balsabrain

My Feedback: (1)

Whats the best "off the shelf" fuel for Cox .049 BABE BEE and BLACK WIDOW?

Lynn S

I use Byrons 1/2 A fuel which is 16% castor and 25% nitro.
A quart is around $8. I usually add some castor oil to bring it up to 20%

balsabrain

My Feedback: (1)

How much castor ??? thanks mike

Lynn S

I add 10 mL castor oil to 8 oz. I have been using Humco castor oil that you find in the drug dept at walmart. It is crystal clear and seems to work ok.

Here is a website that can tell you how much oil to add to your fuel. Go to the Custom Fuel Blending Workshop to use the calculator.

http://www.nitrorc.com/

Japanman

Lynn,
How have you gone with plug fouling? according to norvel byron fuel fouls plugs... but I maybe able to get this fuel here in Japan... MAYBE.. Have you had any grief with it? If it is just the castor and nitro in it I can`t see how it can be bad....
have you blown any plugs with it?

J.M

Lynn S

Other than some cox fuel that I used at first, Byron's 1/2 A fuel is the only fuel I have used in the past year. I have used 4 or 5 quarts so far. At our fun fly in late Feb. I used it without the extra castor and my two cox engines and the .074 Norvel ran great. I did burn two glow heads, but I think that was due to having my glow driver turned up too high. Those are the only glow heads I have replaced in a year.

Japanman

I just checked on the norvel site... they say the problem is with the NON1/A byron fuel... I wonder If I`ll be ale to twist my lhs`s arm to order me some.

J.M

Japanman

　Lynn
I just checked on the byron site, they don`t tell much about the oil in it other than that it is 16%oilcastor sythetic blend. That could be 1%castor and 15%synthetic... are you sure it is all castor?

J.M

gcb

Another opinion:

Cox and Norvel have different operating characteristics.

Norvel posts using fuel with no additives and non-rubber filling devices because they run cooler and do not burn off the impurities.

Cox engines run hotter and can tolerate those things BUT since they run hotter they NEED (some or all) castor oil to handle lubrication for the ball socket on the piston at higher temps.

How much these apply may be determined by how YOU needle the engine ... individual results may vary.

George

Lynn S

The 1/2A fuel I have is not a blend, it has "Straight Castor" printed on the label.

balsabrain

My Feedback: (1)

I have 3 cans of un-opened cox fuel thats 3 years old. you think it's still good??

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

probably ,,only 1 way 2 tell....fire somthin up with it...Rog

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Go for it. I'm using Cox fuel that I stashed away 10 years ago and forgot about. It's been in a drawer in my cellar but the cans have never been opened.

I'm going to guess that it might not be as potent as fresh stuff, but it got my Thunder Tiger Scooter up very nicely. I ran it in a Norvel .074 and a GL-07

Hope this helps...

Bob

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

I know a local dealer who has at least 25 of the pint bottles left still sealed sitting in the box, I could get some but I'm afraid of the freshness, I've always run my stuff on byrons with no ill effects. Sure there's a little varnish on the piston but it seems to keep my engines running forever. Even my old magnum .15 I had in three planes before selling it with the stinger 10 was ran only on byrons fuel w/castor. I had 15 gallons thru that engine in 8 years, I finished running in my norvel .074 today on the byrons straight castor formula, after I wiped the plane down I checked the plug and found it to be clean and only a slight tinge of gold color. I just feel better knowing that the castor is there in case I dumb-thumb the needle and go too lean.

Japanman

Lynn,
Thats great to hear! I have seen quite a bit of byron fuel at my lhs so I may ba able to order some 1/2A stuff.

J.M

ZAGNUT

My Feedback: (1)

byron mixes by weight, not volume and if my memory is correct then castor has a higher specific gravity than methanol....if so then the % of oil by volume is going to be even less than 16%....they also cheat you on the nitro.

but then they do know fuel or they wouldn't still be in the bussiness. i just prefer a higher oil content


dave

Lynn S

They sell fuel by volume not weight.
It is possible to mix castor oil by weight, but the weight would have to equal 16% of the Volume.