Day 2 on the green side

[madcampbell]

here's a couple of research projects I was playing with until my knee op.
first one is a sort of electric heater utillising a glow plug and a temp switch set inside an aluminium body which machined from solid bar stock. still waiting to test it on car......

second was an idea i saw on a veg forum somewhere. I sourced an old renault/lucus coolant heated fuel filter housing (laguna I think??). the unit allready has a coolant matrix cat into base. I machined out the existing thermostat assembly and replaced it with another glow plug. I now need to fit a temp switch somewhere on the housing to control glowplug output.
both of these units have the glowplug in direct contact with fuel for more efficient heating.

one day I'll get round to testing / fitting!!!!!

Help me out here..from what I have read so far on here and the net, there are two problems

(1) starting, the fuel is not at the ideal temperature there for is lumpy at startup

(2) in cold weather the fuel may gell and not be able to get to the filter

Your glow plug fuel filter Idea looks like the best solution for (1) however if the fuel has gelled in the lines from the tank to the filter in colder weather. Your filter won't help ? Yes/No

Am I correct the fuel is pumped oneway and would never return to the tank?

If so then it looks like you need to heat the tank and the fuel filter for best results

I like the look of your fuel filter...
Cheers
Mark

[jaky cakes]

in colder weather ( below 3'c ish) the veg oil doesn't so much gel - but starts to form crystals in suspension. it is these crystals which clog up your fuel filter and starve the engine / strain the pump.
the heated fuel filter idea firstly uses the glow plug from start to heat the fuel in the filter housing (melting any crystals) generaly warming the fuel. as the unit also has a coolant heat exchanger matrix built in - once the engine coolant starts to warm up - it heats the fuel to around engine coolant temp.
once engine temp is achieved - the glow plug can be either switched off manually - or via a temp switch (possibly safer!!)
The fuel pump will return some of the fuel back to tank during periods of over fueling - but i suspect the volume returned to tank would not be enough to warm the fuel in the tank.
the fuel filter in the previous post is only the bottom section of the unit.
The two hose tails are for the coolant connections. the fuel goes in the top bit of this photo... the whole unit looks like this:>>>

[MattF]

For true cold weather running, on high ratio mixes, you really need to be considering a fully heated system, front to back. Otherwise, just lower the SVO concentration during the colder months.

[drunkmonkeyboy]

you could try one of these http://www.dieselveg.com/bio-band_filter_heater.htm I am looking in to heating the fuel with something like this while waiting for the coolant to heat up (i have a heated fuel cat). I have also been looking at the vow2 heaters just need to decide the best route.

[madcampbell]

you could try one of these http://www.dieselveg.com/bio-band_filter_heater.htm I am looking in to heating the fuel with something like this while waiting for the coolant to heat up (i have a heated fuel cat). I have also been looking at the vow2 heaters just need to decide the best route.

How much did the fuel cat cost?
Am I right in thinking that it simply heats the fuel as it pass through?

Why are you looking at the "Band" or is this as a safety measure in cold weather as Jaky cakes points out about Chrystals?

Mark