Tweek

Wow...some of the local guys turned my on to this technique, and it works great. Take an old (or new) dedicated crockpot, about 2/3 full of cheap antifreeze, remove the rubber parts (I disassembled my engine), cook for about 12 hours, clean lightly with a wire brush, wash clean with water, lightly oil, and look like new!

Keep this stuff from any children or critters, don't breathe the fumes. Works like a charm. Might not be a "green earth" kinda process, but the result is fabulous.

You can see one of my 20 year old SuperTigre engines in the slideshow at:

http://www.scootworks.net/dave/upsid...pslideshow.php

Dave
AMA 119484

Campgems

Dave, I knew I liked the looks of that airplane.

It looks a lot (finished) like one I just built, a modification of a Ruperst Dad from an English Magazine. RC world I think. I didn't like the looks of the open cockpit so I did a slight mod there. Power is a Magnum 52 four stroke. It flew Saturday for the first time. I got to watch as I have yet to pilot a plane. The test pilot said it flew well, only needing one click on the elevator to balance it out. Then he dropped the bomb, "it isn't a trainer though". Got a Lancer ARF trainer on the way. Hope I can try it out this weekend. I need to tune up an old Super Tigre 40 that I have for power, I don't want to pull the 52 four stroke off the Ruperts.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Crock pot thing has been around a while. Works best with true ethelene glycol antifreeze like Prestone.

Tweek

I tell you, it's one of those secrets among the fold, hehehhe.... I've been flying RC since the late 70's, and never heard of it. Living in a bubble and all. :-) Sure like it, and thanks for the tip about Prestone, great info!

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Ethylene glycol is the old "green" stuff.

The newer pink or yellow stuff doesn't work very well for our purposes. The enviro-nazis strike again...

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I do it before every swap meet!

You know, I see these tips in model magazines getting published and people getting subscriptions and that for stuff I've been doing for years, I'm going to have to start sending some of this stuff in.

Tweek

No joke! Hey, no one knows everything. No matter how long you're in this stuff, you'll still learn a trick that's new to you, but old to someone else. Send those goodies in!

Plane_Nuts

One thing is make sure no one ever cooks food in the crockpot again. The porcelain absorbs the antifreeze which will contaminate the food.

Tweek

Right on! I got one of those cheepies from Walmart, and have it dedicated to anti-freeze in my shop. I also have a small dog, and am careful to keep this stuff where she can't get to it.

Phil Heller

My Feedback: (9)

Steve,

I use the current Prestone and it works quite well. Just needs a longer "cook" time. Just did an old 120R - 24 hours! but it looks like new!

Phil

Sandyt

Since I am thrifty (or cheap as my wife says...), I use water in the crock pot and have a glass jar filled with a lesser amount of anti-freeze. That way I can use less AF and it is easier to get at small parts.

Sandy T

MR Flyer57

I have used this method for a while and have noticed that cooking things too long, and/or too hot, seemed to leach out the aluminum and give it a very dull chalky look.
Has anyone else had this trouble?

I have limited the cooking to about 6 hrs. things have been great.
I'm wondering if cooking too hot, and/or too long really did hurt the metal or did I have a bad batch of aluminum from which the engine was made from?

MR Flyer57

Cyberwolf

My Feedback: (4)

No you haven't harmed the metal in your engines by using a crockpot to clean them ,the pot wont get hot enough to do that ,but it will get hot enough to boil causing a oxidation which makes the engines turn darker,A low heat works fine and I have seen 2-4 hrs of heating is all thats needed to get the required results in most cases .
The old saying when its brown its cooking and when its black its done does not apply in this case *LOL*
Happy Flying

SwampFlier-RCU

For a quicker (environmentally safer ) method, just pour 3 or three tablespoons of deishwasher liquid on a pot and bring it to boil, put your engine in and either cook on very loww for a couple of hours or just dunk it when its boiling and take out when its cool.... then use a wire brush to remove the deposits.

No use of lots of antifreeze and your wife's crockpot is safe

driedjello

OMG, I just used this technique and it brought tears to my eyes... I worked so very wonderfully! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Tweek

I just learned by accident, that no heat is actually required, if time is on your side. I dropped some parts in the crockpot about 2 weeks ago and forgot about them. Pulled them out yesterday, and the brown residue would wipe off! Not that I'm into waiting, but this was an observation from my mistake. Kinda like vulcanizing rubber :-)

Dick Schenz

I was using this method to clean up some old engines to sell. One is a McCoy .29 Redhead, rear rotor. I thought the "Red" was anodized, Wrong! I cooked it obviuosly too long and the red wipes off like chalk. I was going to repaint the thing to sell, but I think I will advertize it as is. Can you still get ethylene glycol?

Dick Schenz
in Sunny Tucson