Skymaster 1/6th Scale F-16 main gear Oil/Air
 

My Skymaster 1/6th scale F-16 has one main strut that has a slow air leak. After servicing with air the strut is showing signs of getting soft in one hours time. My assumption is that it is an air leak and not an oil leak. I have a new brass screw in air/bleet oilder valve to try. I put a new rubber "O" ring/seal in but still have a slow undetectable leak. I am going to service with oil, put need brass bleeder valve in and see what happens. I have the skymaster instructions for servicing but they aren't very well written.

My question at this point is

-What oil are guys using for these struts ? I know of one using BVM thin lube. I have BVM thin lube and will use it unless some one knows of a better choice.

-I dont' know how much oil to put in. Instructions dont say. I assume up to the bottom of the bleeder valve hole ?

Hope this helps!

http://www.skymasterjet.com/oleolegs.htm

Thanks but I have these instructions. They dont answer my questions. They dont say what kind of oil to use, they dont say how much oil to put in...

Brian I used RC Car shock oil on my previous SM jet and if I remember correctly it was the middle grade viscosity. However, ATF works just fine also.

ATF Is what Skymaster recommends...

Brian, I actually filled mine with BVM air system oil, thin lube.

Does anyone have the specs on the ATF? I have used Losi 15W shock oil and that seemed to work well?

I found a bottle of ATF in the garage, appears to be a just a little thicker or heavier than BVM thin lube. I plan to try using it since that is what Skymaster uses.

I am still waiting for guidance on how much oil to put in ??

I also forgot to ask.......there is a socket head screw a little bit below the brass bleeder valve. What does it do ?

Skymaster Air

same as David posted above,,, these are Skymasters instructions,
The only thing I can add, is I found that my sweet for the pressure in my gear legs is 175psi, still soft enough to absorb landing, and stiff enough to keep the tail cone from dragging.

Fill and purge it ( as in compress strut to remove bubbles ) fill purge repeatedly. Then on last compression purge .... Cap it off with fill port and inject 50 psi air in it. Or whatever is recommended for F16