Biopowered - vegetable oil and biodiesel forum

Biodiesel => Chemistry and process => Topic started by: Tony on October 29, 2014, 07:34:34 PM

Title: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Tony on October 29, 2014, 07:34:34 PM
I'd like to see if vibration helps settling, initially I was thinking a loudspeaker in a plastic bag with 50Hz supply.  But there must be something between that and a concrete poker.

Phone vibrator in a metal box?

Any ingenious ideas?
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: greasemonkey on October 29, 2014, 07:46:07 PM
I think you have answered your own question. A 240 volt, nine inch todger would work fine. Probably can't get a Viton one, so you might have to cover it in something.......

Even a small concrete poker would be too much, I think. More likely to froth it, than vibrate it. I was thinking about a wacker plate. Sit it on a board, then put the drums on the board with it. That would give good vibration.
I was looking at them, on ebay, and came across this. Cheap enough to give it a go.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/COMPACTOR-WACKER-PLATE-HAND-HELD-240-V-/311150597795?pt=UK_BOI_Industrial_Tools_Construction_Tools_ET&hash=item48720556a3

It's really is a vibrating plate, nothing explicit, honest........
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Tony on October 29, 2014, 07:48:50 PM
I'm kinda looking for something that I can submerge to keep the noise down, which is why speaker-in-a-bag might work.  Maybe.

I suspect adult toys aren't rated for continuous duty?
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: julianf on October 29, 2014, 07:51:29 PM
Magentic stirrer on low revs.  You can get triangular ones which, i suspect, wobble / vibrate.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Tony on October 29, 2014, 08:00:48 PM
Innards of this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Etching-Etcher-Engraving-Electric-on-Metal-Machine-Tool-/151285985723

Might not do much though, can't be powerful?

Possible others... coffee machine pump, tattoo machine coil pack?
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: greasemonkey on October 29, 2014, 08:09:15 PM
Not that I really have anything to go by, but I'd agree with you, it's too weak. I'd be inclined to try and put something like an orbital sander against a 25 litre drum, hard enough so it stops spinning.

If that did happen to work, you could pull the wheel off the orbital, attach a sheet of suitable plastic, or metal via a rubber coupling, and drop it down in the drum. I wouldn't be surprised if you could put a biggish piece on, and drop it in a 205. You'd really be getting the vibration down into the bio. Wouldn't be over noisy, i wouldn't have thought.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Julian on October 29, 2014, 08:36:43 PM
Small aquarium air pumps work using a coil on a make and break supply and are quiet.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: K.H on October 29, 2014, 08:38:30 PM
I use a sheet sander held against the side when vibrating smaller cast concrete work tops, also have a small Makita vibrating poker if you want to borrow it
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Glycer-rides on October 29, 2014, 09:55:57 PM
How foolhardy would your Mrs think a 205L drum on top of the washing machine was?
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Tony on October 29, 2014, 10:11:13 PM
No less foolish than some of the stuff I've done.

Like the orbital sander idea.  I've got one of them and it's useless for anything I've tried sanding with it.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: julianf on October 29, 2014, 10:14:39 PM
any old motor with an offset weight
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Julian on November 06, 2014, 11:30:54 AM
To add fuel to Tony's argument, (pun intended) I had to change the filter on the Disco as recently it was getting slow, well slower than normal, up hills.

A new filter cured the problem perfectly so I cut open the old one to see what the problem was.  I haven't changed the filter for two, possibly three years and this was the result ...


(http://www.palmergroup.co.uk/Bio/Filter gunge.JPG)


I'd always assumed this stuff was glycerin remnants but it isn't water soluble.  If it was glycerin you'd expect it to emulsify the bio remnants and wash away under the tap, but it doesn't.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Julian on November 06, 2014, 11:38:36 AM
Just a thought ... I wonder if my heated filter encourages this drop out?

Just on engine temperature, it routinely reaches 30 - 40°C this time of year.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Tony on November 17, 2014, 01:21:32 PM
Still not got around to this, though I should have some old speakers to play with this week.

One batch I've got has been refusing to settle for weeks, I pumped out 50l into two 25l drums, one I sat in the garden to night/day cycle and one came into the house to just sit in the warm.

After about a week or so the house one was passing a 50:50 but the garden one was still cloudy, so heat in this case helped.  So perhaps vibration will also help.  I'll find out :)
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: oakwoodtv on November 17, 2014, 03:56:08 PM
Just a thought would GLs electrostatic glycerol separation
system drop this brown substance. 
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: Julian on November 17, 2014, 04:21:25 PM
Just a thought would GLs electrostatic glycerol separation
system drop this brown substance.

That's a good thought and quite easy to test if you know what you're doing.

From what I remember it's not quite the same as playing with a 12v battery!
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: oakwoodtv on November 17, 2014, 04:29:26 PM
I was told that when repairing TVs keep one hand in your pocket
and when repairing microwaves to keep two hands in your pocket.
Title: Re: Ideas wanted - decent vibrator!
Post by: neisel on November 17, 2014, 10:01:45 PM
I always thought it would be a good idea to have my processor mounted on four hefty car springs so I could give it the shakes to knock stuff off the sides & speed up things when settling or water washing.