Elsbett is touring the US this summer and doing installation demos. If you contact them they may do your installation as a demo if you purchase a kit.

I ordered my PlantDrive kit last week. They have lowered their kit prices and mine (the generic/MB kit) will cost me about $800 total including misc hoses, clamps, marine tank, etc. Installation is free (well, except for my time). That is about as cheap as they come and their quality is unbeatable.

If you are going to use a FPHE you may wish to consider whether it is made of copper. SS/aluminum cost more but I wouldn't use anything made of copper with VO.

 

I am really new to this too and was wondering if anyone had ever checked out Greenbenz.com for a kit. My main question is that I live in the NorthEast USA and get some pretty cold temps here, and I am wondering how with a one tank system you can keep from the veg from solidifying in the tank. Can anyone offer a pro/ con list on a 1 tank VS. a two tank sysytem. Greatly appreciated!

 

1 tank if you must keep trunk space AND you can set up electric heat so the first squirt of fuel in the cold winter is above 150F.

I like 2 tanks...piece of mind.

 

So as long as I am able to plug the car in at nite I should not have a problem? How does that get the grease to flow in the original tank if it is solid? Is there a design that will allow me to heat the tank?...sound dangerous! I am a noob so plz forgive my lack of knowledge!

 

Plugging the car in will not heat the fuel.
There are electrical injectorline heaters, glow plug heaters and all sorts of homemade contraptions that work but I am not a fan of 1 tank setups.
You do not need to heat the whole tank, just the pickup....electric or coolant...If using the stock tank you have to open the tank...either where the stock sending unit is or by cutting a hole.
Many opinions but I feel 2 tank is actually easier to setup.

If you are looking for a easy way to grease on 1 tank in colder climates you are out of luck.

 

Also, using a 1 tank means you must use only non-hydrogenated WVO(NHWVO) as even partially hydrogenated WVO (PHWVO) will solidify around 50F and while you might heat the wvo in the lines near the engine the fuel in the tank will be sludge, even if you mix it with kero or diesel. Mixing works well with NHWVO down to 25-30F. Plugging in a car or heaters is not the answer as you may be able to start it at home but what about when on a trip, at the office, etc.

Unless you live in the deep south go with a two tank system. Put heat exchangers (HE) in the WVO tank, coolant lines around the WVO fuel line, a HE just before a heated filter and one just before going into the LP. That may HE may be overkill but in Ohio where it gets down to 0-15 at night I have never not been able to run on even PHWVO.

 

i don't have a 2 tank system and my cars runs great on 90% veggie oil 10% diesel

check it out here:

I got my car converted in a few hours and for $900 at Lovecraft Biofuels
Lovecraft Biofuels

check out my install here:

hmy car runs on veggie oil

 

Anyone have any experience with the mercedes source conversions - this seems to be a step ahead of the rest to me, but it does not seem to be written about much anywhere.. Seems to be along the lines of the frybrid, but possibly even more advanced, and individual parts are offered, which I think is a huge downside to the frybrid conversion.

 

Re: Mercedes Source conversion, http://www.mercedessource.com . I've been reseaching the WVO scene for about a year and I fully agree with you. Before I stumbled upon Mercedes Source, I intstalled the 2 tank greasecar.com in a 1990 VW. The system worked well, but I never truly trusted the p mex fuel lines and connections in the 2nd tank... Yet, it was a no problem system. I would have still been driving that old "cream puff" VW, but a $400. , 1982 300D, no rust, good compression, no slip transmision, Turbo fell into my lap.
Even though the 300D Turbo needs a lot of TLC it was eons ahead of the VW driving experience, so I sold the VW for $4700 and bouight the Mercedes Source, $390. 00 modular component kit. ( Bellingham WA ) The modular kit a beautiful thing to behold that fits perfectly behind the left headlight. It's called the VFM, ( Veggie Fuel Manager ) and it's the heart of a system that can be expanded in any direction you so desire. Or you can opt to buy their total conversion, 2 tank system for a little over $900. I installed the Mercedes source VFM in about 2 hours.
After I purge the new, old Mercedes injectors with Lubo Moly on 8/21/06, and Helmut's German Auto Repair replaces the timing chain on 8/22/06 I'll hook up the VFM, top off the tank with waste veggie oil and fire that newly created vegetarian sucker up!
I live on Fox Island WA, and we have mild winters. Yet I also bought the fuel sump chamber, ( FSC ) which I'll install before winter. It'll be the most daunting installation, because the tank has to be drained and the screen cleaned absolutely perfectly before hooking up the 1/2" fuel line to the FSC... But like most things, the hard part is usually not nearly as difficult as I first visualized. Eventually I'll upgrade to a 2nd plastic marine tank for those "just in case" moments.
I hope others here check out http://www.mercedessource.com and, pro or con, add their 2 cents....

 

I hooked up the Mercedessource.com single tank kit yesterday and compared to the greasecar.com 2 tank system, it was a piece of cake!

It comes ready to install for your specific Mercedes. Mine is a 1982 300D Turbo called Bruno. Directly behind the left drivers headlight is the veggie management control. It consists of a voltage boss with 4 separate circuits so that you may hook up your choice of modular units, a clear inline filter, a 5 micron filter and water trap, a heater and thermostat set at 150 degrees, and a final inline filter before it connects into the engine fuel pump. The Veggie management taps off the battery and off the fuse box/ignition switch. That keeps its circuitry independently fused and separate from Bruno's electronics.

Turn the key one click, and the Veggie management heater, as well as the Fuel sump chamber heater fires up. This is controled by a switch under the dash. Wait a 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the weather, while the fuel sump chamber in the trunk warms the fuel to 100 degrees and the electric fuel pump kicks in and sends the 100 degree oil to the veggie heater where it's heated to 150 degrees. Turn again and the glow plug comes on, start when it goes out.. Maybe a total of 4 minutes in the dead of winter.

If you're on a trip and can't find veggie oil, then burn diesel. Just turn off the heater and fuel sump switch and turn on the fuel return switch. All are located under the dash. I've also added a non connected diesel switch, just in case I decide to add that second tank....

And I do have the option of adding a second diesel tank in the trunk. However, since we have mild winters here in western WA, at this point I merely intend to add a bit of diesel and/or kerosene during the winter. Still, since I enjoy tinkering, I'll probably eventually add that extra tank...

The hardest thing about the installation was draining the diesel tank, removing the screen and cleaning the thing. But even that wasn't so bad. I backed the car onto ramps, and sucked out most of the diesel with a pella. I had less than a liter of diesel to drain. Fortunately the screen came out with the fitting and it was as clean as a whistle. I added another metric fitting with a 1/2' connection for the new fuel line down to the Fuel Sump Chamber. The FSC is below the main tank, so gravity keeps it full. I then tapped a 5 /16" fuel line off the new electric fuel pump and fitted it to the existing factory metal line. ( I will eventually insulate all elements, including fuel lines, from the fuel tank to the engine., I use the foil line bubble wrap which I buy from the insulation dept at Ace hardware. )

Then I opened the bleeder screw on the veggie manager, pumped the air out, and filled and turned on the heater. I also turned on the return fuel switch so it would pump any air back into the tank. ( You only have to do that when you change to SVO, or if you've run out of fuel and bleed the engine, or if you're burning diesel. ) I waited a couplle of minutes, turned off the return fuel switch, and fired it up. It was a nice sunny day and ol' Bruno ran smooth and extra guiet from the start. My wife and I drove about 80 miles at between 70 and 80 mph... This is absolutely the best he's ever ran. Still, I intend to do a lubo moly purge and ALDA service at least every 6 months.

Next, I'll prep him for painting....