Lye? Another big oil conspiracy

[DieselFiend]

Catchy title huh? I decided to make a test batch of BIO this weekend. Interestingly enough, I couldn't find red devil lye anywhere. Stores said they've pulled it off the shelves. This is crap! This is all I need to start making my own free fuel and they pull it off the shelves. So, where do you get lye now? Is it under another name? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mwgasman]

Unfortunately for biodiesel brewers, Lye is also used in the production of speed (meth). Lye will only become more difficult to acquire.

 

[CDonaldson]

Check out places that sell stuff to make soap. Lye is an ingredient. I get mine at the grocery store in town. It may also be that it is being controlled, based on the info from mwgasman, and you might have to ask your store management. Meth huh, well Ill be, that stuff must really be good for your pipes!

 

[DieselFiend]

So are both of you guys making your own fuel? If so, where are you getting your oil supply?

 

[Mishkaya]

ViperQA1

If you have a Lowes in your area you can get 99. 9% pure lye if you get Roebic crystal drain opener. Hope this helps. BTW, you can find great sources for your ingredients here: http://biodiesel.infopop.cc

Good luck

Mishkaya

 

[DieselFiend]

Excellent! But, is that . 1% going to give me problems when I make my test batch?

 

[Spooled-up]

Lye is also used in the production of speed (meth). Lye will only become more difficult to acquire.

I heard that you can only buy one package of Sudafed at a time for the same reason. It's always the few that ruin it for the many.

 

[cj hall]

lye

hello all



at one time i was going to make biodiesel but changed my mind

i did find this co that will send product ups



http://www.chemistrystore.com/potassium_hydroxide.htm

http://www.chemistrystore.com/Sodium_Hydroxide.htm



dont let big brother get the best of you, get it while you can.



cj hall

 

[Spooled-up]

I thought all you needed were methanol and Lye to make biodiesel. What are the potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide for?

 

[cj hall]

bio diesel

hello spooled-up



the sodium hydroxide is the same as lye

the potassium is about the same you have to use more but you will get a cleaner fuel, look up the MSDS sheets on these.



have you done any reading on making biofuel most the info is on the internet



cj hall

 

[Spooled-up]

I have done some reading. A buddy of mine with a PowerStroke is interested in making some as well. How does Bio do in the winter? Is there some additive to keep it from gelling?

 

[DieselFiend]

My theory is that you could add CETANE to keep it from gelling in the winter. I'd probably blend half and half. Thats if I can figure out how to do this without turning my house in to the space shuttle and then the space station when it reaches the upper atmospere.

I have done some reading. A buddy of mine with a PowerStroke is interested in making some as well. How does Bio do in the winter? Is there some additive to keep it from gelling?

 

[DieselFiend]

Update on lye

Unfortunately, here in Idaho, every store has pulled any kind of lye product off the shelves. I went to home depot and Lowes. When I asked if they had lye i got the "are you making meth look" at both places. So, looks like the internet it is.

 

[Nate]

Yup... meth is pretty big here. To get sudafed, etc you have to go to the pharmacy and ask for it.

 

[cj hall]

lye/koh

this place has it

http://www.braintan.com



there in oregon not to far away



cj hall

 

[JGK]

Unfortunately, here in Idaho, every store has pulled any kind of lye product off the shelves. I went to home depot and Lowes. When I asked if they had lye i got the "are you making meth look" at both places. So, looks like the internet it is.

Viper, where in the spud state are you located? Lye can be obtained elsewhere here.



As to the question of the . 1% impurity of the lye, that is too small to worry about. If it was about 97% or less, then you just have to add a bit more to compensate. There's a calculation for that.



And regarding the clouding or gelling in the winter, adding "CETANE" will not change that. The cetane rating of diesel is a measure of its ability to ignite by compression. The higher the rating, the better its compression ignition. Bio-D generally has a higer cetane rating than petro-D. This is good!



To lower the cloud poing, there are additives you can mix in that helps. Even kerosene will lower the cloud point. Winter-blend diesel is the main factor to lower the cloud point. The fact is, as it gets colder, you have to lower your ratio of bio-D to petro-D. At one point last winter I was able to successfully run on B33 when the temps got down to 9* overnight. The truck is parked in a carport at night.



-Jay

 

[RNeuberger]

go to your local chemical company or distributor. they should have both the methanol and lye(caustic soda beads)

 

[RStorie]

go to EBAY and do a search for soap making, you should have no trouble finding lye,

the larger the quanitity, the longer to process, in Las Vegas you can get lye in bulk at LA Chemicals on Craig RD, also methanol, only problem min purchase of $300. 00, which equals out to 1 55gal drum of methanol and 40-5-lbs of lye, been researching BIO diesel for about a year and will be going into production soon, so far we have spent about $1200. 00 on the processor and wash tanks

justmy2cents

Bob

 

[bighornram]

Don't worry about Lye. If you use lye to make your fuel the glycerol (glycerin and methanol) that settles out of the fuel will gel and be stuck in your processor. Lye is used to make solid soaps and KOH (potassium hydroxide) is used to make liquid soaps. Most use KOH because the glycerol will be liquid and easy to drain from your processor. If you are just interested in trying it now you can use lye (it's available in smaller quantities) if you are making it in a jar or otherwise disposable container.