2001 Excursion Vegistroke Questions

[airfooter]

Originally Posted by Spotty

I think people believe the flower or batter or whatever anything is breaded with, will hold water in it. But I would think if these items were subject to lets say 400*F the water should boil off. I'm not no pro but what I do seems to work.

NO!!!! Heating VO to 'boil off' the water DOES NOT WORK.

Why? The food particles you are refering to are the biggest reason. They contain water content that does not leave by just heating. Furthermore, it is the emulsified water that is the 'problem', again heating 'very hot' does not remove this.

I once read an beautiful description someone wrote describing this idea of "driving the water out with force", refering to attempting to boil it off - or simply "asking it to leave". Like Mom always said, you get further by being nice. hehehe - Seriously, it is MUCH more effective and safer to heat and settle VO to remove water AND other contaminants. All you need to do is warm the oil enough to make it liquid, then let it cool/settle, eventually draining the stuff you don't want off the bottom. 100degs F is plenty, anything over 140F is reuducing the shelf life of your VO.

The 'Hot Pan Test' is a simple way to determine if water is present in yer VO. Simply smear a little VO on a frying pan (or whatever) and turn stove on high. When VO begins to smoke (or 350+ if you can measure temp), splash a couple tablespoons of VO in the pan. If it crackles and spatters - you have too much water for fuel.

Please use caution doing this. I literally do it outside and still have a fire extinguisher handy and wear long sleeves and safety glasses.
Of course, you cowboys who were using the turkey fryer have nothing to fear!!!

[airfooter]

Originally Posted by greasy_Exc

I am having real trouble finding oil in my area. Not that there is a lot of competition, just people are afraid of getting in trouble for either pouring into my barrel or letting me claim it from the container. I know about getting permission from the disposal company yada yada... I get suspicious looks when I tell them my intent and purpose. I use simple explanations dress nice (not too nice, but not like I crawled out of a grease dumpster), smile and answer any questions they might have. Only they never ask any questions... Only look at me like I have a fork stuck to my head, and am trying to sell them volcano insurance.

Be patient - to them, you may as well have a fork stuck in your head. You do live in the land of 'fruits and nuts' afterall!

Ask if you can have 'a little' of their used VO. Tell'em you are using it for an experiment. Do not expect them to care. It is trash to them and what they are doing now is easy and dependable. Any more, lots of them have been approached by wanna be's - who left a mess and did not follow thru on their commitment.

Try to get them to put it back in cubies or even 5 gal buckets and BE THERE when they say they're gonna change it. It may take alot of your time at first, but if you keep showing up on oil change day, they may make it easier for you. If nothing else, maintain contact and be ready to take over the 'contract' if you can when it runs out.

Also, consider ALL of the sources in your area. Civic clubs (Elks, Moose, KOC, VFW, etc), ball feilds, mobile kitchens, schools, hospitals, churches - anyone with a fryer.

Remember - YOU ARE WEIRD! - sorry, but its true. This is a strange request - like asking for 1/2 eaten burgers or something. Just try not to seem weird when you ask them. I've been teasing a new friend 'cause he's a 50's something engineer and he's a little 'socially ungraceful' anyway, - he was walking into a restraunt and handing the manager a little note he'd typed up - they always said NO and he was getting discouraged...

I went to some of the same places, ate lunch (mid-afternoon), left a nice tip (where manager could see), and complimented the manager/owner on the cleanliness of his store and the quality of food, the hottness of the waitress, etc - then said 'Can I have some WVO?'. (3) places said yes.

[ajohansson]

I ended up making a business card on line through vista print. I paid like $8.00 for 200 of them. I uploaded the recycle symbol on it and called myself AJ's 100% free restaurant oil recycling. It just has my cell number on it. When I talk to a person about their oil I hand them a card if they are intersested or not. It lets them know I'm for real. I think it sets a good impression. I have had good luck with it.

[PonyGrrl]

Originally Posted by ajohansson

When I talk to a person about their oil I hand them a card if they are intersested or not. It lets them know I'm for real. I think it sets a good impression. I have had good luck with it.

I haven't had a No yet. Couple of 'let me talk to the waste company about our contract', which works out to a No, but I've only approached independently owned places that we eat in once a month or a lot more.

My business has an applicable name, we're in the industry, so it's pretty painless. But bottom line, showing up at oil-change-o-clock or within 60 minutes of their call backs up the first impression with action.

OT, in order to make room for an oil-settling area in the small south-facing side yard, we're selling our 13 ft fiberglass camper. Now that I have the Excursion, which my kid named Larry 'like the polar bear, it's big and white and growls really loud', we can toe more than the 800 pound eggshell.

Anybody here wants it, will trade for a whole lot of WVO...

[greasy_Exc]

Thanks so much for yall's input! I have actually been going to chain resturants for the specific expectation of being rejected. Yes I know this is silly, but I needed to practice my lines without worrying about rejection... I think I have it down now, as I found many places whose managers were excited about the idea, however not wanting to get into trouble for authorizing it (the "I have to call corprate"). One place is letting me place my barrel in their area, but they don't produce much so I have to find alot more. This is my wife's Excursion, and she drives alot... This is a very thirsty beast. The largest hurdle I am coming to right now, is the Language barrier. Lots of Chinese resturants in my area, however most of the workers/managers speak only functional english and as this is already an odd request I am not having much luck. Still trying though! My days off are rare, but I have high hopes. Will call James @ dinofuelalternatives monday for a status of my kit, and my filtration kit from Greasecar got here TODAY!!! ...now if I only had oil to filter....

[airfooter]

I approached the 'good' chinese place in our small town again the other day while we were out on a marathon collection run (I was out of town for a few weeks!). As I drove past there, a nicely dressed oriental man was walking out of the kitchen door. I whipped around and jumped out to ask AGAIN about putting a drum there. Again, the dude had no idea what I was saying to him...

I like my little burger joints best. I have them using non-PHO and they will tell anyone else who asks for it NO, they have a guy who's been getting it for a couple years now - bugger off hippie freak! Ok, I made the last part up - but the truth is I promote their busineses and they know it, the renderer has never done that...

My next best sources are the buffets. I have a seafood buffet and a 2 country cookin' buffet restruants. Again, great VO, and lots of it. Oh, we ALL speak the same language. Even my mexican place has owners and managers that speak good english (and they own like 8 restraunts in the area).

Bottom line, there are lots of places to get WVO - the oriental places are not always the best and the language barrier seems to be a problem.

PnyGrl, don't ask'em or let them ask about the 'contract'. Just ask for 'some', on the side from the 'contract'. If no money changes hands, they CAN give it to you if they like you. If they are adament about the contract, find out when its up and be ready to 'take over'. (too much responsibility for me!!) My sources all put the water they wash the fryers with in the renderers dumpster. The renderer may not even know I exist...

[greasy_Exc]

Thanks Airfooter! I was wondering about the large buffets, I had heard the chinese ones were best, but we have already discussed that. I have read that places that use flower (battered chicken strips for example) in their oil makes that oil hold lots of water... Which is why I haven't approached any of the english speaking buffets yet. Is this true? I don't have a meth-lab setup ;-) for my filtration; just the Greasecar Stationary Filtration kit. I know about the crackle test, but in keeping true to our greasy culture if I offer to take oil from someone I intend to be as consistant as possible to keep good relations. This is why I am trying to find the best parameters for collection as possible. Thank you all for your help, I would be just a wandering idiot without it.

Jesse

[airfooter]

Jesse,

My buffet places are AWESOME. Very clean oil. Think about it, if their food tastes bad EVER, they lose a TON of business. They change frequently.

I'll have to look and see what the GC kit does. As long as it passes HPT and uses a real fuel filter for polishing, it should be fine! After all, its not exactly rocket science...

When I was using blue jean legs I had the loooongest life of my fuel filters. The jeans are between 5 and 10 micron - although they ar FAR from 'absolute'. They are also slow - but CHEAP!

[PonyGrrl]

Originally Posted by airfooter

Bottom line, there are lots of places to get WVO - the oriental places are not always the best and the language barrier seems to be a problem.

We eat a lot of take-out from the various Asian restaurants in the 'hood.

We are also blessed with friends who speak Mandarin (kid's friends adopted from China, parents in Chinese school) and Vietnamese (same thing except the kid also attends).

So with a properly prepared 7 year old as my translator, I had NO problem communicating with my neighborhood egg roll purveyor.

They thought I was weird before, and now they know it, but hey! I was culturally competent to bring a cute little interpreter whose presence shows respect...weirdo with manners, is what I THINK they were saying.

But I don't care what insults were being tossed my way. The younger generation that speaks perfect English told me that the rendering guy is a pushy (monolingual) salesman who locked the parents into a contract for more disposal than they need...so by comparison they love me.

Point being, where I live, it helps a lot in building relationships with restaurant workers that I speak Spanish and can hook up with three Asian languages (Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai)--but every time a new relative comes from the old country, they look sideways at me. Until the promotion from garbage duty, that is...

[greasy_Exc]

Originally Posted by airfooter

Jesse,

My buffet places are AWESOME. Very clean oil. Think about it, if their food tastes bad EVER, they lose a TON of business. They change frequently.

I'll have to look and see what the GC kit does. As long as it passes HPT and uses a real fuel filter for polishing, it should be fine! After all, its not exactly rocket science...

When I was using blue jean legs I had the loooongest life of my fuel filters. The jeans are between 5 and 10 micron - although they ar FAR from 'absolute'. They are also slow - but CHEAP!

The GC kit uses a 5 micron filter under pressure. What is polishing? Should I use an inline filter fuel filter?

Thanks

Jesse

[greasy_Exc]

So far I am 0 for 5 on buffets... All of them say they have a very stringent contract with the renderer and are required to produce...yada yada yada. Do I need to change my cologne? Seriously, I am a people person... I have lots of friends, not timid when it comes to talking to people at all. So far I have found two sources, which is Great! However, these sources are going to produce very yucky oil... Not the prime stuff that everyone seems to be getting everywhere else. Anyhoo, better some than none right? :-). My Turbo Master Wastegate controller got here today *woo hoo!* somehow it looks harder to install than I imagined. What is the best way to install this? Remove turbo, or keep in place? Thanks for your help

[airfooter]

Originally Posted by greasy_Exc

The GC kit uses a 5 micron filter under pressure. What is polishing? Should I use an inline filter fuel filter?

Thanks

Jesse

Yes, your 'final' filter should be a FUEL filter. House water filters, etc are ok for some filtering - but your final pass should be at least 5 mic 'absolute'. Smaller is better. I have not used the bag filters and not sure how they are rated, but I'd still run a 5 or even 2 micron spin-on type filter LAST. Hey, if the others are doing their job - ya may never change it! Filter heads are $30ish dollars and I use a wix 10 mic on the truck (24006) and its a little over $5/ea.

Polishing is just a term for 'final filtering'. Usually to an 'absolute' micron rating. A 'nominal' rating can allow particles larger than that thru it...

[greasy_Exc]

Airfooter where do you find 2 micron absolute filters for a filter head (fuel type) so far my searches have been fruitless. thanks

Jesse

[airfooter]

I was using a Cimtek (sp?) spin-on 2 mic for awhile.

Search around, you can find'em. This type of filter is popular in commercial fuel dispensing equipment.

[SunWizard]

2 micron cim-tek here $10:
Cim-Tek 200 Series Fuel Filters (250E-10, 70003)
Filter + heads here $19:
Cim-Tek 3/4" Pump Filter Kit