine lifetime is totally up in the air. But, I've been reading that ratios of up to 20% are safe. So 20% veggie and 80% diesel. I know a few people that are doing 50/50 but the operations are fairly new so time will tell. Anyone else had luck good/bad using straight veggie oil to lower their fuel cost?

gigaz2 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 04, 2008, 09:57:23 am »

SVO will ruin your engine before you have enough savings to buy a new one.

SVO has water and a lot of chemicals that can only harm the IP and engine.

zukgod1 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 04, 2008, 10:18:47 am »

If your worried about the water content you can de-watter it before use easy enough.

I say go for it.

I would do a bit more research though, I remember reading there was a good and not so good oil to use. Cant remember which one was which but there ya go..

shegel · « **Reply #3 on:** June 04, 2008, 11:28:40 am »

Quote from: "gigaz2"

SVO will ruin your engine before you have enough savings to buy a new one.

SVO has water and a lot of chemicals that can only harm the IP and engine.

svo without heating it will ruin an engine.

new svo shouldnt have water or chems in it i thought that was a wvo thing

gigaz2 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 04, 2008, 11:33:36 am »

sorry then, mixed the acronyms...

but would't it make polimerisation anyway?

slorimer · « **Reply #5 on:** June 04, 2008, 12:09:29 pm »

No water in SVO, thats WVO. Although I'm not arguing that either of them won't ruin your engine. The running of the SVO would only be the summertime months where its above 10-15C then back to regular diesel for the winter. Although, I heard switching back and forth causes even more problems.

clbanman · « **Reply #6 on:** June 04, 2008, 12:26:39 pm »

If you go with a 50/50 mix at current local diesel prices of $1.39/l, you'll save $0.29/l. So about $13 per tank. If you have to do any processing, what's your time worth? Is the savings worth the risk to your engine? Only you can tell. I bought my diesel with the intent of running WVO but can't justify it based on my time, setup costs, unknown engine life and total savings.

Possum79 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 04, 2008, 01:45:13 pm »

I would think that a 20% mix won't hurt much, but like said before at a 50% mix you dont save a whole heck of a lot.

Im thinking of going to a two tank setup. Bio is to expensive to make and is to timely. WVO at a free cost is nice. I looked at new vegie oil and went the hell with that. The difference in cost is not much here between a gallon of diesel and a gallon of oil.

The price of the two tank kits sucks. Im trying to make my own which is turning out a hell of a lot cheaper.

Some day i may sit down and do the math to figure out how many tanks id have to go through to break even in cost.

slorimer · « **Reply #8 on:** June 04, 2008, 02:43:31 pm »

I guess one benefit of running the 20% veggie is it acts as a lubricant for the ULSD. But at 20% I'm only saving $5.80 per tank. Worth it? Probably not, but maybe, assuming the veggie is basically directly from the store into the tank (at 5:1 ratio with diesel), not much time/processing or mess to deal with, unlike WVO.