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Simple considerations before chosing Bio-Diesel:
1. Compatibility with rubber. Biodiesel is a solvent and overtime
will degrade any natural rubber in a vehicles fuel delivery system. Generally,
natural rubber parts only appear in vehicles manufactured before 1993. After 1993,
most engine manufacturers began using synthetic rubber or metal parts exclusively.
The following materials are also adversely affected by higher blends of biodiesel:
Nitrile, Polypropylene, Polyvinyl, Tygon, and Fluorosilicon. These materials can be
replaced with Viton (the industry standard), Viton GFLT, Viton A401-C, Nylon 6/6,
and Teflon.
If you are not sure if you have natural rubber in your vehicles fuel delivery
system, contact your manufacturer and/or mechanic. If you do not have a mechanic
here's a saint that will give you a answer provided he's not swamped: Jay Dykeman
at Jay's Garage is an excellent resource for biodiesel inquiries. You may contact
Jay personally at (503) 239-5167 - thanks a lot Jay we appreciate you! (please note
he's in the Pacific Time Zone).
2. Cleaning Effect. Petroleum diesel forms sediments that stick to
and accumulate in your fuel tank. Over time, this accumulation forms layers of
sludge. Biodiesel will dissolve and clean these deposits from your fuel tank, fuel
line, and engine. Although it is unlikely, material flushed through your fuel
system may clog your fuel filter. You may need to change your fuel filter one or
more times if this occurs. It is rare that fuel filter clogging at subsequent
fill-ups becomes a problem.
3. Cold Flow. Like any diesel fuel, biodiesel can gel at low
temperatures; however, the gel point for 100% biodiesel is higher than petroleum
diesel. To date, no anti-gel additives have been shown to be effective with B100.
As a result it is not recommended you use biodiesel products in temperatures below
40º F. During the part of the year when temperatures drop below 40º F we recommend
blending at least 50% petroleum diesel in the tank of the vehicle/equipment.
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