Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 1:16
PM
Subject: [Biofuel] A Year Ago Today
A year ago today I
poured homebrewed BD into my "new" '82 Mercedes 300SD for the first time. I
had traveled to the southern part of the US (Florida) in order to get a
car that had not been exposed to road salt, potholes, and the transmission
wear from trying to get out of snow drifts.
I remember the
doubts as I poured 2 gallons of the fuel into the tank ... what if
this is just a hoax? A week's time, 2500
miles, and money spent only to have a very nice car come
gliding to a halt as the homemade fuel destroys the engine. The fact is
that several friends/acquaintances thought I was a nut for trying to make my
own diesel fuel. I can't tell you how many times I heard some version of: "If
it was possible to make diesel fuel in your backyard don't you think everyone
would be doing it?" or "Tom's doing what?"
A year spent researching, doing test batches,
locating sources for WVO and for chemicals, scaling up, and it all came down
to these next few minutes.
I drove the car up and
down my road a few times and then decided to take a drive to town. I
brought the cell phone just in case.
One year and almost
14000 miles later the car runs fine.
I had to put a couple of tankfuls of petro in it
on a recent trip, but other than that it's been B100 when temps are above 35F
and B70 in the colder months. I haven't had any engine problems. I never had
filter clogging, but still carry spare filters + the tools to change them.
Thanks to all of you ... it's
been a most interesting year.
Tom
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