Retro car show

The Retro Show is at Santa Pod this sunday. Kenny and I will both be there, mostly loitering around the Mercedes 190 stand.

My car is the white 190D, which I have been running on vegetable oil for the past 3 years.

As Kenny mentioned, I've replaced all of my glowplugs with Duraterm ones.

I just got a new MOT and the only work that needed doing was some welding on the jacking points - similar to the work Kenny had done on his car last month.

If you need any car welding done near Watford/North London, I recommend the VIP car repair centre in Bushey. It was particularly convenient for me as it is walking distance from my office.

Another 12 months motoring, passed the MOT

My wagon passed the MOT first time !! It got an advisory on a jacking point, which I promptly got welded up. Jacking points are quite common failure points on 20 year old mercs best to get them done as soon as its spotted.

Another 12 months without having to worry about it.

Steven's 190d 2.5 has had another glow plug failed so he is getting a full set of Bosch duraterms. They seem a good plug which lasts significantly longer than the cheap ones. We normally try to change the plugs in sets as in our experience once a plug goes the rest are sure to follow within a month or 2.

They are currently around £10 each in halfords and £8 on ebay.

The wagon is going in for its MOT

I have the wagon booked in for its MOT Saturday. It should be OK I think, I have checked all the easy things and its holding up pretty well. While they are looking at it I will get them to change the tank strainer for me.

I am starting to think about my next trip but need to get the MOT out of the way first.

Fingers crossed.

Clogged tank strainer, hmm I must get around to fixing it.

The tank strainer ( a small tea strainer type thing fitted inside the main fuel tank), on my 300td has been partially blocked for a while now. The symptoms are that although it runs fine most of the time, when the fuel level gets low (about 1/4 tank) the car starts to loose power and occasionally I have to stop and let it idle for a while as the  negative pressure in the fuel lines evens out. Its quite common on old diesel cars and the veg certainly makes it more significant because its thicker. Its easy to ignore though, just keep the fuel level topped up.

I did the job on the 190d (quite awkward) and it would actually be far easier on the 300td apart from the fact the tow bar mountings run across under the strainer so that has to come off first.

I thought I would post about this because others may be in the same situation and not be aware there is a strainer that gets clogged. You can just take it out and scrap it clear or a new one is around £10 I think. Old mercs have 3 filters. The canister filter, the inline pre-filter, and the tank strainer.

If you imagine sucking on one end of a hose and partially blocking the other end. If you suck slowly (normal driving) its fine. If you suck hard for a while (accelerating or going up hill) it will allow it for a while but it will get harder and harder until eventually you just cant suck any more. (forced to pull over). If you now stop sucking and wait (leave the car idling) eventually the pressure will even out and its back to normal again.

This was my journey to work on friday. Its a short journey and because I knew the symptoms from before I knew just to pull in and wait 2 minutes each time. If you have similar symptoms, try filling the tank up with fuel. If it fixes it then the chances are its your tank strainer. I would advise not to ignore it.

Waste vegetable oil near Enfield

I collected some waste oil from the take-away near Enfield that rang me over the weekend. It suited me to collect this time as I was short of fuel, but it is a bit out of my way, so I don't plan to visit them regularly.

If you are a registered waste collector and are interested in a regular supply of free vegetable oil in the Great Cambridge Roundabout (Enfield) area, let me know and I'll put you in touch.

I filtered some of the oil last night and it got me to work this morning.

Easter weekend in the Lake District

Steven here, just back from a long weekend in the Lake District.

The scenery was fantastic, especially when the sun came out while we were climbing up Heron Pike.

The round trip was a little under 600 miles by car, including a couple of excursions.
I started with a full tank (55l) and 2 bottles containing 10 litres each - all of the fuel was filtered waste vegetable oil from my local indian take-aways. Nearly all of the fuel was used up, and I arrived home with the reserve light on. The car behaved almost faultlessly (there was a tiny issue with the fuse for the electric windows, but I swapped it for a spare).

While I was away, I got a call from a restaurant in Enfield that has some waste oil to be collected. I'll pick it up in the next few days...

Waste carrier license renewed, and thoughts on the cost of veg cars.

The time had come to renew our waste carriers license to enable us to pick up the used oil legally. Rather disappointingly Instead of a nice certificate all we got was a 1 page document to print off ourselves. Still it does give our registration number so its all above board.

Last time we paid the extra to have a nice credit card type identification to show people but it didn't seem worth it this year.

The cost for this license was £104 for a 3 year renewal. Works out £17.34 per car per year, beats the price at the fuel pump !!

Given the actual fuel is free this is our only significant fuel cost. Unless you count the 30p per wash for the powder it takes when I wash my filters every couple of months or so. I suppose we should also factor in the extra expense of not getting free crystal wine glasses from the petrol stations we don't visit any more unless we run out of milk.

Details of my veg filtering setup, including my new plans

I have been asked recently about my filtering set-up. To save me re-jigging it too look right I have decided to just post a link to details I posted on a forum. You don't need to join, you can just view it without.

http://bit.ly/aaJehn

Basically its a 120L barrel with a 7 inch hole cut in the lid. I hang a 5micron filter in it (1 micron when filtering for a trip just to be safe). I pour 20 litres into the sock and then go in the house and leave it to filter (placing a second lid over the first and a brick on top to hold it there. All filtering is done outside. I want it to pass through the filter at the same temperature that it will pass through the cars filter. Otherwise, in my opinion, there is a risk that fats will get through the home filtering which will then get stuck in the cars filter because of the lower temperatures.

As you will see from the thread I am currently working on upgrading so I can let the veg flow direct from the barrel into my fuel tanks. It saves me tapping it into containers and then pouring them into the car.

Where shall I go on my next veg holiday

The fuel tanks are getting low so I have started work filtering the 300L or so of waste oil that I have stored up. I have a bit of a trip to do this weekend but the rest will be filtered and then stored for my next big trip.

Still looking for ideas on where to go. The only limits are I would like to avoid France (as much as possible) and Italy. Its illegal there and I don't want to have to buy too much diesel/bio.

I was thinking possibly Poland, Czech republic, Slovakia or perhaps Sweden. If it wasn't for France in the way I would love to drive to Morocco.

Any recommendations ?

Site updated with more info for new folk

It has been mentioned that for those new to the blog its hard to get an idea of what the project is about and how its progressing, so I have done some work re-arranging the pages, adding pages and adding a 'Story so far' page to help people see the project at a glance. The links are over to the right hand side.

http://www.carbon-neutral-car.com/p/story-so-far.html

Oops, still car doesnt miss a beat even when covered in snow !

This pic is a couple of weeks old but I was outside measuring something up to provide info for a mate. It started to snow so I went inside. Obviously I forgot to go back out and finish up so next morning this is what I found !!!



I closed the bonnet, it started fine and got me to work without a hiccup. I have to admit, I was slightly concerned. Running on 100% veg oil !

No problem in the snow for the seasoned veggie machines

Its been snowing on and off here for weeks and I am glad to report that neither cars have had any problems caused by the snow and the choice of fuel. At the peak I did have to abandon mine as I couldn't get up a hill due to ice but at no point did the fuel cause any problems. It was extremely cold so I thank the coldflow 350 for that. So far its allowed be to run the car down to at least minus 6 degrees without any worry. I am sticking about 15-20ml in with each 10 litre container, then shaking the container for about 5 minutes. It then gets a further mix while in the tank.

My fuel filter is due a change soon, the last change was on the hard shoulder, in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain on a german in Germany on my last trip to croatia which is over 6 months ago, I normally try to change it at least every 6 months.

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Stevens 190d back on the road with a new diff

I am pleased to inform that after a while off the road Steven's 190d, the white car in the very first road trip is now back in action. The whine from the diff had got worse and worse until it was decided to retire her until a replacement diff could be found. This happened just before christmas when I bought a car that was getting scrapped and used that diff.

We have also had a bumper collection of used oil so stocks are currently high, I really must start planning another veg powered trip !!!

Anyone got any ideas or suggestions ?

Ideas so far have been Iceland although I would probably rather avoid the problems cold weather could cause, Morocco (up through spain), and Malta. We can't go through Italy because its not legal and we will of course have to check with any countries the trip will go through.

Treatment for cold weather

Its getting pretty chilly now so I have been looking into ways to ensure the fuel doesn't wax up and clog the filters.

I stumbled across an additive called coldflow350 which claims to lower the point at which the fuel waxes by stopping the crystals from forming. My fridge test was pretty conclusive as you can see in this video, the first pour is treated and the second isnt :-

It works out pretty cheap as you only need a very small amount. The batch used in the video was mixed for a few minutes at room temperature.

Since this video was made I have been on a trip over to Bruges for the Bruges beer festival using treated veg. We stopped off in Poperinge to visit our favourite beer shop and dropped in on the monks at the Abbey of Saint Sixtus in Westvleteren. They brew some mighty fine beer which can only be obtained by visiting them in person. Well worth the trip though.

Details of the monks and the beer can be found here :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westvleteren_Brewery

Winter running

I was recently asked about the obstacles to running on vegetable oil in winter, so even though it is still nice an warm (here in the U.K.), I though I'd post an explanation.

All fuels suffer problems at extremely low temperatures, including Petrol,
Diesel and Vegetable Oil. Petrol works to lower temperatures than Diesel
and Diesel works to lower temperatures than vegetable oil. Different
types of vegetable oils work to different temperatures. I have found it
difficult to use neat Soyabean oil below about 0 celcius. Rapeseed oil
seems to work a few degrees colder. The problem with all fuels is that
they first go cloudy, which clogs the fuel filters, and then at lower
temperatures, they go completely solid.

There are a number of ways to work around the cold problem. The easiest
way is to mix in a small amount of Diesel with the fuel. Other things we
have done include putting electrical heating tape on the fuel injection
lines and a heated wrap around the fuel filter. You can read about both
of these elsewhere on this website. Another solution which we haven't
tried personally is to get a twin tank conversion, where the car runs on
diesel until it is warmed up, and then it runs on vegetable oil that has been
passed through a heat exchanger.

The retro car show and Kenny's trip to Criatia

Kenny has just got back from his latest trip to Croatia.
He drove nearly all the way there and back using vegetable oil but they did have to put a little Diesel in the tank at one point.
There were a few problems with leaks in the fuel system, but I'll let him explain those once he's had a chance to catch up on some rest.

Yesterday was the Retro Car Show at Santa Pod. This is the third year I've taken my vegetable oil powered 190 to the show. We showed it off on the mercedes190.co.uk stand, amid other, shinier cars. This year, two of the 190s on the stand were running off vegetable oil - fewer than in previous years. For anyone reading who owns a 190, I'd recommend mercedes190.co.uk, which is a free owners club and Internet forum. There's lots of good information exchanged on the website and they use the annual Retro Car Show as a good excuse to meet face to face and try out the cars on the quarter mile strip, and on the handling circuit.

The modifications continue

The 300td has been running very well for quite a while now and another Europe trip is planned for the end of June 2009. A few modifications have been made to make it more comfortable as a Euro cruiser.

A second tank has been added in the cubby hole where the rear facing 6th and 7th seats would retract to, giving a total of 110 litres, or about 800 miles range. It has a large inspection lid which can accept a sock filter so I can filter on the move if needed.


I have also managed to squeeze in 2 batteries in with a cutoff switch on each earth. This enables me to run on one, the other, or both. I can remove both the knobs and make it impossible for anyone to steal. The idea behind this is that I can happily run the battery flat using the fridge, music, or lights, knowing that in the morning I have a fresh battery to start the engine. I can then charge up the first while on the move.


And finally, I changed the 4 rear interior lights for LED festoon bulbs. I chose the Large 2W ones which work out about twice as bright as the standard 10W that came with the car. More importantly they wont get hot and they wont run the battery down. The left in this pic is 1 new 2w LED, the right is 1 old 10w standard. I left the front interior light as standard because I prefer the warm glow from the old bulb. The front light is controlled separately to the rear bulbs.

Veggy thief

I now collect regularly from three restaurants/take-aways and occasionally from others. Recently, I went to collect from one place and discovered there was less oil than expected. Apparently, someone has been taking it without permission, and they got there before me.

The restaurant used to pay to have the oil taken away, so they aren't too concerned about the value of the oil, but it does mean that they don't have the paperwork to prove to the environment agency that their waste has been disposed of responsibly.

Brrrrr

During the cold snap last week, when temperatures were around -5C, we had a few problems with the fuel waxing. We temporarily solved it by blending it with thinner fuels. Both Kenny and I ran our cars last week on roughly 70% waste soybean oil and 30% fossil fuel. It runs very well on this and I suspect it only needed about 10% dino juice. This is the first time I've had to resort to this since I bought the car in 2007.

I was caught out by the difference between the waste soybean oil and clean rapeseed oil, which we had tested previously in cold weather. I am making a few improvements to my fuel lines and thinking about switching to rapeseed oil during cold weather.

Company cars

Now that Kenny and I are both running our cars on waste vegetable oil, it shows a company really can have a carbon neutral transport policy without using offsetting.

Most "environmentally friendly" cars are not carbon neutral, although many are better for the environment than the petrol and diesel equivalent.

I don't believe that carbon offsetting is good for the environment - it is just a way to "pass the buck" without doing anything constructive yourself.

Summary of first few days

Here are some notes from the first few days of the journey. Kenny couldn't post them earlier because he had problems with his laptop.

Day 1: Long drive to Speyer in Germany

Day 2: Hung around and went to a Micro Brewery that brewed Weiss Bier - it was wicked! On the way home bumped into some German students who were about 16 years old and hanging in a Roman Church (better than the British Bus Stop!). They had earlier in the day taken their English Vocabulary exam, so they wanted to show off their English Skills. Very funny night and strolled back to camp at 4.30am.

Day 3: With very little sleep drove to Austria. The scenery was incredible, drove through a valley in the Alps and surrounded by Lakes. Arrived in Zell Am and stayed by the waters edge. That evening we were desperate to find something to do as it was pretty out of the way and we came out of campsite and walked 2km to find a bar.

Day 4: We learnt if we had walked the other way there was a Beer Festival only 500 yards away. D'oh! Anthony did his early morning run in the Alps as he is in training for a 1/2 marathon and raising money for a Nottinghamshire Hospice.

Stewing in Croatia

Kenny is in Croatia now - They arrived in Omiš yesterday, powered by vegetable oil.

He had mounted a cooking pot on the exhaust manifold so he could cook dinner as he drove, which worked up to a point. He cooked a nice vegetable stew in it but later the mounting broke, so they will have to resort to more conventional cooking facilities.

Underway

I had a message from Kenny this morning to say he is in Speyer in Germany.
He can't pick up any legal Internet connections with his wok-fi at the moment, so he asked me to post this for him.

The car is running fine, but the fuel consumption is impaired by of the roof box and extra weight. There's an electrical problem which means that occasionally the windows and sun roof open by themselves. When it is raining that is quite refreshing - just what he needs to keep him awake after getting very little sleep last night.

wokfi

I have now finished making the WokFi antenna booster for the wifi dongle. £1 for the wok strainer.

Initial tests show its a great success. Using the device from my window I can pickup 6 access points when I normally only get 1, mine. Should be able to blog from anywhere now !

Almost ready for the next big trip

Modifications to the 300td have been going well. Its now running well and ready to take us over to Croatia again on the 14th August. Not long now !!

I have replaced all the fuel lines with clear pvc ones so I can have full confidence and can see what's going on. I have also mounted a pressure cooker to the side of the engine (above the exhaust manifold) so in theory we can cook food as we drive along. I am having trouble getting the pot up to temperature due to the cold air coming in from the front but I hope to have that sorted by the time we leave by shielding it.

The route will be similar to last time although we will be staying a couple of days in the black forest in order to sample more of the weissbiers. And we don't plan to stay in Belgium or Austria.

In Croatia Last time, due to weather issues, we mainly stayed in Zadar and the inland parts of Croatia. This time we will be checking out the Croatian part of Istria. Its had an interesting history and been part of many countries over the years. The varied influences apparently go to make it quite unique.:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istria

From there we plan to head right down the coast down to Split and Dubrovnik. We had planned to get to Montenegro but the vegetable oil laws are proving hard to find. We may park up and walk across the border.

We are taking a laptop so blogging should be a bit easier. I am also making up a homebrew 'wok-fi' antenna for finding access points, more details of wok-fi can be found here :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WokFi

Here is a very rough idea of the route out. Once we get to Istria we will take our time exploring the coast.

BBC Panorama / comparison with electric cars

I just saw an episode of Panorama that was first broadcast last week.
They took an electric G-Wiz up the strip at Santa Pod, a similar idea to what we did a few weeks ago with my vegetable oil car.

I bet mine was a lot quicker than the G-Wiz, although they didn't show their time.
My car is also a lot better for the environment and cheaper, which is what the TV program was about.

My car runs on a waste product (cooking oil) which was going to be disposed of in a way that produces carbon dioxide. Instead of disposing of it that way, I collect it, filter it and put it into my car. In the Santa Pod example, I dispose of the waste by turning it into carbon dioxide whilst also accelerating along a quarter mile track from a standing start. No more carbon dioxide is produced than if I had not intervened in the process. I pick up the waste oil from restaurants using my car, so there's no source of net carbon there either, and there is no cost.

The G-Wiz runs on electricity which comes from the National Grid. A large proportion of electricity in the National Grid comes from fossil fuels, which is a separate problem that I'd like to see addressed. If you plug your G-Wiz into a wind turbine, then well done - you've found a good way to power your vehicle (albeit very slowly, over a short range). If you plug it into your home power supply, then you are responsible for adding extra load to a stretched grid, burning fossil fuels, emitting carbon dioxide and costing yourself money - you are just doing it in a way that isn't immediately obvious.