Bluebird Wanderlodge For Sale

In July 2008 we took the plunge and made a significant investment into converting our diesel 1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge to run on straight vegetable oil (SVO). We researched different solutions extensively from Greasecar to Golden Fuel Systems and everything in between. Based upon the “grab and go” ability the Golden Fuel Systems’ on-board filtering product offered, we chose their solution. It far surpassed our expectations in terms of efficiency and ease of use.

After choosing the Golden Fuel System systems product, we needed to find an installer in the Midwest, which lead us to Sam Merrett and his team at Full Circle Fuels in Oberlin, OH. We dropped the bus off for about two weeks as we journeyed around the country, and then picked it up two weeks later. After the installation, almost immediately after driving away from the parking lot we surprisingly noticed that the vehicle actually ran better on SVO as compared to diesel. The engine was more powerful and climbing hills didn’t seem as difficult for the engine as it did previously.

Running a vehicle on SVO was a little bit of a learning curve for us, but nothing we couldn’t figure out within the first few days. We quickly learned how to locate good versus bad oil, and we learned how frequently we needed to change our the filter associated with the transfer pump (about every 50-60 gallons of oil depending on the quality of the oil).

Oil Collection Basics — Filtering Round 1

Choosing the right waste veggie oil for the bus is extremely important. There is a DVD that can be purchased from Golden Fuel Systems that discusses this in depth. We highly recommend it. Basically, you don’t want to choose oil that has a lot of water in it (indicated by being very cloudy) nor do you want oil that has a lot of food chunks. We purchased a portable pump that we will include with the sale of the bus. To power the pump, we carried a spare car battery. You simply hook the pump to the battery, and you have enough power to pump the oil.

Getting back to the oil, it doesn’t really matter if the oil is really dark black or golden yellow, because vegetable oil comes in different colors. What matters is that it is clean without food/water chunks. The portable pump we will include with the vehicle comes with a screen on the end of it, so the large chunks of food will not enter the dirty tank. This is the first line of defense. If in the off-chance food does get in the dirty tank, it’s not the end of the world as there are still three more filters for each SVO particle before it hits the engine, but it’s good to avoid this.

The clearer/cleaner the oil, the less frequently you will have to change the SVO filters that are located in our veggie closet. It is the back closet inside the vehicle on the passenger side of the bus. Once you have located clean/clear oil, you simply put a hose that is attached to the pump into the WVO tank. There is another hose attached to this portable pump that has an end that looks exactly like the handlle of a regular pump at a gas station. Put the end of this handle in the “dirty” tank on the bus, squeeze the handle, and bam, you’re pumping free oil into the bus. It’s that easy.

Transfer from “Dirty” Tank to “Clean Tank” — Filtering Round 2

It’s literally as easy as flipping a switch that sits on the front of the dashboard. Within about 30 minutes, half the dirty tank can be pumped over to the clean tank (35 gallons). And  you’re not sitting around waiting for this to happen — it filters while you drive the bus. Simply flip the “Transfer Pump” switch at the dashboard of the vehicle, and the pump begins working. We recommend running the pump in 30-minute spurts in order to let the pump cool down. Give about 15-20 minutes in between running the pump. You don’t want it to burn out. You can probably run it longer, but again, better safe than sorry. And if you’re feeling very energetic, you can even pump more waste oil into the dirty tank as you’re pumping from the dirty tank to the clean tank. If you have enough oil, you can fill up both tanks with nearly 150 gallons of SVO. That’s at least 1350 miles of FREE fuel!

Running on SVO — Filtering Rounds 3 and 4

After you have successfully pumped over SVO into the clean tank on the bus, you’re ready to drive on veggie oil. There is one critical element here. You must wait until the veggie oil has been heated to 160-180 degrees before it enters the engine. To ensure that the veggie oil is at this temperature, we monitor the engine temperature gauge. Once the engine temp has reached 180, you can flip the switch and start driving on SVO. Once you flip the switch, the fuel pump at the engine will begin pulling fuel from the SVO clean tank instead of the diesel tank. As the oil is pulled from the tank, it hits one of two additional 10-micron filters placed in our veggie closet. After it enters this filter, the SVO runs the length of the vehicle toward the front of the bus to the engine, hits another filter, and then enters the engine. You’re now driving around on SVO. How cool is that?

Maintenance:

1. Changing the SVO Filters

For the transfer filter, we recommend changing the SVO filters every 40-60 gallons of SVO that is pumped from the dirty tank to the clean tank. If you’re running on superbly clean SVO, then it can be longer, but better safe than sorry.

2. Draining/Cleaning the Filter Bulbs

After transferring oil between the dirty and clean tanks as well as between the clean tanks and the engine, the filters dispose of water and other particles at the bottom of the globe. When these particles start nearing the bottom of the filter itself, it’s important to drain the sludge out of the globes. We have only had to do this twice in two years.

3. Cleaning the SVO Tanks

After pumping quite a bit of oil into your dirty tank, you may find that there is sludge at the bottom of these tanks. This depends on the quality of oil that you are putting into the vehicle, but at certain intervals it’s a good idea to stick the hose end of the portable pump into these tanks and pump out any sludge. To accomplish this, you can simply take the screen of the end of the hose. That way, all of the food/sludge particles that entered the dirty tank are brought out of the system.

SVO System Specifications

• All lines are heated lines
• All filters are heated
• Both 70+ gallon tanks are heated
• Transfer pump and filter included
• Two additional SVO filters, in addition to filter at the engine
• Dual tank system — original 180 gallon diesel tank is untouched
• Separate dirty gauge, clean gauge, and fuel pressure gauge for the veggie system
• Transfer pump/filter and extra filters are all located in rear passenger storage closet