I'd like to start using biodiesel in my 1987 Benz 190E, but I can't find anywhere that sells biodiesel in Raleigh. Can anybody help me out.

7/25/2007 4:44:36 PM

what are you looking for?

B20?
B100?

7/25/2007 4:46:13 PM

The ABC store

7/25/2007 6:01:00 PM

Here's a list of retailers in NC http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/retailfuelingsites/showstate.asp?st=NC

There are a couple places in Durham.

7/25/2007 6:23:17 PM

i thought the point of biodiesel was to make your own?

7/25/2007 7:29:00 PM

Can you do this without a conversion kit? I have a MB 300d. I heard NC will charge an obscene tax for the conversion kit since you will no longer pay a gas tax?

7/25/2007 7:41:37 PM

try Dr. Brown in the Chemistry Department

7/25/2007 8:04:55 PM

its also generally about a dollar a gallon more than regular diesel.

and you can buy the parts for the conversion kit from many places online, I fail to see how NC is going to tax you on that

7/25/2007 8:30:42 PM

El Rodeo.

Filter, add 3 percent by volume distilled fuel (kerosene, white gas), stir, let sit for a week, pour in tank.

Else: http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/biodiesel.html, or in way too much detail http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

[Edited on July 25, 2007 at 9:24 PM. Reason : damnit I miss the Panzer - need to find another one]

7/25/2007 9:21:18 PM

you only need a conversion to run straight WVO. biodiesel will work with what you have now

7/25/2007 9:22:15 PM

The gasoline tax that you are thinking of is the highway use tax , which is included in the price of biodiesel and all gasoline. I heard that it was cheaper than regular diesel.

7/25/2007 9:23:49 PM

My Benz guy said that I could use biodiesel in my car with no problem. He said that I should make sure to use a blend of regular diesel and biodiesel because straight biodiesel can form into a gel at low temperatures and f up your engine. So you should probably be able to use biodiesel in your 300D, but I would check with your mechanic first just to make sure.

7/25/2007 9:26:23 PM

What's the difference between B20 and B100

7/25/2007 9:31:51 PM

B20 == 20 percent bio, 80 percent petrodiesel

B100 == all biodiesel.

the anti-gel statement from your mechanic is correct - anything will work in the summer, but below 50 deg. or so it gets iffy.

also stock up on fuel filters

7/25/2007 9:33:19 PM

this is why a conversion kit for B100 is necessary, it includes the heater cores for winter time. Also used on SVO conversions, it's basically all the same shit, minus some filters.

And no, biofuel is not cheaper at the pump than regular diesel. It's almost free if you make it yourself, but that's an entirely different matter.

7/26/2007 3:46:11 AM

Quote :

"It's almost free if you make it yourself, but that's an entirely different matter."

Yeah, it is almost free if you:
1. Don't count the cost of the time you spend building your apparatus and procuring waste vegetable oil and processing it.
2. Don't count the cost of the equipment (mixing tank, tank heater, other various stuff), though you might have scavenged all of it.
3. Don't count the cost of the chemicals (potassium hydroxide and methanol) used in the process. And last time I checked, neither one of those was very cheap, at least not in the quantities required.

All this equated to me NOT trying to make biodiesel. Not worth my time or effort, even with as much as I used to burn. I'll let somebody else fill that niche in the market, and I'll buy bio if I want to use it.

7/26/2007 8:21:47 AM

anyone ever see the mythbusters where they ran an old diesel mercedes completely on filtered grease they got from a restaurant? no chemical alterations in any way. I'm sure your car would be pretty fucked within a couple months though.

7/26/2007 8:27:37 AM

^ that's not really surprising, considering you can buy a kit to do that

7/26/2007 11:05:13 AM

^^not that uncommon with diesel cars and trucks these days. it doesn't really harm anything, especially on older mechnical diesels as long as you filter and heat the oil properly.

hell, a diesel will run on damn near anything even remotely flammable. used oil, transmission fluid, etc.

7/26/2007 11:33:17 AM

Yeah, but used motor oil sure makes mine smoke like crazy. I dumped 2 gallons in with a full tank of fuel...looked like the town's skeeter sprayer truck...

7/26/2007 2:40:29 PM

lol, i remember that.

7/26/2007 3:05:38 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, it is almost free if you: 1. Don't count the cost of the time you spend building your apparatus and procuring waste vegetable oil and processing it. 2. Don't count the cost of the equipment (mixing tank, tank heater, other various stuff), though you might have scavenged all of it. 3. Don't count the cost of the chemicals (potassium hydroxide and methanol) used in the process. And last time I checked, neither one of those was very cheap, at least not in the quantities required."

If you buy everything aftermarket, you spend about 500 bucks for everything (equipment and chemicals) to last the average guy for several months of fuel.

And the chemicals aren't cheap, but they are also drastically less expensive than buying fuel at the pump. I have two buddies that do this now for their vehicles (one's a vw rabbit truck, the other is a 2005ish golf tdi) and the rabbit guy says he saves about 3K a year in fuel, the golf guy saves about half that.

It's not hard procuring waste oil, but yes it all takes time. They care more about from the environmental perspective than the monetary one, that's just a side bonus.

7/26/2007 4:00:52 PM

I shot an email to the guys at the Bio-Diesel Co-op in Carrboro and they are selling B-100 for $3.50 a gallon. Fuck that. Nobody is going to start using this stuff until it is cheaper than regular diesel. Also tell your boys that make their own that they still have to pay the highway use tax even if they are making their own fuel. While the likelihood that they will get caught is slim, there is a big fine for this. Also, I don't want a big vat of chemicals in my back yard. My neighbor has a bunch of cats and I'm pretty sure one of those cats would end a floater in my bio-diesel, considering my luck as of late.

7/26/2007 4:11:33 PM

It will NEVER be cheaper than normal petro. That's never been the point, and it's not feasible on a large scale.

Also, you can do the whole distillation process indoors, in a garage for instance. Although even doing it outside isn't going to pose a hazard to animals or anything. Most people use old propane tanks or 55 gallon drums. Either way they are sealed.

And I'm fairly sure you only have to pay the tax on it if its being sold, not for personal use. Also I thought there was a minimum amount under which you were exempt.

[Edited on July 26, 2007 at 6:56 PM. Reason : .]

7/26/2007 6:55:12 PM

what i really hate about this bio fuel craze is that my 98 honda accord cant run any of it

7/26/2007 7:01:09 PM

^^it's kind of up in the air now. currently, you are legally supposed to pay a bond and a tax for using fuel that hasn't been taxed. there is debate/discussion to change the laws though. like a lot of things, technology has exceeded legislation.

it's the same thing as running farm grade diesel on the road. highly illegal and they will bust your ass hard for it. chances are slim the private user will get caught though, how often do you hear about non commercial vehicles getting pulled over for fuel checks.

if you're looking to run biodiesel strictly for cost savings, it's not worth it unless you drive A LOT or go in on doing it with a group of people. running straight wvo/svo is easier for an individual person, and doesn't require any extra cost other than a conversion. just the effort of gathering it.

7/26/2007 7:40:07 PM

Well, I'm wrong

http://biofuels.coop/general-information/taxes//

Is all the tax info for north carolina. You pay 27 cents a gallon in tax, on top of a 2000 dollar bond. That's fucking lame as hell.

Even with that though, it would run you about a dollar and twenty cents a gallon to make your own (material+chemical cost), which is still less than half the current cost of diesel.

You'd even out after a year.

7/26/2007 7:58:13 PM