Well, leave it to me to reinvent the wheel. I found out what I have built is a "dual flow rotating fitting".
Now you can buy dual flow rotating fittings, but they're expensive. You can probably get them used from an agricultural junkyard, but I wouldn't bet on it. The good part about doing it yourself is cost. You can either buy something pretty for $150, or build something functional but ugly for around $30. AP Alan Petrillo wrote: > Change 1: > The 3/8" fuel line has too large an outer diameter to use as a lift tube > in the fitting built with 1/2" parts. It causes too much restriction on > the return side. I changed the inside hose barb to 5/16, and used 5/16" > fuel line instead. This eliminated the restriction on the return side, > but we'll see what happens on the supply side. > > An option would be to rebuild the fitting using 3/4" parts instead of > 1/2", but that would make a fitting that's already big and clunky even > clunkier. Depending on what happens fuel pressurewise that's what I > might have to do. > > An issue I completely forgot about was venting. Originally I was going > to install vents on the jugs, but I changed my mind, and drilled a 1/8" > hole in the cap of the tap fitting for venting. Considering the > potential problems with polymerization I thought it'd be a better idea > to leave the jugs of WVO sealed until it was time to put the tap on them. > > Alan Petrillo wrote: > >>Here's a fitting I built to enable me to use chemical jugs as fuel >>tanks. They're only about 5 gallons, but they're easy to get, and cheap >>or free. >> >>Since diesels need both a fuel supply and a return set up as an open >>loop to function properly, the idea is to build a fitting which will >>allow this to take place without major modifications to the chemical jugs. >> >>This can be built with either galvanized or brass parts, but I chose >>brass. Whatever you make it from it's going to be ugly, but it'll work. >> >>These jugs usually have a 3/4" NPT fitting in the middle of the cap, and >>that makes building this fitting easy. >> >>All of the parts are available at either Home Depot or Lowes. >> >>The parts are: >> >>One cap from a chemical jug >> >>One 3/4" to 1/2" pipe bushing >> >>Two 1/2" close pipe nipples (Hex pipe nipples will work, but will make >>the fitting longer) >> >>One 1/2" pipe union (If you can find a proper pipe swivel then use it >>instead, but if you can find a proper pipe swivel you're doing better >>than I am. If you do find a proper pipe swivel then please tell me >>where you got it so that I can go get one.) >> >>One 1/2" T >> >>One 1/2" male to 1/2" female elbow >> >>One 1/2" to 1/4" bushing >> >>One 1/2" NPT to 3/8" hose barb >> >>One 1/4" NPT to 3/8" hose barb >> >>One 1/4" NPT to 5/16" hose barb (Expect this one to be hard to find.) >> >>Some 3/8" diesel fuel line >> >>Some teflon tape which is approved for petroleum pipe. >> >>The tools you will need are a sharp knife, a couple of spanner wrenches >>and a 1/4" NPT inside tap. A bench vice will help but isn't 100.0% >>necessary. >> >>The fitting is built in two parts. The first is a body that attaches to >>the cap, and the second is a holder for a tube to pass through the main >>body. The idea is to draw fuel up through the middle of the fitting >>while returning fuel through the side. >> >>Use teflon tape to seal all of the pipe joints. >> >>First, screw the 3/4"-1/2" bushing into the cap without using teflon >>tape, pierce the middle of the cap if it isn't already, and cut it out >>until the plastic of the cap is even with the inside diameter of the >>bushing. Then take the cap off of the bushing and put it aside. We'll >>get back to it later. >> >>Screw the 3/4"-1/2" onto one of the 1/2" close pipe nipples. >> >>Screw the pipe union onto the pipe nipple. >> >>Screw the other pipe nipple into the other end of the pipe union. >> >>Screw one end of the T onto that pipe nipple. >> >>Into the middle of the T screw the 1/2"-1/4" bushing. >> >>Into the bushing screw the 1/4" NPT - 5/16" hose barb. >> >>Using teflon tape this time, screw the jug cap back onto the bottom. >> >>This completes the assembly of the main body of the fitting. >> >>Now, take the elbow and use the 1/4" NPT inside tap to thread the inside >>of the male end. >> >>Into the now threaded inside of the male end screw the 1/4" NPT - 3/8" >>hose barb. >> >>Into the female end of the elbow screw the 1/2" - 3/8" hose barb. >> >>Now take one of the chemical jugs you're going to be using, put the cap >>with the main fitting on it onto the jug, and then take the diesel fuel >>line, run it through the middle of the fitting down to the bottom of the >>jug, and mark the depth on the fuel line. Pull the line back out and >>cut it off at the mark. >> >>Push the fuel line onto the hose barb on the _male_ end of the elbow. >> >>Now run the line back through the fitting and screw the elbow onto the >>top of the main fitting, stopping so that the two outside hose barbs are >>lined up together. >> >>Trim the end of the fuel line so that it is just above the bottom of the >>jug. >> >>That's it, you're done. You now have a fitting that will allow you to >>use chemical jugs as fuel tanks, and when you need to change tanks you >>can just take the cap-fitting assembly off of the empty one and put it >>onto the full one. >> >>The 3/8" hose barb on top is your supply, and the 5/16" hose barb on the >>bottom is your return. >> >>When it comes time to change jugs you loosen the nut on the pipe union >>so that the union will rotate freely, unscrew the cap from the empty >>jug, screw it onto the full one, and then tighten up the nut on the >>union so that it won't drip hot WVO all over the place. >> >>Now then, all of that said, I haven't tested my fitting in actual >>practice yet, so I'm not really sure how it will work in an actual >>application. I don't expect it to leak _too_ badly. If it does then >>I'll find some way to fit an O-ring into the pipe union, because that's >>where it's most likely to leak. The vacuum on the fuel line may suck >>air through the joint between the hose and the hose barb inside of the >>fitting, and if it does then I'll have to find one of those flush >>fitting hose clamps and clamp it down. >> >>The construction of this fitting isn't etched in stone. If you have an >>idea that you think will work better in your application then by all >>means use it. >> >>I was originally going to use 3/8" copper tubing for the lift tube, but >>I couldn't find a 1/4" NPT - 3/8" compression fitting. Even if I could, >>I'm not sure it'd fit inside the 1/2" T. I could have made the main >>body out of 3/4" pipe fittings, but then I would have had to use >>bushings out the waz, and every pipe joint is a joint that can leak. >>And it would have made the fitting even bigger and clunkier than it >>already is. You could use pipe joint compound, pipe goop, instead of >>teflon tape, but I find the stuff goes together better with teflon tape, >>since it acts like a lubricant. >> >>Good luck with whatever you try. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
