Vegetable oil prices

[Canalsman]

For those who want to run their vehicles on vegetable oil, how about a rolling thread with info about prices ...

I have just found that ASDA currently supply 15 litre boxes of KTC Vegetable Oil for £14.00 - that's 93p per litre.

Got to be worth trying surely?

Anyone found a better price elsewhere?

 

[bigmillie]

Good idea, I have been watching all supermarket prices as well , Last time I went into our local ASDA (Farnborough Hampshire) I could not find the 15l boxes , staff were bloody useless as usual , I wondered if it was for home delivery only ??

Regards Charlie

 

[donkey too]

Tried their website for home delivery and no help.
Anyone use KTC? I have some which I bought from Tesco last year but have not tried it yet. It is thicker than Rape seed and I am wary. I am still using the remainder of the 2 palletts of Rape seed oil that I got from Tesco when they had their special offer a year ago. I also got a few gallons from a bloke local who said it was out of date so he wouldn't use it.:lol-061: Anyone e;lse got any out of date veg oil they don't want?:lol-053:
I notice that Sainsburys have put theirs up from 2.90 to 3.80 for 3 litres. They are following the other big stores.

 

[Canalsman]

Tried their website for home delivery and no help.
Anyone use KTC? I have some which I bought from Tesco last year but have not tried it yet. It is thicker than Rape seed and I am wary.

Yes you can get it for home delivery - I added it to my basket last night. £2.50 is the delivery charge on a minimum spend of £25.

(The KTC oil doesn't show up if you browse the ASDA site for some reason. I found it by Google searching for 'ASDA KTC vegetable oil' which DOES find it! Assuming you're logged in to ASDA at the time you can then add it to your basket )

So two boxes is fine, though if it's usable I'd buy more.

I anticipate using it on a 50/50 basis with diesel, so perhaps any additional thickness is of no consequence.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[fofeg101]

Yes you can get it for home delivery - I added it to my basket last night. £2.50 is the delivery charge on a minimum spend of £25.

(The KTC oil doesn't show up if you browse the ASDA site for some reason. I found it by Google searching for 'ASDA KTC vegetable oil' which DOES find it! Assuming you're logged in to ASDA at the time you can then add it to your basket )

So two boxes is fine, though if it's usable I'd buy more.

I anticipate using it on a 50/50 basis with diesel, so perhaps any additional thickness is of no consequence.

Thoughts anyone?

It is the viscosity which causes the problems and it's difficult to reduce the viscosity legally, i.e. thinning it down with paraffin (aviation fuel) is illegal due to the fuel tax situation. The viscosity should be around 35 seconds, I think. The original diesel engine was built to run on coal dust!!.

 

[bigmillie]

Yes you can get it for home delivery - I added it to my basket last night. £2.50 is the delivery charge on a minimum spend of £25.

(The KTC oil doesn't show up if you browse the ASDA site for some reason. I found it by Google searching for 'ASDA KTC vegetable oil' which DOES find it! Assuming you're logged in to ASDA at the time you can then add it to your basket )

So two boxes is fine, though if it's usable I'd buy more.

I anticipate using it on a 50/50 basis with diesel, so perhaps any additional thickness is of no consequence.

Thoughts anyone?

It shows up on my search of ASDA

Try searching for cooking oil

regards Charlie

 

[Canalsman]

It is the viscosity which causes the problems and it's difficult to reduce the viscosity legally, i.e. thinning it down with paraffin (aviation fuel) is illegal due to the fuel tax situation. The viscosity should be around 35 seconds, I think. The original diesel engine was built to run on coal dust!!.

But if it's mixed 50/50 with diesel surely that will reduce its viscosity, won't it?

 

[donkey too]

But if it's mixed 50/50 with diesel surely that will reduce its viscosity, won't it?

As long as it mixes properly. iT NOW SHOWS AS "out of stock" which usually means the price is going up

 

[Canalsman]

As long as it mixes properly.

So presumbly putting the vegetable oil in first followed by the diesel should be the best option ...

Or the diesel first, then the oil, and then rely on the movement of the vehicle to mix it ...

Not sure

 

[Rockerboots]

I use waste veg oil just filtered down thro` a 1 micron filter then add a drop of white spirits to every 10 litres & leave it to stand for atleast a couple of weeks then mix it 50/50 with diesel in a jerry can then throw it in the tank.
Never had any problems, infact it runs quieter and with more guts on the uphill.
Occaisionally when our local Netto store had their veg oil on promo at 89p/ltr i would buy as much as i could carry & just put it in the tank directly, Netto has now been taken over by Asda so alls well as we have done our shopping online with asda for a couple of years now.
In warm weather once your engine is warm the KTC oil should run without problems.

Andy :wave:

 

[donkey too]

Interesting? Why the white spirit? I burn pure veg (rape seed) never had a problem. Yes it does run quieter and also more power. But I think this is a short lived practice now trhat they are starting tests on running aircraft. The government will soon put a tax on it.
There is a good thread on Bongo fury website about bio fuels and whether or not to put addetives in. Personally I don't think add's are necessary with pure oil. only with petro oils. for instance when I used to use 100% deisel I always added 2 stroke oil. If its right for the Merc rally team its OK with me.

 

[Rockerboots]

The white spirit (3ml added to 97ml) is supposed to thin down the oil abit & adds a little more umph, some people add parafin but that costs a bit more.

Andy

 

[fofeg101]

But if it's mixed 50/50 with diesel surely that will reduce its viscosity, won't it?

If the fuel is too thick the fuel pump has to work harder, I'm told rotodiesel pumps are best. Pre 1999 Mercs could run on anything but I'm not sure about the later models.

 

[fofeg101]

The method for determining how much paraffin has to be mixed with the vegetable oil is roughly how the viscosity of oils is measured in the first place. All vegetable oils have differing viscosities, I used to use Soya Oil that was really thick, Booker's Cash & Carry sell that. Set up a receptical, i.e. a 2 litre Coke bottle with the bottom cut off, drill a 1/8" hole in the screw cap, pour 1 litre of regular diesel into the coke bottle, allowing it to run from the hole in the cap, time how long it takes the 1 litre of diesel to empty through the hole - that is the time your mixture of veg.oil/paraffin has to match. It is then a matter of making up a litre of your mixture and timing it running through the hole, adjust the mixture until the time matches the diesel time. Eventually you arrive at the percentage of paraffin required to adjust the viscosity of the vegetable oil to match the regular diesel. Just about as legal as operating a Pocheen still, that's why I don't do it. BTW, it legal to still your own spirits in New Zealand and it's not illegal for you to import a still from there.

 

[Canalsman]

If the fuel is too thick the fuel pump has to work harder, I'm told rotodiesel pumps are best. Pre 1999 Mercs could run on anything but I'm not sure about the later models.

I have a 1998 Boxer with the 2.5D non-turbo engine. The fuel pump is a Bosch device which I believe is a rotary pump that's more accommodating than some others e.g. Lucas.

I'm going to give it a go ...

 

[Rockerboots]

I have a 1998 Boxer with the 2.5D non-turbo engine. The fuel pump is a Bosch device which I believe is a rotary pump that's more accommodating than some others e.g. Lucas.

I'm going to give it a go ...

Just keep the windows wound up or you`ll always be hungry for fish & chips. :tongue:

 

[fofeg101]

Unfortunately, my van still has 10 months of 3rd Party Warranty left to run on it, for what it's worth, and as they appear to try to wriggle out of settling claims I'm reluctant to give them any excuses.