Mercedes 1981 300TD Wagon and biodiesel
Moderators: TapeOpJohn, TapeOpLarry
Mercedes 1981 300TD Wagon and biodiesel
I enjoyed the review of the new (old) Mercedes, and was particularly interested in your running the car on biodiesel. I work in the biodiesel/ethanol industry and consult to major and small producers alike. This is a very exciting time as the consumer will hopefully have more choices for fuels in the near future.
Let me clear up some inaccuracies re: biodiesel. No biodiesel is 99.9% pure vegatable oil. Biodiesel is a mixture of triglyceride containing oil mixed with some alcohol: methanol or ethanol. Typically the ratio of mixture is 100 kg of oil (pressed from soybeans, rapeseeds or animal based oils, etc) + 10 kg methanol, to produce 100 kg of biodiesel and 10 kg of glycerin. This is simplistic, but the general prediction. Biodiesel is actually a methyl ester and has combustion properties equal or better to traditional diesel (i.e. high cetane rating). The great thing about it is that the fuel has excellent lubricity and no sulfur content. This makes it a perfect fuel additive to petroluem diesel (at 2%+). Kudos to you JB, for seeking out the purest biodiesel for your car.
Biodiesel is an extremely good solvent and will attack butyl rubber hoses typically found in automobiles produced beofre 1983. Most folks are ok with stock hoses after '83, but check your car. Viton is the recommened material for hoses in cars running biodiesel. Biodiesel will also clean out a fuel system, so changing the fuel filter after switching to biodiesel is key to prevent plugging.
The chemical additives (if any) are to prevent gelling of the biodiesel in cooler temperatures, not to make the fuel more viscous.
Biodiesel is here to stay. There are currently 81 plant sites in the US, but Europe is way ahead of us.
It was a welcome surprise seeing that review. Im almost as passionate about renewable energy as I am music...ok maybe not, not I DO derive my income from it, so they do say do what you love. good luck!
cheers, don
Let me clear up some inaccuracies re: biodiesel. No biodiesel is 99.9% pure vegatable oil. Biodiesel is a mixture of triglyceride containing oil mixed with some alcohol: methanol or ethanol. Typically the ratio of mixture is 100 kg of oil (pressed from soybeans, rapeseeds or animal based oils, etc) + 10 kg methanol, to produce 100 kg of biodiesel and 10 kg of glycerin. This is simplistic, but the general prediction. Biodiesel is actually a methyl ester and has combustion properties equal or better to traditional diesel (i.e. high cetane rating). The great thing about it is that the fuel has excellent lubricity and no sulfur content. This makes it a perfect fuel additive to petroluem diesel (at 2%+). Kudos to you JB, for seeking out the purest biodiesel for your car.
Biodiesel is an extremely good solvent and will attack butyl rubber hoses typically found in automobiles produced beofre 1983. Most folks are ok with stock hoses after '83, but check your car. Viton is the recommened material for hoses in cars running biodiesel. Biodiesel will also clean out a fuel system, so changing the fuel filter after switching to biodiesel is key to prevent plugging.
The chemical additives (if any) are to prevent gelling of the biodiesel in cooler temperatures, not to make the fuel more viscous.
Biodiesel is here to stay. There are currently 81 plant sites in the US, but Europe is way ahead of us.
It was a welcome surprise seeing that review. Im almost as passionate about renewable energy as I am music...ok maybe not, not I DO derive my income from it, so they do say do what you love. good luck!
cheers, don
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An old friend did the conversion to a Mercedes about 8 years ago up in Ely, MN. He was all fired up about it, and it was working great, and he got into the local paper to promote the idea, and the local redneck types decided to smash in all his windows one night because they dun like the hippies coming in with their biodiesel. Undaunted, he kept at it. Good guy.
Funny think about the whole industry...more biodiesel is produced in Texas than any other state (followed by Iowa)...of course they ship it to CA and CO, but I thought that was an interesting tid bit.
Nashville only has one station that I've heard. I know I've got some friends on the east side that would buy biodiesel.
Glad to see the review in TapeOp, and am happy that its causing some discussion.
Regards,
Don
Nashville only has one station that I've heard. I know I've got some friends on the east side that would buy biodiesel.
Glad to see the review in TapeOp, and am happy that its causing some discussion.
Regards,
Don
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yeah i'm glad they had this review instead of something dumb like a new piece of audio gear that people might use in the studio.
remember when it was dangerous?
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it's about as relevant as having an ad for grilled cheese , "because hey, everyone has to eat" in an audio rag.
remember when it was dangerous?
check out pics of the new welfareline studios
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check out pics of the new welfareline studios
www.myspace.com/thewelfarelinestudio
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I must've missed your complaints about the PBR ads.thewelfareline wrote:it's about as relevant as having an ad for grilled cheese , "because hey, everyone has to eat" in an audio rag.
anyway, it's not an ad, it's a review. and, I wouldn't have any problem with a "snacks for the studio" article.
and, I certainly don't have a problem with tapeop taking "political" stands on some issues. it's about fucking time that somebody did. making the discussion of "political" issues some kind of taboo is a big part of how things have gotten so fucked up in the last several years anyway.
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i am sorry i meant review, and i had no problems with the PBR ad, as i would not with a car ad, it keeps the magazine priced low. i just would like to keep audio content in the written parts.
remember when it was dangerous?
check out pics of the new welfareline studios
www.myspace.com/thewelfarelinestudio
check out pics of the new welfareline studios
www.myspace.com/thewelfarelinestudio
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biodiesel, etc
This is one of the reasons why I read TapeOp! Even though it's grown form being a little 'ziine, it's still Larry, John and crew's rag and they can print whatever they want in it, even a "review" of a Mercedes modded for biodiesel. Keep TapeOp weird!
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Re: biodiesel, etc
Agreed. I used to devour Thrasher magazines back in the 1980s and it was okay to bump into the various non-skateboarding-related articles. Imagine Thrasher without the Skarfing Material column!soundofsingles wrote:This is one of the reasons why I read TapeOp! Even though it's grown form being a little 'ziine, it's still Larry, John and crew's rag and they can print whatever they want in it, even a "review" of a Mercedes modded for biodiesel. Keep TapeOp weird!
Now the knees hurt, I drive everywhere instead of skateboard, and Tapeop fills the void that used to be occupied by Thrasher. That's just me though.
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hello, great to be seein this stuff come into a music/recording forum, my only concern is that I heard/read that some companies are tearing up forest to plant this stuff a bit like they do with palm oil and soya.
which is obviously to be avoided and makes an nonsense of the whole thing to my mind in the old big picture.
cheers john.
which is obviously to be avoided and makes an nonsense of the whole thing to my mind in the old big picture.
cheers john.
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