I purchased a 10" centrifuge from Tim at Wolverine Technologies prior to Christmas in order to take advantage of the $100.00 discount he was offering at the time. My observations are as follows:
* Tim answered all of my questions prior to the purchase in a timely manner.
* It arrived in the time-frame he said it would and was packaged well.
* The valve on the lid is not like the ball valve pictured on the web site. This is NOT a problem at all that I can see. It came with a gas valve rather than the ball valve. It shouldn't make any difference which type is on there.
* The little On/Off switch on the unit was broken when I unpacked it and I couldn't find it in the packaging (I could have missed it as it was shredded paper packaging). I emailed Tim about replacing it and sent a picture of the broken part. It took some time, but he did send me a new switch plate at no charge (Thanks, Tim!). I wasn't in a rush for the new part and he had family obligations, which is understandable.
* The bolt that holds the bowl onto the motor shaft was on finger-tight. I would suggest that no matter what kind of centrifuge you get, make sure everything is tight before you start it or use it EACH TIME. That's just a safety thing and may be unnecessary after you know it's on tight to begin with. I plan on putting a lock washer on the bolt or one of those nylon lock nuts unless Tim or anyone advises against it for reasons I am yet unaware of.
* The aluminum bowl is very nice with only a small portion inside (maybe 2"x4") where the anodizing didn't cover all the way.
* I have plugged the unit in and fired it up. It runs smoothly and it's quiet.
* Over-all, the fuge is well built and Tim has been great to deal with. I'm really glad I saved a hundred bucks to boot!
I have not used this cetrifuge yet since I have not completed my set-up and lack some things. I have yet to get a barrel band heater and have looked at several sources. I've decided to buy one from PA Biodisel since their price is comperable to others on the market and the one's PA Biodiesel has are MADE IN AMERICA! (Ohio to be exact) The other barrel band heaters I've found are made in Communist China.
PA Biodiesel also has bulhead fittings, which I will get from them as well. I have my barrels and my brother in law will be helping me fabricate some sort of stand that safely mounts two WMO drums up high enough as everything will be gravity fed. The only pumping will be with a hand-cranked fuel pump with a NAPA in-line fuel filter attached to transfer the cleaned oil to my Deuce or fuel cans.
I am going to make a drill driven pump to get the WMO from my sources to the barrels in my truck to my WMO drums in my "plant". I found plans to make one from a '77 Chevel small block oil pump that's about $20.00 from NAPA.
When I have it up and running, I will post more on the Wolverine Tech. fuge and how it performs. I'll also post pics of it when I get my camera figured out again (it hasn't let me post pics on SS the last few times I tried and I've posted them here before with the same camera). It will likely be spring before I can add more to this thread due to a remodeling project at home that always takes ten times longer and 100 times more money than you planned on.
To sum it up- I am happy with Tim's service and his product. His price was considerably less than Simple Centrifuge's unit, which may be more refined in certain aspects, but I'm not rich and just want something that works. (I got a John Deere green fuge, by the way.) Hope this helps some for those interested in purchasing a centrifuge. More later...
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I will be sending out some samples of the cleaned WMO to CAT for analysis to see just how clean the oil gets.
Last edited by Yohan; 02-04-2010 at 10:25.
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Yohan For This Useful Post:
I got my WT fuge last Thursday. UPS did bang it up a tad, but I just cut the hose and shortened it up 3 inches. The box looked like he kicked it off the truck at 55.
Just piddling around with it and it does a very good job. I am not able to heat the oil just yet, but running it at 3.5 to 4 gal an hour is working fine. I even ran the wmo through a 1 micron paing filter with the oil going right through it. If it is like a computer on dial-up, it is an excersize in patience. I do not see how you can go wrong with one of these units.
I am so glad that somebody from here (avengeusea...ie:Tim) is making a quality centrifuge. If I ever have to buy another it will be from him. Don't forget to raise your heated barrel up high enough that it will gravity feed through the centrifuge and then into your recovery barrel. I had lots of luck doing 55gal heated barrel to 55gal recovery...Let it run and walk away!
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M109(Metal of Honor) and M1009 m35a2 (Metal of Valor) m35a3
The name Stampy was given to my first CJ5 by a friend after I got "stuck " in a thicket of small trees on my property . I wasn't stuck for long and the trees did not survive the ordeal.
Sticks and stones may break my bones but hollow points expand on impact.
OK boys, with help from my brother and my little guy, I got the set up going. Here's how I put it together.
Materials I used were as follows: 55 gallon metal drum (free). From PA Biodiesel supply I ordered a barrel drum heater (made in the USA), 1/2" poly bulkhead fitting, and a 1/2" ball valve. From the hardware store I picked up hose clamps and all the fittings to mate up the 1/2" drum fittings to Wolverine Tech's 3/8" fittings for less than 18 bucks. I already had plenty of hose that I inherited, so that was free. Thread tape I had on hand, too.
I took one 55 gallon gear oil drum and cut the top off with a pair of barrel shears (no sparks or heat involved). There was a good bit of new gear oil in the bottom of the drum, but I left it there.
I located and drilled a 1.5" hole two and a half inches from the bottom of the drum, then inserted the bulkhead fitting I bought for $16.00 from PA biodiesel. He even called me back on a Sunday to answer a question I had about the fitting!
I attached the ball valve to the bulkhead in the drum, then I cleaned the outside of the drum of oil and any crud before hooking up the barrel band heater. I installed the barrel band heater in such a way that the metal spring was over the ball valve and the heating band was just below the bottom rib on the drum so as not to have direct heat too near the poly bulkhead fitting.
With that done, I wrapped the drum in regular rolled insulation, just like the video shows how to on PA Biodiesel supply's web site, making sure to cut out a window for the temp control on the band heater so you can get to it.
I framed up an old window screen so it sets over the top of the waste oil drum so it will catch dead bugs, grass clippings, dead mice and various bits of trash that I have found in my WMO.
Most of my WMO is in gallon or 15 gallon containers, so I dumped it into my WMO holding tank by hand. The window screen worked great and caught a fly and bits of grass. I situated the drum above the centrifuge as this is a gravity-fed operation.
I plumbed the WMO drum to the centrifuge and let the drum heat on almost the 200 degree F. for four hours. After four hours, I returned with a stop watch and set my flow rate by timing how long it took to fill a gallon jug while running the WMO through the fuge. I wanted it at about 8GPH, so that's where I left it- one gallon in about 7.5 minutes will get you 8GPH.
Since I'm not sure how long my oil has to remain hot to evaporate any water that may be in it, I just recycled the three gallons it took me to set my flow rate, back into my WMO drum.
I left the ball valve on the WMO drum where it is and just use the valve on the lid of the centrifuge to turn the flow ON and OFF.
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A couple things I noticed about the centrifuge that anyone using this particular model should take note of.
First, when I turned it on to test run it, the motor would barely turn the shaft. I unplugged it and took the bowl off to find that the collar that holds the bowl up off the centrifuge houseing had slid down so the collar was rubbing on the centrifuge body, causing it to bind-up. I loosened the collar's hex key and looked it over to make sure everything was OK. It was, so I located the collar slightly higher on the shaft so it was not rubbing on the centrifuge body, and then tightened it up really good. Then I put the bowl back on and tightened the nut down as well. I plan on installing a lock-washer under the nut for an added bit of safety, but one should check that it's tight anyway before each run just to be safe.
Another thing I found was that I snugged the three bolts down pretty good on the lid before I started. When I ran the fuge, I noticed I could feel air coming from under the lid and some oil seeping out enough to cause a drip to form under the lid. I got eye level so I could just see under the lid and noticed that I could see light coming from the other side of the lid! What happenes is the bolt holes are located outside of the rim of the centrifuge housing, so when I tightened the lid, it caused it to bow slightly in the middle, thus leaving a gap on opposite sides of the housing for oil to seep out. I loosened the bolts so the lid leveled out and I haven't noticed the problem since. Perhaps some thicker and softer gasket material around the lid would make a better seal if the lid bows from tightening it too much. I might do this since the bolts were only finger tight and I'd rather they be a little more snug without worrying that oild would be leaking out.
When I get my WMO drum permentantly mounted and the modified electric hand-drill oil pump made (see link in an above post), I will run a full barrel and post the results of the cleaned oil analysis for everyone. i ain't no expert on any of this, but if I can help anyone with their set-up, let me know and I'll pass on any ills or cures I have run into or been helped through by someone else. Overall, it's very satisfying to get this little jobby going. I have no complaints with Tim's centrifuge and hope that he may find any quirks I've brought up helpful in future design changes.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Yohan For This Useful Post:
I have run close to 150 gallons through mine. I replaced the gasket under the lid with a washing machine hose. No leaks now. I am not running a heater in my barrel, just running it close to 4 gallons an hour instead. I have the time. I run samples through a 1 micron paint funnel and it goes right through. The truck loves it too. Very good unit.
Wolverine Tech. Centrifuge review
