Daddygood

I am running 30% Cool Power heli fuel in my saito 4 strokes. This has really helped with idle and overall performance. I would however like to add about 2% castor for insurance against leaning out in the air or corrision. My LHS has gallons of pure castor for sale but I was wondering about the use of medical grade castor(I am a Pharmacist with easy availability). I have seen this mentioned in diesel fuel mixing but am not sure if it would be ok for glow.

Thanks,

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Hobbsy

My Feedback: (102)

Daddy, I too would be interested in learning this, I have been using Sig Castor for this, although since I started using WildCat premium Extra, I haven't been doing it. I still throw a little in with my gasoline mixture. By the way my wife is a Pharmacy Tech here in Va.

Fuelman

My Feedback: (6)

Gentlemen,
Adding castor to an all synthetic fuel is not a bad thing- Too a point.

Cool Power 30 heli has 23% total oil in it already. It is (according to Morgan's) an all synthetic oil specifically formulated for heli's. From what I was told by Morgan's over the phone, their heli oil is somewhat of a lighter weight (viscosity or hydroxyl) than their non heli synthetics. Yes, your big 4-strokes will will run quite well on it. How they last to some unintentional abuse with the lighter oil, I will not comment upon.

If you add a little castor, say 2% to the CP 30 heli, you will be at 25% total oil content- that's actually quite a bit for a 4-stroke. In my opinion, any amount of oil over 22% yields no benefit in longevity and negative returns in performance. You are actually decreasing the "burnable" mixture in the fuel.

I have found that 20% total oil (18% syn/2% cas) is a great combination to protect the engine, keeping in mind that the synthetics are not a light weight heli type.

Try an experiment and tell us what your results are:
Compare CP 30% Heli with 2% added castor against
Cooper's or S&W's 25% nitro/ 20% oil (18/2 blend).
Same day, same prop, same plug, and tuning your engine to the fuel.
You'll be absolutly amazed by your findings!

To answer your castor question: I have never used medicinal grade castor in testing but from what I've read, it will work. I've also read the fatty acid molecules in medicinal grade are different enough to not lubricate as well as a "AA" graded castor which is a lubricant grade. You can buy small quantities of Klotz BeNol or Sig AA castor in numerous places, so use that if its available to you rather than medicinal grade.

Fuelman

ricdel

My Feedback: (9)

Hello Fuelman,

I am not familiar with S&W's 25% nitro/ 20% oil (18/2 blend).

Tell us more! supplier?, Do you use this? Where to buy?

Thanks, Richard

BALSA BANDIT

Many, Many years ago, my dad, brother and I were very much into modeling as a team and we used a lot of fuel. Dad was into speed raceing , brother Bob was into precision stunt pattern and of course I was into COMPAT. We used so much fuel that we decided to start making our own. My father had worked on full scale aircraft all of his life and his knowledge of the combustion systems was huge. Turns out that you only need 3 ingredents to make fuel, Nitro, alcohol, and oil. Using drug store caster was no good. We found that once a can of fuel was empty if it was left on the shelf would form little crystles in the bottom of the can and they turned out to be sugar. Any droplets of fuel left in the engine for a few days started drying up and only the sugar was left which gummed up the fuel systems. This is not a good thing. Even when we purchased commerical grade caster for the local chemical houses back then, the quality left something to be desired. The only caster that we found to be pure was labratory grade "BAKERS AAA CASTER OIL". Some of our engines would turn 10% above their rating and gave performance well above what was normally expected. Today it is almost impossible to purchase these chemicals because of all the new laws with reguard to the "DEP". Today we are mostly left to the will of the fuel suppliers and I find that their list of contents contains all kinds of stuff that I really don't need. As far as I am concerned these liquids are just fillers that are cheaper than the 3 ingredents that make fuel. Ken....The "BALSA BANDIT"

ricdel

My Feedback: (9)

Balsa Bandit,
I would not think it would be feasible to make your own fuel if you are only using 10-12 gallons a year.

My self and a couple of friends are trying to get a good price on 16 gallons but I have not been able to find that source yet.