School Bus Fleet Magazine Forums
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Members | Search | FAQ
 All Forums
 Professional Garage
 Enter Forum: Professional Garage
 DEF
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Author Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  

second.flood
Top Member

USA
640 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  08:00:16 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
What are you guys using to fill your def?
I thought a 12 volt pump on a cart would be nice.

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  08:11:19 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/PEK5/DEFCTBSS10/N5154.oap?ck=Search_N5154_-1_-1&pt=N5154&ppt=C2441

I have a similar version on that (same manufacturer). I like the way that company configures their drums and totes with a spring-loaded valve. Take the tap off for some reason, the drum is sealed, so no contamination.

I bought it in 2012 when we were using 55 gallon drums, knowing all I had to do way buy a different tap when we made the switch to the tote. I'm on target to use just over 300 gallons this year.

It's been a good system. I sold the higher ups on it as a safety concern...that I don't want myself or my staff moving drums around, carrying cans of DEF back and forth to the bus, etc.

We don't let the drivers use the pump system, always a mechanic or myself since it's not an everyday thing.
Go to Top of Page

RonF
Top Member

867 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  08:39:48 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I have a hand DEF pump that fits in the 55 Gallon drum. However in the next few years we will have to go to a bigger tank. If we build a new shop and complex then we will go with a storage unit with it's own pump.

US Army retired CMBT
Go to Top of Page

Fastback
Top Member

1500 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  08:50:47 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
55 gallon drum and hand pump here, only have 3 buses that use it. Was buying it in 2 1/2 gallon jugs but local oil jobber started buying it in bulk and refilling drums which brought my cost down to $1.42 per gallon.

Why yes, the ORIGinal CHARGER is a Fastback
Go to Top of Page

second.flood
Top Member

USA
640 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  08:55:38 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Here in Ohio, Napa is at 3.62 per gallon. O'Reilly is over $4.00.
My oil supplier is at $2.35 for bulk.
I have 8 def buses with two more on the way. Using 2.5 gallon jugs now.
Go to Top of Page

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  09:43:49 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I also have 8 DEF buses and 2 on order. I watch for the DEF to go on sale at NAPA, my tote cost was $2.82/gallon last time.
Go to Top of Page

JoeHEB1
Advanced Member

498 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  11:39:19 AM  Show Profile  Visit JoeHEB1's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Drum with a hand pump ($155/drum). I might go with that pump that Thomasbus24 posted the link to. We have 13 Birds that use DEF.
Go to Top of Page

baptistbusman1
Senior Member

USA
175 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  3:20:59 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I park the barrel to the right side of the grease bay, and use a hand pump. I never regret pumping each bus full when they are in for their 1000 mile PM, instead of listening to the others and waiting until they are almost empty so I have to pump half the barrel in.

I was formally Baptistbusman. However, I lost my password, and had not updated my email address.

Here is a link to my old posts. http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/forum/search.asp?mode=DoIt&MEMBER_ID=1846
Go to Top of Page

Carp_26
Administrator

United States
170 Posts

Posted - 02/10/2016 :  4:47:49 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We recently switched from a hand pump to this metered electric model from the John M Ellsworth Company. We buy our DEF from our gas / diesel supplier in 55 gallon drums. Currently we have 6 buses using DEF.

http://www.jmesales.com/product/jme-55-gallon-drum-def-transfer-systems,9161,6080.htm
Go to Top of Page

Bassman
Top Member

USA
558 Posts

Posted - 02/11/2016 :  03:50:33 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We use a 55 gallon drum on a push cart designed for that purpose. It has a pump that goes into the drum. The only pain was that you needed to plug it in, so we bought a little battery jump pack with an AC outlet and mounted it on the cart. Now, we when needed, we push it to the diesel pump area and fill up the bus with DEF while it is being fueled "cordlessly" so to speak. Works great! The only problem is when the drum runs out and so we keep a few 2 1/2 gallon jugs around just for that circumstance. Drum stays inside and warm. DEF goes in while the bus is fueling so no time wasted. The cart sits low to the ground so no heavy lifting. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200433576_200433576
Go to Top of Page

krmvcs
Advanced Member

362 Posts

Posted - 02/11/2016 :  07:15:47 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
i also purchased the one above from northern. works well.

-Ken-
Go to Top of Page

dferrell
Senior Member

102 Posts

Posted - 02/11/2016 :  11:31:25 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We also use a hand pump with 55gal. drums. We only have 2 busses now that use it.
Go to Top of Page

tigger2
Advanced Member

USA
469 Posts

Posted - 02/11/2016 :  5:26:19 PM  Show Profile  Click to see tigger2's MSN Messenger address  Reply with Quote
We started with a similar system with 55 gal. drums until we started going through a drum in less than a month, we then switched to e 331 gal. tote and just hung the pump on the tote we use a longer hose 25' long the tote is just inside a garage door. We pump it for the drivers. Our bulk price is around 1.25 a gallon.
Go to Top of Page

Fastback
Top Member

1500 Posts

Posted - 02/12/2016 :  07:33:15 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I would add that when we were buying DEF in the 2 1/2 gallon jugs we kept it near the shop door and were in pour in a jug when bus was at the fuel island mode, we never opened a jug unless we knew the DEF tank would take it all.
Now with the 55 gallon drum located to the right side of my service bay, we have switched to fill the DEF tank till it spills over when we service the bus mode, and seldom add any when the bus is getting fueled.

Why yes, the ORIGinal CHARGER is a Fastback
Go to Top of Page

g0ttadrift
Advanced Member

USA
258 Posts

Posted - 02/12/2016 :  1:46:54 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
For those of you using the 2.5 gal jugs of DEF, save the fill tubes and clean them out when your done. They screw on nicely to 1 gal washer fluid bottles. We use these to fill up other fluids without making a mess.
Go to Top of Page

tigger2
Advanced Member

USA
469 Posts

Posted - 02/14/2016 :  10:28:57 AM  Show Profile  Click to see tigger2's MSN Messenger address  Reply with Quote
That's a good idea as some of our washer bottles are hard to access.
Go to Top of Page

Ryan5r
Senior Member

USA
55 Posts

Posted - 02/16/2016 :  05:15:30 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Shrader Tire and Oil has DEF $120 for 55 gal or $7.63 for 2.5 gal
Go to Top of Page

bwest
Administrator

United States
3820 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  06:54:59 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Went to a fuel seminar yesterday. They were talking about DEF handling and such. What I took away from it was; keep it out of sunlight, keep it clean unless you want thousands of dollars worth of repairs, & good luck if it freezes. You all know me, I don't know the first thing about DEF, thank the Lord. So, I assume you all know this already. lol This guy was saying the slightest bit of foreign matter in the system would screw it up royally.

Bryan
Go to Top of Page

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  07:27:33 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
There's a sock filter in the tank and a cartridge filter in the pump module. It freezes every night for 4 months and still works fine. Just my oberservations ;)
Go to Top of Page

krmvcs
Advanced Member

362 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  07:41:29 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
not sure if i mentioned this before but here goes....
ive had a few strange things happen with these systems generally involving the float level sensor in the tank. sometimes they get stuck at the bottom, and sometimes somewhere in the middle. heres the kicker, the ecu (cummins anyway) trusts the level sensor over the sensors on the dpf and scr. for example: full tank, sensor stuck at bottom, check engine light on and derate, limp mode after shutting off engine. empty tank, sensor stuck in the middle, no worries. i had one run with an empty tank awhile until it dawned on me that i hadnt filled it for a couple months. gauge read full and the tank was bone dry. ive asked a bunch of different people about this whenever i went to training events and nobody has any explanation. specifically why does the ecu trusts the float sensor over all other sensors reading the output emission conditions? thoughts?

-Ken-
Go to Top of Page

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  07:53:02 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
What make do you have that uses a float? My Birds and IC's (Cummins-provided systems) use a sonar or radar or whatever sensor in the tanks. Long tube straight down that measures how long it takes for the wave to bounce back to it. We had one go bad, the first DEF bus...the part # had been changed something like 5 times in 5 years. Translation: "the first ones were crap, then the second, then third, but here's a better one" LOL
Go to Top of Page

torque
Advanced Member

Canada
358 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  07:54:03 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by bwest

Went to a fuel seminar yesterday. They were talking about DEF handling and such. What I took away from it was; keep it out of sunlight, keep it clean unless you want thousands of dollars worth of repairs, & good luck if it freezes. You all know me, I don't know the first thing about DEF, thank the Lord. So, I assume you all know this already. lol This guy was saying the slightest bit of foreign matter in the system would screw it up royally.



We have had drivers put diesel in the DEF tank, I had been told the same as you, it would be a nightmare. We drained the tank, flushed the tank with clean DEF, refilled with DEF, and had no problems. Worst case you may get DEF quality codes and may have to flush a couple times. But don't go out of your way to contaminate it :)

We have a similar set up as the first picture. We get our DEF from a local independent fuel supplier. We pay .44 liter. That would be roughly 1.76 CDN per US gallon. They have a bulk truck that comes and fills our tote, so no handling of totes :). We have about 20 units using DEF, on average we use aprox 1/2 a tote per month.

We have the tote inside so it doesn't freeze, otherwise you would have to have a heated tank. Freezing does not hurt it, just cant pump it while frozen. We don't let the drivers fill their units, only garage staff.
Go to Top of Page

krmvcs
Advanced Member

362 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  08:16:11 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
at Thomasbus24
2012 and up thomas HDX. the sending unit has a rod with a floating donut around it.

-Ken-
Go to Top of Page

Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 02/19/2016 :  08:59:53 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Seems like a bad idea since the fluid is expected to freeze and thaw! Thanks for the info though!
Go to Top of Page

second.flood
Top Member

USA
640 Posts

Posted - 02/22/2016 :  07:45:46 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
330 gallon tote. Pump was $699 at Napa.



[url=https://flic.kr/p/EcVWNU][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/EcVWNU]2016-02-22_10-39-32[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/82511246@N02/]flog00[/url], on Flickr
Go to Top of Page
  Previous Topic Topic Next Topic  
 New Topic  Reply to Topic
 Printer Friendly
Jump To:
 


School Bus Fleet Magazine Forums © 2022 School Bus Fleet Magazine Go To Top Of Page
This page was generated in 0.16 seconds. Snitz Forums 2000