SVO Filter!

[sandcruiser]

Finally bought the filter for my SVO installation. Very excited. Huge son of a gun though.... for some reason I expected it to be... smaller. Oh well. Good thing there is so much room in the engine bay.

Davco 234. Purpose built. Has a 12v heater that self-regulates to about 110-120 F as well as a coolant heat exchanger. Also has a water seperator and a big filter cartridge and a clear housing cover so I can see what's going on with the fuel filter.

Fun times ahead! Now all I have to do it install the unit, route the coolant hoses, install the extra fuel line(s) and the switches for the fuel valve, then get a custom tank built to carry the startup/shutdown diesel and instal more fuel lines.

Could be a while before I post more pictures.

[Radd Cruisers]

Now....... this is meant to pre heat the fuel, it does not have the capability of heating the cold SVO prior to firing like a mini super heat exhcanger??

[sandcruiser]

We'll have to see just how it works in operation- but the idea is that the 12v will help preheat the fuel prior to the motor being warmed up, then once all is warm and the coolant is flowing at full temp (around 180) then I can flip the switch and the coolant heat exchanger should (I hope) be sufficient to heat the SVO to pretty close to 180.

I'll be running the fuel from the filter in a 3in1 tubing such that the coolant will be right next to the fuel, thus helping warm it a little more if it still needs it, or at least keep it warm on the way to the IP.

In a colder climate, I'd bet that you would want a 12v heater right before the IP to help make sure all is hot enough... but my ambient temps are pretty high- lowest it gets here is around 80* F so I don't think it'll have too much trouble getting the oil up to full temp even if it doesn't have a lot of contact time/space. I hope

I've been running up to 50% SVO/Diesel without any heating at all and have been ok with the results- once the motor warms up it runs well. It just runs poorly at startup.

The one thing that I'm not 100% about is that it seems to me that the 12v heater is going to be heating the oil, which will then pretty much lose heat to the coolant... until the coolant gets up 110 or so. Which I guess should be pretty quick!

the next step is that I want to also install a temp sender somewhere in the fuel line right after the filter so that I'll have a better idea of just what is going on there.... but that will have to wait till after a number of other projects get taken care of.

[Tofudebeest]

Man his is an OLD thread...

Sandman, any Davco updates??? Considering this unit (Davco 234+), but for B100 use, not SVO. Not so much to preheat (though that'll surlely help in the winter, even in FL), but to dewater and filter because biodiesel (particularly the stuff I get) is of inconsistent quality, and may have some water in it. I do know this: the stuff I can most easily obtain is from rendered chicken fat (Agrisource Biofuels), so it gels at very high temps. I had a bucket of it to use as a hand degreaser, which works as well if not better than Gojo, when I was wrenching when the temperature outside was about 48 degrees F, and there was thick, gooey, white gelled bio on the bottom which melted in your hand if you scooped some up. That goop worked like magic at getting grease off of my hands, even better than the totally liquid bio. So, I wonder what it was doing at that temp inside my IP!!

[Tofudebeest]

I've been trying to find out if the Racor or the Davco is a better unit for B100 and decided to go directly to the technical guys at both companies. I called Racor first. I was told straight out that they use seals that are predicted to fail at blends higher than 20%, though they're planning un upgrading their products to make them B100 compliant in the next 6 months. Davco's website says "Use of this product for biodiesel blends exceeding B20 or 100% vegetable oil may not meet emulsified water separation and cold weather operation requirements.", which is not to be misconstrued to mean (necessarily) that their seals will deteriorate when exposed to the solvent properties of biodiesel in concentrations above 20%. The engineering guys were at a show and nobody was available to talk tech with me. I left a message with their Cheif Geek. I'll post up the results when I hear back...

Edit: Got a call back from Davco. Fine for B100, but gotta replace the main filter seal with each filter replacement, and the filters need to be the ones specifically made for biofuel application--essentially shippied with viton O rings. If pushed, I think Racor would have gave me the same line. So, neither one is made with viton seals, but can be used if you're willing to shell out an extra few bucks with each filter change...

[sandcruiser]

I still haven't even installed the beast.... I'm at a little bit of a loss as to where to put it on the 80, the height is really an issue, and the hd-t takes up a lot of space in the bay.

I might end up moving the brake lines away from the front fender in order to put the filter there.

Good info on the seals! As of now, I'm planning to run SVO (probably with 10% petrodiesel mixed in), not biodiesel, but Costa Rica is headed towards 10% bio in all our fuels in the next two years, so it is worth keeping track of biodiesel compatibility.

[magnus_heydoc]

I've been using a racor with a 50w heat sleeve wrap with good results. I burn fuel above 150F. I'm going to switch to this type so I can add some heat via water jets. The colder temps are coming!
Klaus Old - Plantoil inventions



By far coolant heat exchangers trump electrical heaters. It's not even a close comparisson.
best
Aaron

[Tofudebeest]

Originally Posted by magnus_heydoc

I've been using a racor with a 50w heat sleeve wrap with good results. I burn fuel above 150F. I'm going to switch to this type so I can add some heat via water jets. The colder temps are coming!
Klaus Old - Plantoil inventions



By far coolant heat exchangers trump electrical heaters. It's not even a close comparisson.
best
Aaron

Wow, that's pretty cool. I'm thinking "belt and suspenders" approach and going with multiple, redundant heating systems to get that fuel nice and hot before it enters the IP, even with biodiesel, and even in FL. The only thing I would not attempt is an in-tank or tank heater because that's just trashing perfectly good grease/bio. Repeated heating of that fuel will result in oxidation and decomposition, resulting in a reduction in combustibility...and ultimatley coking. Given that the Toyota B, 2B, 3B (13-BT) and H, 2H (12-HT) systems (not sure about the newer ones) have no fuel return line back to the tank, there's no problem with superheating the fuel in the engine bay.

One or two of those Klaus Old or other heating system (elec or fluid exhange) coupled with a Racor or Davco heater/filter/dewaterer would make a really nice relatively worry-free setup.

[John Galt]

... Toyota B, 2B, 3B (13-BT) and H, 2H (12-HT) systems (not sure about the newer ones) have no fuel return line back to the tank

The 13B-T returns to the tank, and I expect the other turbo versions do too.

...and how do you figure the tank return line causes "superheating the fuel in the engine bay. "

[sandcruiser]

hd-t returns fuel as well

[Tofudebeest]

Originally Posted by John Galt

The 13B-T returns to the tank, and I expect the other turbo versions do too.

...and how do you figure the tank return line causes "superheating the fuel in the engine bay. "

I can see how you how you inferred that, but what I meant is that you would be ABLE to super heat the fuel (to increase its combustibility--a desirable thing) immediatley prior to injection without concern that this heated fuel would end up back in the tank, where it could get heated over and over and degrade, a common problem in single tank conversions instead of being burnt after being heated just that one time.

Honesty, it is a minor concern (compared to others) and I do not wish to overplay it, but it is a consideration with any alternative fuel set-up.

[jabxyz]

Originally Posted by sandcruiser

I still haven't even installed the beast.... I'm at a little bit of a loss as to where to put it on the 80, the height is really an issue, and the hd-t takes up a lot of space in the bay.

I might end up moving the brake lines away from the front fender in order to put the filter there.

Good info on the seals! As of now, I'm planning to run SVO (probably with 10% petrodiesel mixed in), not biodiesel, but Costa Rica is headed towards 10% bio in all our fuels in the next two years, so it is worth keeping track of biodiesel compatibility.

Sandcruiser,
What are the dimensions of this thing?

[sandcruiser]

I'm a few thousand miles from the filter right now, but take a look at the top photo on this thread. That's a full-size, brand new pencil next to the filter. I'd say that the filter is about 3 pencils long? Maybe 20 inches? Pretty long. The diameter is just a hair bigger than a ph8a oil filter.

[jabxyz]

Originally Posted by sandcruiser

I'm a few thousand miles from the filter right now, but take a look at the top photo on this thread. That's a full-size, brand new pencil next to the filter. I'd say that the filter is about 3 pencils long? Maybe 20 inches? Pretty long. The diameter is just a hair bigger than a ph8a oil filter.

Ah yes, 18 - 20 inches long...I see how you run into a space problem with this.

[rtarh2o]

I recently installed a Grease Kings Magnum filter. It is really nice. It is a heated filter and has a water line running on the inside of the filter housing. The housing opens up from the top so you can remove the lid, unscrew the filter and pull it out from the top. You do not have to bleed the system after replacing the filter, you just pull the old filter out and slip the new filter back in. You can literally replace the filter in less than 5 minutes. It does not have a water trap but does use a water block filter. I would highly recommend it.
It is about 12" long so will fit in a few more places.
Rusty

[magnus_heydoc]

A bit of a highjack.........
Now that my 3B is running grease the next project is a sprintime turbo charger.
The port on my valve dedicated to returning to the tank has simply been blocked off in my case.
Can anybody explain why the various stock turbo setups have a return to the tank?
Aaron

[Tofudebeest]

Originally Posted by magnus_heydoc

A bit of a highjack.........
Now that my 3B is running grease the next project is a sprintime turbo charger.
The port on my valve dedicated to returning to the tank has simply been blocked off in my case.
Can anybody explain why the various stock turbo setups have a return to the tank?
Aaron

Return to the tank??? A turbo is totally isolated from anything fuel related. It is totally a manifold intake forced air induction system, mixing greater amounts of air (from the exhaust) into the intake manifold to increase combustibility of the fuel. The return lines are for oil, to lubricate and cool the turbos, and usually return directly to the oil pan.

[magnus_heydoc]

Tofu, I was asking regarding a couple previos comments regarding return fuel lines. The 3B does not have a return fuel line to the tank while the 13BT apparently does.