Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Back to Work

Summer vacation is over which means I was up this morning at the ungodly hour of 6:00 a.m. I drove several of my co-workers to a local restaurant for lunch so they could personally experience the grease mobile. Of course one of the first questions asked was about the car's exhaust so I started the engine while several school psychologists bent down to smell any available fumes. Although there wasn't any noticeable aroma initially, they reported the scent of popcorn as I drove away.

Since I spend much of the work week driving between various schools the district reimburses me for mileage and today I learned that the rate of reimbursement will increase this year to .44/mile. Yet another advantage of burning grease.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

An Inconvenience?

On our way back home we stopped by our friend's birthday party where we showed off the grease mobile. During a discussion with one of the party guests I mentioned how we brought extra fuel with us on our trip to Ohio enabling us to drive the entire 530 miles without purchasing gasoline, and he responded that he wouldn't want to endure such an inconvenience. Obviously, perceptions vary from one individual to the next and what I regard as minor - along the lines of remembering to pack my hair dryer - others view as a nuisance. The last time we visited my family in Ohio it cost us $100 in fuel so I'm more than willing to carry a few 5 gallon containers in the back of the wagon.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Ohio

Showed the car off to my dad who pointed out that we'll need to purchase new tires in a few months. I think he was somewhat impressed although it's hard to tell with him. My dad's a creature of habit and routine so the concept of collecting fuel from restaurants and carrying extra oil in the back of the car isn't the least bit appealing but he understands the financial benefits we're experiencing. On our way to lunch, we drove so my brother, Stacy, and his partner, Tracey, could experience travel in the grease mobile. Stacy drives a diesel truck so he's curious about the process but doesn't appear ready to commit any time in the near future. Of course he probably commutes less than 10 miles to work each day.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Going to Ohio

We're headed to Southeastern Ohio this weekend to visit my family on top of ol' Connett Hill. Round trip it's 530 miles which I'm determined to travel while burning WVO. Since we've never made a trip of this length in the grease mobile, I thought it wise to purchase some additional oil from GoodOil so there was less chance of us running empty. After contacting one of the owners, I drove by their garage where I purchased 15 gallons of filtered WVO for $22.50 - or $1.50 a gallon. In addition to our luggage, we plan to load the car with 10 or 15 extra gallons of oil and our large funnel so we can refuel at my dad's house. Fortunately with the wagon we have plenty of space for all our gear.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Stalled (AKA "Coasting")

On our way to church this morning, as we're driving 65 mph on the interstate, the engine stalls forcing us to slowly move off the road and onto the berm. For obvious reasons this caused me some anxiety although Craig casually referred to the malfunction as "coasting". After switching back over to the diesel tank he restarted the vehicle and we were on our way. When we reached the residential streets of Clifton, Craig tried the grease tank again without any problems and the car drove perfectly for the remainder of the day. Apparently there was an air bubble or two in the line (probably occurred when switching out fuel filters) which caused the initial "coasting" but it seems to have resolved itself and we're back to driving on free fuel.

Tonight I ordered two fuel filters from Greasecar so we'll be prepared the next time they need replacing.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

I'm Bummed

When our car was converted the guy at GoodOil told us to change the fuel filter between 1,000-2,000 miles so last week Craig called the garage leaving a voice mail stating that we had driven in excess of 1,000 miles and needed purchase a filter or schedule an appointment to have a new filter installed. We never heard back from GoodOil and failed to follow up with a second phone call. Today as we're driving back from Bowling Green, where we picked up our niece Lisa, the car starts to loose power which causes Craig to switch over to the diesel tank for the remainder of the trip. Now the good news is that our car has two tanks, or as he says "suspenders and a belt", for just these types of situations but I'm so used to driving for free that I'm bummed when we start consuming diesel fuel. Granted we only drove on diesel for a little over an hour but it meant that we had to stop at a gas station and pay money to fill up the tank. Yuck!

After stopping by GoodOil we learned that our contact person is on vacation until August (no wonder he didn't return Craig's call) but the other employees were kind enough to direct us to a nearby auto parts store where we purchased the necessary fuel filter. When we returned home Craig went to work on the car while I drove Lisa to a nearby mall, in our Galant, to purchase clothes for church in the morning. Tonight was the first time either of us has driven the Galant since we picked up our converted car in June. I am entertaining the idea of reducing our vehicles to the grease mobile and scooter but want to see how we manage our transportation needs during the winter with colder temperatures and snow.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Mexican Oil and Fuel Filters

Craig picks up our oil from the Mexican restaurant on Tuesdays. Although there were some problems with storage last week, everything went as planned today and we are now in possession of 10 more free gallons of fuel.

Decided to order some new filters this evening from Greasecar. At $10 a filter we sprung for the 5/1 micron bags which consist of a 5 micron bag which blocks the coarser particles, and then a 1 micron outer bag which removes 99% of particles. Given our current rate of consumption, it appears that we'll need to utilize one filter a month although that may change depending on the quality of the oil we receive.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

A Loose Battery Thing-a-ma-bob and Thai Oil

We spent the morning being schooled in the world of yard sales by Laura as we drove around our neighborhood and observed her expert negotiation skills. Unfortunately as we attempted to leave the shopping bonanza, heading for the YMCA, our grease mobile refused to start. After opening the hood and examining the engine, Ray discovered a loose battery cable that was missing a screw. With some fiddling of parts a connection was established and we drove directly to the auto parts store. Although pleased to learn the repair was inexpensive, I was disappointed once I realized the loss of power resulted in our trip odometer being reset so we won't be able to accurately calculate our cost per mile on the current tank of diesel. What I do know is that we've driven over 1,000 miles and are just inching past the half-gallon mark which loosely translates into approximately 142 miles per gallon of diesel.


Once we purchased the necessary supplies it was off to the local Thai restaurant to obtain our weekly supply of free oil.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Laura and Ray


Picked up Craig's sister Laura and her husband Ray from the airport today in our grease mobile. Like many others they commented on the normalcy of our vehicle which appears like any other auto on the highway but just doesn't stop at gas stations.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Another Source of WVO

Earlier I reported about the restaurant that was utilizing hydrogenated oil (which we can't use) but were so determined to support our efforts that they were considering changing to non-hydrogenated oils. Well today we heard from the owner of the restaurant, who said they decided to change the oil they cook with and will have a supply of WVO for us later next week. I am amazed at their commitment in becoming an environmentally friendly fuel source. Yet another unintended byproduct of this process is connecting with good people that we otherwise might not encounter.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Check Up

Phil at GoodOil wanted to check out the grease mobile after it was on the road for a couple weeks so I took it in today for it's exam. After discussing the concerns we had regarding the high temperature reading on our trip to Cincinnati, Phil reassured me that high temperatures are not as problematic as low temperatures and that our oil is unlikely to ever become hotter than the engine. Once he was done examining all the various components (while I read a magazine in the air-conditioned waiting room) he provided our vehicle with a clean bill of health.

On Tuesday's Craig obtains WVO from a local Mexican restaurant but tonight when he stopped by the eatery he discovered that the employees had failed to secure the oil in the standard 5 gallon containers but instead they stored it in a large plastic container with a lid that didn't close properly exposing the oil to the elements. In response, Craig was forced to drive home, grab our funnel and several 5 gallon containers before returning to the restaurant and transferring the WVO. Obviously we still have a few kinks to work out of the system.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

High Temperatures

This morning we attended church before proceeding to the Oak Room in the Seelbach Hotel where we had the most scrumptious brunch. When Troy, our waiter, asked about our recent happenings we (of course) spoke at length regarding the details of our grease mobile which prompted much interest and conversation among the restaurant's staff.

Afterwards, we transported Brooke back to Cincinnati and her family in the greasecar. Today was sweltering with temperatures in the 90s. As we drove up I71 we noticed the temperature gauge for the grease was registering 184 degrees. Usually it's around 160-170 although I've witnessed it as high as 176 before. The diesel engine's temperature is 190 so I think we're safe as long as the grease doesn't become hotter than the car's engine. While in Cincinnati we made a detour over the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge which served as a prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge and has been in existence since 1867.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Driving to Cincinnati

I drove the greasecar to Cincinnati today where I picked up my niece Brooke who is staying with us for a few fun filled days. The drive was 240 miles round trip and car drove flawlessly the entire distance on recycled grease.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Picking Up Oil

On Tuesdays we obtain WVO from a Mexican restaurant. Fortunately for us, the restaurant only uses oil to fry tortilla chips so it's relatively clean. We were already driving around town completing various errands so Craig simply called the restaurant manager, she placed the containers outside the rear entrance and we picked them up on our way back to the house. The restaurant is only 7 miles from our home so the entire process took less than 15 minutes and was comparable to picking up a pizza (actually this was easier in that they didn't mess up my order). I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, to experience some aspect of this system that is more labor intensive or expensive than we anticipated but so far it's benefits far outweigh our investments.