Fuel lubricity

[dripley]

Yesterday I spoke with 3 Bosch qualified builders of VP44 pumps and the internal seals are all made up of viton and biodiesel has little to no effect on viton.

Cummins reps said the VP44 on our trucks as long as it is a newer rebuild can safely handle up to B20 without issue but it's recommended to use B10 or lower.

 

Mine is about 5 years old from Blue Chip with 133k on it. 2 stroke its whole life. Of the different bio's I have run the bio blend which is unlabeled for content has been the best. If the myriad of labeling crap I have read is right it is 5% or less and the truck seems to like it. I would however not like waking up one day and find the any of the fuel system rotted away. 

[Vais01]

Mine is about 5 years old from Blue Chip with 133k on it. 2 stroke its whole life. Of the different bio's I have run the bio blend which is unlabeled for content has been the best. If the myriad of labeling crap I have read is right it is 5% or less and the truck seems to like it. I would however not like waking up one day and find the any of the fuel system rotted away.

Are you using an aftermarket lift pump?

Scratch that I missed you have an Airdog 165.

If you contact airdog they will say the hose is made specifically for them and the tube(part that touches the fuel) is made of Viton which is chemically resistant to biodiesel. Now after some research of my own I have found that the hose uses is an Eaton Boston series hose. Thus particular hose is not the best of quality and according to a few vendors is not capable of safely running bio blended fuels. B5 is as high as you want to see with these hoses.

I myself will be replacing these hoses in the near future with some Parker Superflex 397 series hose.

Just use caution when fueling up and avoid anything higher than B5 until you have better hoses.

Edited August 28, 2015 by Vais01

[dripley]

My hose says Eaton Easy Couple H20108. I did not catch whether or not it is part of the Boston series or not. According to their website it is made of nitrile, both inner and outer. There FAQ states that if the lines are exposed to constant temps of 125*C and B-20 or greater that they will degrade quicker. I find it hard to believe that the fuel is getting anywhere near that hot. The AD is about 6 years old. Any way I will probably replace mine one day due to the fact I am seeing more and more blended fuel on my trips. I have one line that I have been needing to shorten and I just might do that and see if there is any damage being done.

As far as the B-5 is concerned the truck seems to like it better, the Bio diesel blend with no percentage marked that is.

 

I will have to call blue chip and see if they know whether or not my pump is ok with it. Contrary to what I said above the pump is 6 years old.

Edited August 29, 2015 by dripley

[Vais01]

My hose says Eaton Easy Couple H20108. I did not catch whether or not it is part of the Boston series or not. According to their website it is made of nitrile, both inner and outer. There FAQ states that if the lines are exposed to constant temps of 125*C and B-20 or greater that they will degrade quicker. I find it hard to believe that the fuel is getting anywhere near that hot. The AD is about 6 years old. Any way I will probably replace mine one day due to the fact I am seeing more and more blended fuel on my trips. I have one line that I have been needing to shorten and I just might do that and see if there is any damage being done.

As far as the B-5 is concerned the truck seems to like it better, the Bio diesel blend with no percentage marked that is.

I will have to call blue chip and see if they know whether or not my pump is ok with it. Contrary to what I said above the pump is 6 years old.

Internal pump seals should be Viton also my fuel temps gets up to 160 degrees F with regularity and the hoses on my truck are cracked everywhere. These Eaton hoses are very poor quality.

[dripley]

Internal pump seals should be Viton also my fuel temps gets up to 160 degrees F with regularity and the hoses on my truck are cracked everywhere. These Eaton hoses are very poor quality.

 

When  looked at mine, not all by any means, they were not cracked. I did stop looking as soon as I found a section that I could read. I can see the temp being that high in the pump and most likely the return line. My filters are barely warm to the touch. Might keep checking them just to see what as as the tank gets lower.

[Vais01]

When looked at mine, not all by any means, they were not cracked. I did stop looking as soon as I found a section that I could read. I can see the temp being that high in the pump and most likely the return line. My filters are barely warm to the touch. Might keep checking them just to see what as as the tank gets lower.

The temp is measured in the pump where the VP electronics are. The fuel in the tank probably sits around 100 to 120 degrees max.