Well I finally got started on collecting oil, got about 40 gallons, mixed in 5 gallons RUG, and it's settling now. Should have a good source, just need to find more drums to use to collect. Next step will be putting together my filtration system. I know drmiller has his proven system and I am interested in going that way to keep things easy, but another part of me wants to put together my own system. What are y'alls thoughts? And as far as putting together my own system, what are the essential elements? The main problem I foresee would be finding a cost effective pump. Would a water pump work or would it wear out after the first 50 gallons? lol
Gonna make an attempt at W85
- Thread starter jmsmith76
- Start date
rsr911
New member
For processing pretty much any low volume pump will work well if pushing through the filters. If pulling through the primary string wound filter(s) then a gear pump is recommend. I make a kit to convert an SBC pump into a collection pump or process pump. The standard kit with a standard volume pump would work but would need to be geared down about 2:1 with pulleys. A lot of guys use a small HF water pump but I don't recall which one.
rsr911
New member
I forgot to mention. drmiller's setup is a low volume, low pressure pump which is why it works without tinkering. Anything faster will need throttled or have the speed reduced. The WHF housings that we use with the string wound filters flow about 3gpm max but work better from 1-2gpm. For mine I have a gear pump with a throttle valve on the input. Not the best way to do it but it works. If you don't want to do drmiller's complete kit then maybe just get the big filter he sells. I put it in front of my high efficiency Baldwin spin on final filter and so far I have not plugged the final filter. I also swapped from 5 micron string wounds to 1 micron because I'm filtering out a bunch of zeolite I added trying to dry some really emulsified oil, the particle size is 5-7 microns but it slips right past the 5 micron string wounds. I ran 100 gallons today and caught a ton in my first string wound so they are working.
Yeah, y'all know a whole lot more about it that me. I'm a total newbie to it. I've been reading up on it for a long time and wishing I could do it and now I have some wmo and watf sources so I'm gonna get it together. i am leaning towards drmiller's kit now because it will be much less of a hassle then trying to piece everything together.
rsr911
New member
Here's the deal with Doug's kit. He does not give out the part number of the filter he uses so you have to order through him. His price is very fair however. He won't give out the part number because it a unique filter that is not easily found. I would never have found it and i know my filters, in fact I never would have looked for that specific type of filter. So it's kind of a secret that he rightly makes a few bucks on, but to make those few bucks he has to buy a quantity of them and the I believe his selling price is regular retail. This is off-putting to some who think he should just post the part number so everyone can benefit from it. Personally I might do that but I certainly understand his point. Flat out you will not find a filter that will last as long as this one and filter as fine for a better price, believe me I've looked. It's like my SBC pump kits, I don't care if someone makes a copy for personal use but they won't be able to make them to sell for less than what I sell them for unless they have some high dollar CNC machinery, that's already paid for and has idle time. A machine shop could not stay in business on the hourly rate I make on my kits. The big thing is Doug's kit works and works well if you follow his directions and if you break down what the parts cost he really doesn't make much from a kit. He and I are in the same situation, we want to help the community but we can't give our time away so we charge as little as possible. Of you do get one of Doug's kits get the big filter. It costs a little more but I think it more than makes up for the cost with the volume of fuel it can pass before requiring a change.
The other thing about W85, I've read several posts on other forums of guys having trouble with smoking or other issues. Neither Doug nor myself ever said that W85 was the golden blend. 15% RUG is a good STARTING point, you may need to adjust up or down depending on your feedstock. I've got an old IDIT with a turned up pump, it smokes a little no matter what fuel I run through it so I run W85 exlcusively and don't worry if one mix smokes a little more than another. You can add more RUG if needed up to about 25%
Most simple process: Blend in RUG and let settle 1-3 days. Pump all but the last few inches through a few filters with a low volume pump and into your truck. That's it. The key is the right filters and a decent pump. Doug went thru a lot of different pumps before he found the one he uses. I use a gear pump that is geared down with pulleys and has a throttle valve so my flow rate is about 2 gpm. I also recirculate and do some other stuff but I am also processing 150-200 or more gallons per week and a big chunk of that goes into friends trucks so I'm extra careful. A logical progression of Doug's system would be to later add and upflow processor. Blend your out at 10-15% RUG, let settle then run through the upflow into your mixing/filtering tank. See my WMO how to thread for more details. My latest iteration of my system has passed 250 gallons through a 3 micron 99% efficiency final filter with no sign of plugging yet. In theory it will be years until my on board filter which is somewhere between 5-10 microns to plug.
So get some oil collected and get out there and start running, I think you'll love the savings!!!
The other thing about W85, I've read several posts on other forums of guys having trouble with smoking or other issues. Neither Doug nor myself ever said that W85 was the golden blend. 15% RUG is a good STARTING point, you may need to adjust up or down depending on your feedstock. I've got an old IDIT with a turned up pump, it smokes a little no matter what fuel I run through it so I run W85 exlcusively and don't worry if one mix smokes a little more than another. You can add more RUG if needed up to about 25%
Most simple process: Blend in RUG and let settle 1-3 days. Pump all but the last few inches through a few filters with a low volume pump and into your truck. That's it. The key is the right filters and a decent pump. Doug went thru a lot of different pumps before he found the one he uses. I use a gear pump that is geared down with pulleys and has a throttle valve so my flow rate is about 2 gpm. I also recirculate and do some other stuff but I am also processing 150-200 or more gallons per week and a big chunk of that goes into friends trucks so I'm extra careful. A logical progression of Doug's system would be to later add and upflow processor. Blend your out at 10-15% RUG, let settle then run through the upflow into your mixing/filtering tank. See my WMO how to thread for more details. My latest iteration of my system has passed 250 gallons through a 3 micron 99% efficiency final filter with no sign of plugging yet. In theory it will be years until my on board filter which is somewhere between 5-10 microns to plug.
So get some oil collected and get out there and start running, I think you'll love the savings!!!
What Baldwin filter do you suggest to use as a final filter?
yeah I plan to buy Doug's higher priced system with the big filter. I don't have a problem with him making a few bucks off the countless hours of R&D he has put into it as well as the money he has spent developing the system. I totally understand where he is coming from. To me, it is no different than some of the other retailers who put together performance systems and sale them on their websites but the market for W85 systems isn't as big as the market for performance parts. I will gladly help Doug make some profit on his hard work. I will have enough money to purchase a system next week when I get paid. Already have 45 gallons of fuel including the 5 gallons of RUG that I added to it. And I have several other sources for collecting, so I can't wait to get started on it. I have read up on the upflowing setup that you are talking about and hopefully I can put one of those systems together in the future.
rsr911
New member
Baldwin BF7587. I'm not sure I'd recommend it though as it's a little small for processing. I only get 100-200 gallons before it needs changed. However it is lasting longer now that I have 3 string wound 1u filters in front of it. One thing I can say is my truck filter hasn't plugged since I started using it. Before I had a 5u absolute cartridge filter in a WHF housing and I'd get 1000-3000 miles on the truck filter. The WHF housings work bet if you have a low pressure low volume pump that can't push or pull junk past the cartridges. I've got a gear pump, it can easily push 100psi or more if I'm not careful.
rsr911
New member
BTW I'm pulling through the string wounds and pushing the Baldwin. I can pull through the Baldwin but it really slows things down and it can take about 50psi IIRC. My process is to add 10% RUG to all incoming oil and put it in my storage tank. I don't do the full 15% incase I don't need that much, this way I can always add more. Next the oil runs through my upflow at about 1-1.5 gallons per hour. Once it's all in the mix tank I add 5% (or so) RUG then recirculate for 1-3 hours pulling through the string wounds. I've got a vacuum gauge so I can tell the filter condition. For about $3 per filter I replace the string wounds pretty regular, about every 100-200 gallons. String wounds aren't real efficient at removing dirt so I put them in series and run multiple passes, this seems to clean the fuel up enough to then run through my spin on and into storage or my truck. Some would argue that the upflow is not needed but I get crud out of it every time I drain it so it's at least helping my filter life if nothing else. 99% of the water falls out in the storage tank since I already have some RUG blended into it. The bottom of my mix barrel is clean. Before I used to at the RUG after the upflow and the mix barrel always had some sludge in the bottom. I prefer to use gravity rather than filters to remove crud. This way my filters only have to catch the stuff still in suspension.
What kind of mileage are you getting on your onboard truck fuel filter?
If that Baldwin is good enough to save the truck filter, I'm OK with replacing it every 200 gallons for $15.
Not to knock him, but Doug's "magic filter" only does about 250 gallons and he sells it for $40.
If that Baldwin is good enough to save the truck filter, I'm OK with replacing it every 200 gallons for $15.
Not to knock him, but Doug's "magic filter" only does about 250 gallons and he sells it for $40.
rsr911
New member
I called Baldwin tech directly to inquire about filters. In theory my on-board should rarely plug since this one is finer and higher efficiency than my on-board Baldwin. Since I've been using this filter I have not plugged and onboard Baldwin filter. I didn't plug cheap Azone filters before but when I switched to Baldwin on-board I had issues, turns out the Baldwin on-board is a much better filter so I needed to go finer/better with my process filtration.
rsr911
New member
BTW I have Doug's large filter but I'm not going to use it in my process for a few minor reasons. I put together a 175 gallon storage tank for my neighbor's fuel and I'm putting it on the output of that. This way his fuel will have even more filtration than mine and Doug's filter should last a very long time. Nothing against Doug's filters, it's just than I found out today that my buddy at the trucking company gets a deal the more Baldwin filters he buys. He uses Baldwins for primary and secondary fuel filters as well as oil filters. He got me a great deal on a case so I'm going to go that route. I figure that I'll get 2-3 times the life out of Doug's filter this way so he'll be happy I'm using it, my neighbor will be happy that his fuel is super clean, and my trucking company buddy saves a little on his filters. As for me I can change out my filters on my normal 250-300 gallon interval and be happy with it although I'm finding I need to change the first string wound 1 micron about every 50-75 gallons but for $3 who cares really.
rsr911
New member
Sorry, just noticed your post.
