Sell us more snake oil!!  
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All Forums >> Glow Engines, Gas Engines, Fuel & Mfg Support Forums >> RC Fuels >> Sell us more snake oil!!
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Sell us more snake oil!! - 12/26/2002 6:04:55 AM   
Cleared4Crash



Posts: 175
Joined: 11/29/2002
From: Illinois
Status: offline

[COLOR=crimson]After having looked at a whole bunch of info on here and on the various manufacturer's websites regarding the fuels we use in model engines, I have come to one irrefutable conclusion.

They are all out to make a profit and to take as much market share from the competition as possible.

No big suprise there. It's the corporate way of life.

But upon reading all this info from fuel manufacturers websites, I just had to laugh. I thought to myself, if the "top five" fuel manufacturers were all equally represented in all rc hobby shops across the country, I would simply buy the least expensive jug.

You'd think these companies were manufacturing fuels for the space shuttle program the way they expound upon their "proprietary" ingredients, and ultra high purities. Again, I had to laugh.

Of course they all have to give the impression that they, and only they, have the secret elixir that will keep your engine clean, cool, and running strong for 1,000 years or more!

Just imagine what a nightmare it would be if we had all these fuel "options" to choose from when we went to gas up our cars.
Hmm..let's see, do I want the Super Premium with extra hypnotanium surfactants? Or maybe the mid grade with 5% power booster? Or maybe the 10% power booster on the low grade with engine knock inhibitors and a touch of castor oil? But wait, this is a sports car, I have to look at the performance fuels 20 pumps down. AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

As John Stossell from 20/20 steps in and says, "Give me a break!"

All the model fuel manufacturers claim their raw materials are better than the competition. You'd think they were making liquids for use in the medical field for crying out loud.

Last time I checked these were model airplanes. The last time I checked this was a hobby. The last time I checked, most of us were not out flying $8000 jets.

Some fuel manufacturers claim extensive "testing" on real live model engines. No data of course is provided regarding these tests. We are just left to wonder and fear what will happen to our $50 engine if we don't use their fuel. Then again, for all we know, a simple home brew mix would result in essentially the same results of a long running, reliable engine.

Such is the dog eat dog world of "our product is better than your product," model fuel manufacturing.

Sure sounds a lot like snake oil if you ask me.

So next time the guy asks if I need help with a fuel selection, I will kindly ask, "yes..point me to the least expensive jug you have."

"That would be those few gallons way in the back with all the dust on them...Cheap Joes Fuel Elixir..But sir," he says, "this jug here is much much much better...costs a little more..yes...but has no dust on the bottle...has better oil...has neat proprietary stuff...and a fancy label"

"hmmm," I say, "And does that expensive stuff also come with a guarantee that my engine will last 1000 years if I use it?"

"Well..uhh...no sir...nobody has that," he says.

I say, "Well then I guess I will go with Cheap Joes stuff...let's see...the yellowed label here says it has methanol, oil, and some nitromethane...hmmm...yep...that's what I need. Oh...and one more thing...I have this ad from a mail order company that sells cheap Joes for $1 less a gallon...will ya match the price??"

Maybe I should go into fuel manufacturing. Come up with a product that is essentially like all the other products out there, but hype it with an exciting and over the top marketing campaign so that modelers everywhere will be scrambling for my "Super Duper Snake Oil Fuel." I can specialize with a different type of fuel for every single engine size and make. The most extensive line of snake oil fuel known to mankind!! Wait...maybe different fuels based on the expected high temperature of the day?? And maybe for varying humidity too? And what about different fuels for different parts of the country?? Ohhh...the product line is growing as I sit and ponder the greenback dollars and gullible retail consumers!![/COLOR]

Stay tuned..."New Improved Fuel Product to Hit the Market!!"

lol

I know, I know, I just like to stir things up. lol
       Post #: 1

Sell us more snake oil!! - 12/26/2002 6:48:50 AM   
h82crash



Posts: 841
Joined: 3/1/2002
From: ramona, CA, USA
Status: offline 		My same sentiments I wrote in the "chemist in the house" thread.

_____________________________

It's an addiction! Tom D.

(in reply to Cleared4Crash)
       Post #: 2

Sell us more snake oil!! - 12/26/2002 6:57:54 AM   
tdriver



Posts: 185
Joined: 11/9/2002
From: Athens, GREECE
Status: offline 		I couldn't agree more........

but the worse part is hearing on the flying field the same "lame" stuff from people that are in the hobby for over 10 years,not even trying to check their (manufactures) "story's".

< Message edited by tdriver -- Dec 27 2002 12:11AM >

(in reply to Cleared4Crash)
       Post #: 3

Sell us more snake oil!! - 12/27/2002 4:57:09 AM   
Dr Nitro


 

Posts: 162
Joined: 11/12/2002
From: The Great Midwest, USA
Status: offline 		Do you really think that glow fuel manufacturers are bathing in the green backs? I dare to say- not. Its the likes of Great Planes and Horizon and even a few retailers that make the money in glow fuel.

In my opinion, you are correct to a certain degree,
Methanol is methanol when its of a high purity, Period
Nirto is Nitro. The chineese stuff used by wildcat is claimed to be purer than American nitro, well .03% purer will only show up in a lab test. Sorry but I'll say that they burn the same, Period
(I'll also support the American nitro manufacturer before I knowingly support a communist chineese maker of nitro).
Castor is castor. you can call it de-gummed, add some scent and color and call it expensive and special but it makes absolutly no difference in model applications. good ole Bakers AA graded is as good as it gets, Period

Here's where I differ:
Synthetic Oils are not all the same. You can get cheap ones that barely do the job or you can get very good ones that do the job a whole lot better. Some will say to run it a little rich and run the cheap stuff, ok no problem. The difference in synthetics is as diverse as the companies making fuel. Many fuel makers use Klotz such as Sig, Wildcat and Byrons. Others use the cheapest stuff that money can buy and add their special friction reducers and goofy proprietary additives to allow the oil to hold up. A couple companies use synthetics that are far superior and need to add absolutly nothing to it to make it do its job and do it exceptionally well. Period.

My two cents, flame away.

_____________________________

Dr Nitro

(in reply to Cleared4Crash)
       Post #: 4

Look here - 12/27/2002 7:01:04 AM   
Cleared4Crash



Posts: 175
Joined: 11/29/2002
From: Illinois
Status: offline 		Look at this link for more replies on the topics.

[URL=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=439481&s=#439481]Clubhouse fuel post[/URL]

[COLOR=blue]I agree, there are different levels of quality with lots of items....including raw materials. And certainly oils have been long researched and developed for various purposes.

The nitro issue is hard to comprehend. I guess when a company will show us 2 jugs of the exact same fuel, the only difference being the nitro purity in one is 99.95%, and the other is 99.75%, then let us run each in test engines to see if we can notice any difference. I would hazard a guess that they wouldn't want to, because there would be no discernible difference in engine performance. Maybe I'm way off base though. Maybe there is a HUGE difference. I have my doubts though.

Anyway, the original post was used as a thought provoker. It generated more comments in the clubhouse section, so check out the link above and post there if you wish.[/COLOR]

)

(in reply to Cleared4Crash)
       Post #: 5

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