CAT | WVO Collection
I have chosen not to suck.
After some great email and phone conversations with Farhad at the Green Drop Garage, I am going to hold off on the super sucker plans. While it is still the system to aspire to, I think i am going to work up to it. Regardless of what systems for collection and modifications to make to your vehicle, it is always good to have someone to bounce your ideas off of. Farhad built his own wvo vehicle mods back in his Berkley days before getting behind the Vegistroke products and in his day collected 5000 gallons per month of WVO.
Above is the picture of the Sotera diaphragm pump, a little pricier than i was planning on, but it is the Cadillac of pumps. It is a 12v pump so we can modify the cord to plug into the trucks trailer adapter. House it in a nice Rubbermaid tote and it won’t be too much work to load and unload. Additionally having the collection be more portable allows a greater collection range form the truck . . . 15 ft cord + 15 ft collection hose doubles the range.
Planning, planning . . . can’t wait for doing, doing . . .
As in the best method to collect the yellow gold . . .
One could scoop, pump or suck WVO from barrels, using a vacuum appears to have the most benefits. It is the fastest (especially on a newly vacuated vessel), it won’t choke on chunks, and is quietest.
A 30 gallon tank with a 27″Hg vacuum in it will draw in 10 gallons very quickly if a large enough hose is used (I like 1.5″ “spa” or suction hose) the next 10 gallons will take about twice as long as the first since the vacuum is reduced to around 22″Hg and the lower the vacuum the slower the flow. Given enough time and low enough viscosity VO a 30 gallon tank will eventually fill to about 95%.
Another bonus is that a “super sucker” collection unit has no valuable parts so leaving it in the back of your truck presents no temptations. It is typically constructed of a pressurized tank (water pressure tank, hot water heater tank, propane tank, compressor tank . . ) fitted with a small ball or needle valve from which the air is drawn out to create vacuum or pumped in to push out the collected oil. The additional modification to the collection tank is the opening for oil to be drawn in or be pushed out. This portal is a 1.5″ pipe welded so its interior opening is at the lowest point in the tank. Attached to it is a ball valve (make sure the inside diameter of the valve is not smaller than 1″) and then connected to enough hose to reach from your truck to the barrels. Get fancy with detachable tips (clear, filtered with a shower drain cover, electrically heated for winter collection), male and female hydraulic quick couplers, clear tubing to see what you are gathering, pin striping . . .
An internet search of “WVO Super Sucker” will provide hours of educational reading, plans and completed units for sale.
Living in a city, a city with pretty strict water control rules, means that WVO collection is not going to be easy.
I have been told by restaurant owners that the companies that collect their oil under contract also submit information to the city that it was picked up. If the city does not get these notices, they visit the restaurants and charge them fines as they must be dumping it. I am not sure if this is a scare tactic, but it sure doesn’t help in getting donations.
I am pretty sure I will be starting as a midnight bandit in my WVO collections and will be getting pretty low grade WVO until i can locate good sources. As a result my WVO preparation is going to require mist washing to remove all the nasties.
My first order of business is to scout out the dumpsters and barrels in a 5-10 mile radius and track the oil quality and dump schedule of the restaurants.
ATTN: Fellow WVO bandits in the West LA area, apologies in advance if i stray into your territory. Please ask questions first (then shoot if necessary).
Not sure the etiquette here, the goal is to get legitimate oil and not to start a ‘turf war’. anyone have any pointers?
