Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
       

All Forums >> Glow Engines, Gas Engines, Fuel & Mfg Support Forums >> RC Fuels >> Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6   next >   >>  

Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 7:28:12 AM   
ArCeeFlyer



Posts: 287
Joined: 7/16/2005
From: York, PA, USA
Status: offline 		I was curious if anybody had read the article called "The Great Castor Oil Conspiracy" written by Brian Winch in his column "The Oily Hand" in the February 2006 issue of R/C Report magazine. He talks about castor being corrosive and wonders why even high quality degummed low acidity castor is even used at all anymore with all the advancements in engine metallurgy and synthetic oil. He uses strictly synthetic blends in all his engines and says even after running many gallons (44 in one example) his engines still look virtually new inside. It was a very comprehensive article and got me thinking I should drop castor oil completely. I know castor still probably has better resistance against lean runs than synthetic, but just making sure the setting is always on the rich side, which is good practice always, seems worth the effort to eliminate any chance of corrosion, gumming, and varnishing. What do you think? Much ado about nothing or should it be taken seriously?

< Message edited by ArCeeFlyer -- 3/16/2006 7:40:31 AM >

_____________________________

Alan - YARCC (www.yorkrc.com) Admin/Editor (Say What?!)
AMA 338508
       Post #: 1

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 12:16:29 PM   
Hobbsy



Posts: 10129
Joined: 12/2/2001
From: Colonial Beach, VA, USA
Status: offline 		I read that article and I think the guy is wrong, I have 112 engines, all have castor in them and most have had for a long time. There is no sign of corrosion, no sign of rust. I,m going to keep right on using it. Sometimes people dream up something like that just so they can say something.

_____________________________

I can't ride my Harley and fly at the same time, what a bummer.

(in reply to ArCeeFlyer)
       Post #: 2

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 2:48:13 PM   
bentgear


 

Posts: 2734
Joined: 3/25/2002
From: Brandon, MS, USA
Status: offline 		Wasn't there one little blurb in one sentence about him not having access to really good castor?

Ed M.

_____________________________

Did you bother to Read The Fine Manual yet?

(in reply to Hobbsy)
       Post #: 3

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 3:39:40 PM   
downunder



Posts: 3011
Joined: 10/10/2002
From: Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		Brian Winch is the reason I stopped my subscription to Airborne magazine many years ago. His "engine tests" are all cut and paste from other tests and he never says anything bad about any engine. Except for one which wasn't sold by any of the advertisers in the magazine. His grasp of physics is laughable, I showed one piece he wrote to my young daughter and even she knew it was rubbish. Castor corrosive? I don't know where he's getting his castor from but it certainly can't be Castrol M which is very widely available in Australia and most definitely doesn't cause corrosion. At least, it hasn't in the last 45 years or so I've been using it in every single engine I've ever owned.

He's made a name for himself because he writes for so many magazines but it's difficult for most people to pick out the good stuff from the bad. As torque wrench says, I think he's running out of ideas and just trying to stir something up.

(in reply to bentgear)
       Post #: 4

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 3:57:08 PM   
TimC



Posts: 2202
Joined: 1/7/2003
From: Lone Pine, CA, USA
Status: online
quote:

ORIGINAL: downunder

As torque wrench says, I think he's running out of ideas and just trying to stir something up.

I'm sure glad that never happens here at RCU.

(in reply to downunder)
       Post #: 5

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 9:42:51 PM   
wcmorrison



Posts: 753
Joined: 10/2/2002
From: Weatherford, TX, USA
Status: offline 		I think Brian suffers from poor source of good degummed Castor oil. He has his opinion. Remember most of the fuel in Austrailia is home brew. When he speaks of using Cool Power he is talking about the oil not the Morgan Fuel you get in the states.

I did send a message to Gordon RE Brian Winch's diatribe against Castor oil. He is doing a disservice to US users.

Got a reply saying he got the message.

I no longer use fuel that is exclusively synthetic. If it does not have Castor, I add some. I use mostly 2C fuel anyway for both 2C and 4C engines.

Cheers,

Chip

(in reply to TimC)
       Post #: 6

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/16/2006 10:30:23 PM   
Sport_Pilot



Posts: 7242
Joined: 1/21/2002
From: Acworth, GA, USA
Status: offline 		He is exagerating the obvious. Castor oils is about 80% ricinoleic acid.

Structural Formula Of Ricinoleic Acid

HOO-C-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH=CH-CH2-CHOH-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3

As you can see it is actually a very long hydocarbon. It is a very very weak acid and does not attack metal. Most hydrocarbons and alcohols are slightly acidic.

(in reply to wcmorrison)
       Post #: 7

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 1:42:45 AM   
dadamisin


 

Posts: 93
Joined: 11/28/2002
From: Marshall, MI, USA
Status: offline 		I have run lots of straight castor fuel, a fair amount of straight synthetic fuel, and have settled on blended. I think striaght castor does run gummier than straight synthetic. but synthetic seems less forgiving of hot runs. A few % of cstor seems to be the ticket. I did get some synthetic fuel for some ABC engines I am running, just to see if there is any difference.

You also noticed Brian's comment about good grade of castor available here.

As for Castor and WW1 pilots running for the bathroom. Well I doubt that breathing a snoot full of synthetic oil would have been a lot healthier!

Note he recommended 25% sytnthetic oil & 30% nitro. RUN PROPERLY (ie NOT lean) this will actually yield a lot of power on a richer (and cooler) needle setting. Run lean and it will get VERY hot and nasty on engine parts!

_____________________________

Dennis Adamisin
Marshall MI

(in reply to ArCeeFlyer)
       Post #: 8

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 4:19:54 AM   
ArCeeFlyer



Posts: 287
Joined: 7/16/2005
From: York, PA, USA
Status: offline 		Wow, I feel much better about castor again. It did make me wonder why I have never had problems with it. I like using both methods as needed for each application. I think one would be better off worrying about keeping moisture out of the bearings when not in use. Now there's a damaging fluid.

_____________________________

Alan - YARCC (www.yorkrc.com) Admin/Editor (Say What?!)
AMA 338508

(in reply to dadamisin)
       Post #: 9

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 5:14:37 AM   
sigrun



Posts: 1023
Joined: 7/18/2003
From: Dunnunda, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: wcmorrison
Remember most of the fuel in Austrailia is home brew.

A salient point.

Sadly, most users in my primary club (200+ members) wouldn't know what the castor they are buying was/is, nor do those who do the purchasing if you question them. Castor oil is castor oil is the prevailing attitude. Uhuh! Cheapest seems to be 'popular', and as we all know, cheapest is usually neither degummed nor 1st grade.

quote:

When he speaks of using Cool Power he is talking about the oil not the Morgan Fuel you get in the states

Yup.

quote:

I no longer use fuel that is exclusively synthetic.

I do think it can be done, safely. But for the average bod...it's not a good idea. It is undeniably cleaner and offers sufficient lubricity - as long as the film is not burnt away.

quote:

If it does not have Castor, I add some.

Can I say me too. Nothing like sufficient oil volume for adequately dissipating heat, and castor adds that little bit of viscosity and temperature resilience for our broiling 35+ deg C summers. I use 3 to 4% castor (20% of the total oil volume) in my fuel brews. I use first grade degummed, but it is as expensive and difficult to source. Not available at my club or most hobby shops except in absurdly priced 500ml or pint containers.

Cheap non-degummed castor does make a mess though. Not even talking about the viscous goop it leaves on your model, but the external bake 'n internal carbon buildup.

Corrosive? Call me skeptical.

Winch? He's a journalist which naturally suggests he's influenced in staying published and the remuneration, also benefiting from the quid pro quo. No-one who who reports honestly how it is against the commercial interest of the supplying sponsors will get published for long. The remaining magazines raison d'etre is advertising and the 'articles' such as the hardlly guised sponsored product promos can be called are just a delivery vehicle for target advertising. Rubbishing castor, promoting synthetics specifically with mention of Coolpower (oil) as he does in every second breath. Ask "whose relationships benefit" from such an accusation? Not to disparage Coolpower as a good synthetic oil which it is, but there's the more likely the truth of the matter.

(in reply to wcmorrison)
       Post #: 10

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 3:07:12 PM   
MOTORMAN37



Posts: 1931
Joined: 10/26/2002
From: CLINTONVILLE, WI, USA
Status: offline 		The cool power oil available from Morgan is the same oil used to mix the cool power fuel.

(in reply to sigrun)
       Post #: 11

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 4:03:41 PM   
Sport_Pilot



Posts: 7242
Joined: 1/21/2002
From: Acworth, GA, USA
Status: offline
quote:

cheapest is usually neither degummed nor 1st grade.


Degummed is nothing but marketing hype. The best castor is Bakers AA, it is simply the oil from the first pressing. That is the beans are pressed till the shell is broken and compressed. After draining it is filtered and poured into containers. Baker's A is the second pressing, the beans are pressed as much as possible to get the oil out then filtered and poured into containers. The second pressing will contain gum and other impurities from the bean shell, it is not golden in color but slighty greenish. Nothing is done to Bakers AA to get rid of gum, but there never was any gum to begin with.

(in reply to MOTORMAN37)
       Post #: 12

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 4:05:42 PM   
Sport_Pilot



Posts: 7242
Joined: 1/21/2002
From: Acworth, GA, USA
Status: offline
quote:

but it is as expensive and difficult to source.


Look outside of the hobby shop, Sig's sells it, but it is cheaper from Morgans and Fox manufacturing. Not expensive either.

(in reply to Sport_Pilot)
       Post #: 13

RE: Article about Castor Oil in R/C Report - 3/17/2006 10:55:39 PM   
sigrun



Posts: 1023
Joined: 7/18/2003
From: Dunnunda, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: MOTORMAN37
The cool power oil available from Morgan is the same oil used to mix the cool power fuel.

Thanks MOTORMAN37, we are already well aware of that.

Didn't think a lot of discernment was required to comprehend the point that we can pick up Morgan Coolpower oil from every second LHS outlet here, but obtaining pre-mixed Coolpower fuel of any description is like searching for rocking horse sh1t! Only rich kids buy pre-mixed fuel in Australia, because (A) pre-mix costs between double and quadruple what we can mix our own for (US Gal quantities) ; (B) irregularity of stable supply; (C) unavailability of range of alternative formulations.

Because it'd be commercially futile promoting CoolPower fuel when it's pragmatically unobtainable, one might suppose thats why BW perpetually mentions CoolPower oil ....except when he's writing an promo article for another advertising sponser selling an alternative brand product when surprise, surprise Gomer....guess which brand fuel and/or oil distributed by which distributer rates the mention during the "engine test" exercise and review? Of course it could all be consistant coincidence and the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy might be real..just I haven't seen them yet.

(in reply to MOTORMAN37)