what is diesel?

[Edison]

Posted: Fri May 27, 2005

I hope noone minds me diggin up an old one, though I think it might be useful for newbies like me, reading through again...

Post subject: what is diesel?
im a bit of a newbie with all this mechanical stuff, so can someone please explain exactly what diesel means? Pros cons etc.

Diesel is very different to petrol in many ways, some are as follows..
A diesel doesn't use spark plugs to set fire to the fuel/air mixture, instead it uses the nature of heat and gas to ignite it, when you let air out of a baloon or tyre, it's cold because it has just expanded, when you compress it, the opposite happens, it gets hot, thats how a diesel engine ignites the fuel air mix, by compressing it.
As a result the Diesel engine is simple no spark plugs means no leads, distributor, coil, or contacts/magnetic pickup. No battery or alternator is needed To keep it running, only to start it. Diesel engines are a lot more tolerant to being hosed down with water.
The Fuel is different and SAFER you can store and handle diesel easier. You can actually safely extinguish a candle flame by pouring diesel fuel over it (so long as it's not Euro winter diesel which is mixed with a little petrol) Diesel won't ignite until it is sprayed(atomised) or damn hot! Thats right throw matches into a puddle of standard diesel to extinguish them it works.
Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine to run on things like coal dust over 100 or so years ago, it runs on a wide range of fuels. Vegetable oils instead of mineral oils, thats the point, it was always meant to be an alternative to petrol. Diesel you buy at the servo is the oil companies invention, derived from oil, and can be temporarily set at a low price when too many people get veggie oil fever,(similar to monkeypox) and switch from petrol. When the fever has subsided because of the cheap petro-diesel, the price returns to normal.
Diesel engines have greater torque that is they climb hills at low engine revs and love it, petro-engines die (yes die!!! petro engines die!!!)
Diesel engines are built HEAVY and tough because the compression they use to ignite the fuel is 20ish-to-1, higher than the 7ish-to-1 used in p-engines for whatever reason...
Diesel engines START VERY DIFFERENTLY a petrol engine cranks and if everything is ok it goes, a diesel can crank happily at what sounds like a gleeful rate, and everything else is ok, and she won't start. The Secret to starting a diesel above all else, and lean close to your computer screen as i whisper, because not many people know this and get stuck with it, is cranking speed if you are cranking at 90% you'll be there all morning! Get the right battery with high CCA(cold cranking amps) good thick electrical leads, and when all else fails, TOW STARTING FIXES EVERYTHING such as sooted up glow plugs that are now insulated by soot and won't work, even though they are OK.

[gldgti]

thanks to Edison for putting some more diesel propoganda out there... and to you brackie...

on the question of bio-fuels.... wash your biodiesel! YES! in WATER!... whats this? aydans gone totally mad.....


...no he hasnt.

biodiesel, when made from WVO (waste veggie oil) is a fantastic fuel... i know because dads been running it with 99.999% sucess for a few years now... and every time i go home i put some in the tank too...

anyways... the thing is, biodiesel ususally contains some soap and crud leftover after you let it settle and drain off the clycerine... so if you can afford the time and the effort, chuck in some clean water, give it a good mix, and let it settle again.... this can be repeated a few times...

it results in an incredible clean, beutiful looking fuel, which doesnt leave any crud in your tank/lines at all.. i'd postulate that its cleaner than anything available from the pump... (in more ways than one)

[Edison]

wash your biodiesel! YES! in WATER!
and let it settle again.... this can be repeated a few times...

Ta! and I just want to point out, read up as much as you can also. Its true you wash in water as you state, but there IS a downside to too much washing and agitation, I can't recall precisely what it is... corrosiveness? no idea, read up!!!

[gldgti]

myess...

im not the expert here... dad is...

disclaimer on what i wrote b4.... read up and check everything i said

also....

dad usually does about 3 washes... this takes out all the soap and stuff, gives a clean fuel, lowers gel point and makes for nicer running engine...

[hiho]

Hi all,

Ive just started making biodiesel.

I have washed it once and it looks pretty good. Other than adding additional fuel filters, is there anything else I should do before filling the tank with bidiesel?

Thanks folks
Matt

[Golf Loon]

What a great post. You have almost conviced an oldskool petrol head.
I`d have to have a Turbo Diesel.
Worth thinking of now before all the oil and petrol runs out.

[imported_brackie]

Mate, you shouldn't have stayed at my place! I can tell you now that I slipped a little bit of diesel in your beer every day It must have got to your brain! The Loon in a diesel.......