how to build a better veggie oil collection system

i've been in the process of designing and building a new vegetable oil collection system for our new biodiesel truck, which i'll be converting to run on veggie oil. this system builds on the lessons learned from the last three versions i built over the past few years. it's actually very close in design to the last system i built, which bj and i decided to give to bradley and nada along with our old bio/veggie truck and the trailer.



i think this is a very versatile and robust system, so i've decided to share the details and the process for others who are interested in building their own. i took cues from what i thought were the better aspects and design features of several commercially available collection kits such as the one-shot sold by golden fuel systems. it's portable, so it can be used for mobile collection and/or filtration or it can be used to pump at home. it has a 3-way valve that allows for pumping through the filter directly into the tank, or bypassing the filter for faster collection of oil to be filtered or settled out later.



the heart of this system is the heavy duty pump and filter. everything else is in place to help them do their work. here is a list of the components that i used:

- small, light-duty hand truck from my local hardware store
- 12" x 24" scrap piece of 3/4" plywood
- 12v 15 gallon per minute Fill-Rite fuel pump
- Racor 1000fg turbine series fuel filter
- 25' of 3/4" biodiesel compatible fuel hose
- (1) brass 3-way tee
- (1) brass 3-way valve
- (1) brass fitting with a 1" male thread and a 3/4" barbed hose connection
- (2) fittings for the racor filter (fitting part no. 913-O10-H12): 7/8" male thread and 3/4" barbed hose connection
- (7) brass fittings with a 3/4" male thread and a 3/4" barbed hose connection
- a hydraulic suction strainer for the inlet end of the collector hose
- trailer electrical connector
- teflon tape
- utility clamps

this is how i put it together:

(1) start with the hand cart. attach the plywood board, the scrap piece i used was about 12" wide by about 24" high.




(2) install the barbed hose fittings into the tee, the 3-way valve, the filter unit, the pump body, and the strainer. apply teflon tape to the male threads and tighten firmly.



(3) now lay the cart flat and place each component roughly in place. familiarize yourself with the relationship of each piece with the rest. pay special attention to how the hose will run between the pump, filter, tee and valve.



(4) bolt the filter unit to the plywood deck. the unit comes with 2 black metal straps, but i found that 1 was sufficient to achieve a solid, rigid connection.

(5) attach the pump to the deck. first, position the pump on the plywood and mark the location of the threaded electrical inlet on the back side of the pump onto the plywood. remove the pump and drill a 1" hole in the plywood where the wire will run through. install the black plastic threaded electrical ferrule into the pump body and put the pump back on the deck. place two straps (i used a thick gauge plumbers tape) around the pump and secure to the deck, one vertical strap around the cylindrical portion of the pump, and one horizontal strap just above where the inlet portion of the pump bolts to the rest of the pump body (this allows access for removal of the built-in screen later for cleaning and servicing).

(6) cut and install lengths of hose one by one to connect all components together. proceed in this order (see image of completed system below for reference): (a) pump to upper leg of 3-way valve (b) filter inlet port (right side) to upper leg of tee (c) right leg of 3-way valve to right leg of tee. be sure the bend of the hose has a large enough radius so that the hose doesn't kink, say 10" or so (d) filter outlet port (left side) to left leg of 3-way valve (e) left leg of the tee to suction strainer. if you start with 25' of hose, you should end up with a final length of suction hose that is around 20', great for reaching out of the way dumpsters or oil containers.



(7) install the electrical cord to the pump and install the male (trailer-side) electrical plug connector. for this to work, you'll need to already have a trailer plug on your vehicle or you'll need to install one. it's really handy and works great. it's the safest, most convenient way to power the pump. i used a 7-pin connector because that's what was already installed on our truck.




(8) install the outlet hose and nozzle on the pump. secure the tee and the valve to the deck. i used some old galvanized pipe straps i had lying around. i use a couple of spring clamps to help keep the hoses organized and tidy.




(9) go collect some free fuel!

ec

(or, elimination communication)

from wikipedia: "The terms "Elimination Communication" and "Natural Infant Hygiene" were coined by Ingrid Bauer and are used interchangeably in her book, Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene (2001). Bauer had traveled to India and Africa where she noticed that most mothers would carry their diaperless babies constantly, yet she saw no elimination "accidents" as would be expected in industrialized countries where babies wear diapers almost continuously from birth. Subsequently, she raised her own babies with minimal use of diapers and eventually began to share her successful approach with other mothers and caregivers. ... EC is viewed primarily as a way to meet the baby's present needs and to enhance attachment and communication in general."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication


(asher's little portable seat we got at a yard sale for a quarter atop a three gallon pickle bucket)

since birth (almost 3 months ago now!) aaron and i –along with some of asher's other caregivers– have been giving asher "cue" sounds when he has initiated elimination: we say pssspssspsss when he pees and poopoopoop when he poops or poots. we just recently started initiating the cues ourselves based on timing or interpreting his clues.

what this means, for instance, is that asher usually pees within a couple minutes of waking up from a nap. so when he wakes up i take off his diaper (we bought some used cloth diapers from a local diaper delivery service) and make the cue sound pssspssspsss while i set him on his pot, over the toilet, or, if we're outside, i just hold him close to the ground. and for the past 4 or 5 days he's had a regular poop date when he gets up in the morning. in ec language those are "catches". a couple days ago we only had 2 wet diapers all day long, all the rest were catches, including 3 poops. and one of those pee diapers i knew was coming and could've caught it but i had my hands full at the moment.

so far i've had more success with catching based on timing (sometimes i offer him a chance to go just when it's been a while) than i have on interpreting his clues. though, that works out pretty brilliantly sometimes, too. there are time i can just tell –i don't know how, i just can– that he has to poop. and often, also, he'll poot before he poops.

it's pretty amazing stuff. the most significant things to me about interacting with asher this way are
(1) the ways it's empowering to asher. it helps me encourage him to stay connected to his body and not learn to distance himself from his body's functions. it seems like he knows something about himself right now that many babies unlearn and then relearn (sometimes painfully) during "potty training". i definitely want to avoid that struggle. (let alone all the laundry and diaper rashes and toting around a giant diaper bag)
(2) the ways it helps us to communicate with each other. i can tell him that i'm ready to care for his needs and he responds by taking the opportunity i offer him to relieve himself. and we're working on the part of him telling me that he has an elimination need that he wants me to respond to. i see this as a precursor to further communication. i hope that this is building trust that i know and care for him, and that i want to respond to his needs in ways that support his growth and health.

um, that's all for now. happy eliminating, y'all.

beth and asher

beth came for a visit the other day. she's quite a lovely person. i sure am going to miss her when we leave. it sounds like she's going to stay in san francisco for a while longer. silly beth.

frankentrailer

i just finished building this beauty.



it's a conglomeration of an old boat trailer, a lumber rack, and a truck tool box. i got the boat trailer for $50. i removed all the boat rollers and installed a wooden deck. then i built a structure to attach the lumber rack. and finally, bolted the took box to the trailer frame.

this little beauty is going to get us (well our stuff anyways) across the country. yippee!

some bounty from our garden

brocolli and okra and peppers and eggplant and basil and kale and probably some other stuff. yum!

little woodwork project

the last time my dear friend naosuke was up here in sonoma visiting, he ended up staying longer than he originally planned in order to catch up on some r & r, and also to work with me in the shop, collaborating and learning from one another. he recently took a class on traditional japanese woodworking and learned a lot about the tools and techniques. he shared with me some of what he learned and it was very exciting. it's a very different world than western woodworking that i'm used to.

since then, i haven't had a chance to put to use anything that i learned. but finally, today, i got around to building a little bench/shelf for the shower in the bathroom addition i build for kevin and rosa lee earlier this year. it's a very simple design. it uses no fasteners or glue. only the friction of the two joints where the legs intersect with the shelf. this type of joint is called a mortise and tenon. i used my set of wood chisels, which naosuke showed me how to hone to a razor sharp edge. its was really fun.

bj is learning how to post

by posting this test

goodbye to greta and the prowler

bradley flew out from tennessee, where he, nada and logan are
homesteading on 20 acres, a couple of days ago to take possession of
our trusty biodiesel/veggie oil truck (greta) and the 30' fifth wheel
travel trailer (the prowler) that we traveled across country in last summer.

it was really nice seeing him and hanging out a little bit, working on
getting everything ready to go. my impression is that his experiences
starting a homestead on raw land have honed his capacities for
competence and self-reliance. i was both sad and exciting to see him
off.

in the spirit of bonding and adventure, rosa lee is joining him on the
trip back. very adventurous!

before they headed down the road, we made some fun and silly pictures:

learning to build with earth

i recently completed an intensive ten day workshop on cob building- a method for building earthen structures.



bj, asher and i headed up to coquille, oregon between august 2 - 12. it was a big adventure on lots of levels: our first big outing with asher, our first big drive with asher, camping with asher, my first hands-on experince with natural building, and such beautiful country to explore on the oregon coast.

the workshop was really amazing. it was put on by the cob cottage company or run the north american school of natural building. these are the people who started the cob building renaissance in the us. we covered everything from siting to foundation, walls, natural plasters, floors and roofs.

one of the things i liked the most was the underlying philosophy what they're all about:
- use locally resourced natural materials whenever possible
- use human power rather than power tools
- anyone can learn and undertake cob building
- build inexpensively and focus more on living joyfully and in connection

i'm sold. and now i'm excited to learn more about other natural building techniques such as straw bale and timber framing. and i can't wait to get a chance to put what i learned to work building with cob.

all about asher

by far the biggest and most exciting event in our recent lives has been the birth of our son, asher jones maret.



he was born at home on june 2nd at just after 6 in the morning. bj labored through the night and asher came into the world just as the sun was rising. it was an unforgettable, incredible experience. bj's parents, three midwives, and our friends becky, beth and scott were there to help and to bear witness to his arrival.

you can see lots of pictures here.

and now, asher is almost 3 months old! it has been so amazing getting to know him and spending time learning how to be in a relationship with this amazing new creature. so, what have we discovered about him so far?

- he LOVES to eat. it's a good thing bj is so patient, and so in love with him because he asks for food quite regularly.
- he looks a LOT like aaron did when he was a baby.
- he's a morning person, waking up happy and wanting to socialize most mornings.
- he likes the water and makes the cutest swimmy movements and sounds in the pool.
- he loves to be swaddled nice and snug.
- he's giving talking a good go, he's got at least a dozen or so words so far. my favorites are: "gddra" "ckrr" and of course the oh-so-versatile "goo."

he's healthy, happy and growing like a champ. and he'll be crawling in no time!

hello world

there's been so much happening in our lives over the last few years, and it's been hard to stay in touch and keep friends and family updated as much as we would like. so, we thought we might turn the internet once again to see if it might be a useful tools to write and share about our whereabouts, our news, our goings on and all that jazz.

sooooo... away we go!