My IP started leaking recently (seals). It had 186K on it so it was due. I have run approx 2K gallons of 100% B-D through it. I do not remove the methanol out of it after separation. I clean with Magnesol, test 3/27,filter to 1micron,and load in truck. Do any of you experts think I am causing any problems by not removing? Surely there can't be much left after cleaning in an open container and storing for weeks before use.
Tom D

 

The methanol is corrosive and may have helped the leak from your ip, you need to remove the methanol , not good for the engine at all.

 

Glad someone chimed in on this, was curious myself. Didn't know methanol was corrosive. Do know it attracks water.

 

Yes a strong solvent which dries up seals ......and will attack mild metals, cast aluminum, galvanized metals ans any thing porous

 

Methanol is bad news

 

Originally I removed methanol from the glycerin and bio but it was such a PITA I quit. If I remember correctly, I will have to heat bio to 180 deg. I think I will let it escape to the atmosphere. Not that much to capture in the bio. I think the other method is to increase the amount of Magnesol used to final clean.
Wish Fabman would jump in with his facts. Sure been quiet. He must be building something again.
Tom

 

If I remember right he said that it required twice the Magnesol if the Methanol is still in it. I usually recover a little over a gallon of Methanol from the bio after using 5 in the reaction. (37.5 gallons of oil yielding 31-35 gallons of bio).

 

why not water wash?

 

The first couple batches I did with water wash were a disaster. Ended up with water in the bio and having to drain the fuel bowl every couple of days. Since going to Magnesol, have never had an issue with having to drain the fuel bowl after having the light come on. Just my experience....

 

Sorry I didn't see this post sooner.........Methanol is a very corrosive chemical, and when mixed with ANY water will be even worse! I ALWAYS remove the Methanol from my bio, and have never had a bio related failure. It does take a little more time and trouble, but is worth it in the long run. Yes tom, I'm working on a much faster way to remove the Methanol from the glycerol, in minutes instead of hours.....

I now Mod 7 different forums on FTE so have less time to spend in here, but you guys can always PM me if needed!

We bought a semi-finished house this summer, and between finishing up the house and working on my new 4,200 sf shop I'm pretty busy even with my retirement last Nov, but I'm not going anywhere.............

 

Nice to hear you are still busy Don. I guess there are really some people who sit and watch TV and drink beer when they retire. Not the case for you and I. I am busier now than ever. Just finished a 16 month remodel of one of my rental houses.Hope you share your new treatment with us. Stripping the methanol from bio is a PITA. I haven't had time to repair my recovery process. Refrigeration broken (for water cooling) and I haven't hooked up new and improved "chamber"
Keep in touch
Tom

 

Glad to see your busy Tom. We are looking to buy several more houses here to remodel and rent out. The nearest place to rent a house is 50 miles away, and with the wind turbine crews being here for the next 7 + years renting is going to be a very nice business to be in......

 

dry fuel is of the up-most importance,, the cleaner the bio is the easier it will be to dry less than 100ppm , patience, good conversion, washing, and drying although time consuming is worth the end result. i have a 03 ford 6.0 which is notoriously very picky with fuel quality and i have no fuel related problems knock on wood 80,000 mi. and counting, and a vw jetta 2006 with 25,000mi no issues either.Good luck i was intrigued with magnosol for its easy use and time cutting perks, but water washing is to easy and water is free so ....i am aware of other cleaning methods and have used a few, washing is just to easy. how are you filtering out the Magnosol out?

 

The trick to using Magnasol is to not PUMP it! I use mechanical stirring then let set overnight. Pump mixing is not the way to go, and has caused lot's of people to not use it. Pump mixing causes shearing of the Magnasol particles and makes it a real pain to filter out. Mechanical mixing will not shear the swollen magnasol particles, and overnight settling, then pumping the bio from the top of the mixing tank removes almost 98% of the Magnasol. As I pump the bio off the top of my settling tank I filter down to 1 micron.

Over 10,000 gallons so far, and NO problems!

 

Lots of foreclosures here in Florida. I just can't pass them up. Better return on the "buck" Beats putting it in the bank for less than 1% interest.

Sorry, got off subject. If I remember correctly, I can just heat the bio to about 180 degrees and let it flash off? I'm not interested in recovery right now. Not enough time to repair recovery process. Actually, the brunt of the methanol is in the glycerin isn't that correct? So nI won't be losing a lot of methanol anyway, correct?

Keep in touch Don. Nice hearing from you.
Tom