Plant Drive parts arrive!

Got my big box of Plant Drive shiny goodies ... I am TOO excited.

Here's what arrived:

Vegtherm Mega (pictured with relay, circuit breaker and mounts)

I've used a Vegtherm for almost 5 years in my Jettas... you just can't beat electric heat for quick switchovers and stable temperatures. The Vegtherm is the industry standard for 12v heaters... even people who install other manufacturer's kits supplement the systems with a Vegtherm. The Benz 3.0 diesel sucks A LOT of fuel, so I needed a Vegtherm Mega.


VegMax filter:

I have used VW screw-on fuel filters on other conversions, but with the Benz we I needed something that could handle more flow. At 5 microns, this thing will handle 200GPH. Stop and think about that... picture your 40 gallon water heater tank. Now picture 5 of them full of vegetable oil... now picture ALL OF THAT OIL going through a filter in one hour. Impressive stuff.
It is a coolant heated filter, and it mounts with the filter pointing UP, so changing the filter is easy. There's a drain on the bottom that you empty it with, then unscrew the filter. Easy-peasy.
It's also, frankly, a very MANLY filter. It should come with a Man-Card included.

3 Port Switching valves:

Two of them, but I've ordered a third to allow for a purge cycle.

FPHE:

The FPHE uses coolant heat to bring the vegetable oil up to temperature. This provides the majority of the heat to the oil. The heated filter gets the oil warm before getting to the FPHE, and if needed, the VegTherm "boosts" the heat after the FPHE

Controllers:

(left to right):
Vegsensor: turns the VegTherm off at 100*C
Early switchover preventer: Delays valves from selecting vegetable oil until coolant reaches 50*C
Purge Timer: When you switch back to diesel, this timer keeps the return valve switched to vegetable oil for a 30-360 second delay, preventing any vegetbale oil from being sent into the diesel system.