flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

I got a gallon of Morgan fuels, 20%Pattern fuel,cool power, If you recommend I add castor please tell me where to get it, and what type of castor, how many oz to a gallon? can I get it at a drug store? or is it imperative...and I have either the black cox 6x3 (I flew it) or the cox gray 6x3 or a white grish tornado 6x4 ,,oh this is for my Norvel .049 but I could also use my .061...thanks, Rog

PAINLESS

My Feedback: (19)

What is the percentage of oil in the gallon you have? 20% oil is a good starting point for 1/2a engines.

You can get a 2 oz bottle of caster at the drug store or pharmacy for a couple bucks. 2 oz to a gallon ups the oil content by 1.5%

I like 5x3 props but it depends on the type of plane you fly and how fast you want to go.

Andrew

As Painless said, what is the oil content?? Most fuels today will have a synthetic/castor mix -- so if your fuel specs indicate 18% oil, that oil content may be a synthetic/castor mix at say 80/20 -- which means that you don't have 18% castor, but only about 3.5% total castor. If you want to raise your castor content, then you will have to add. Just keep in mind that as you add castor, it will reduce the percentage of nitromethane, methanol and synthetic per quart so you would no longer be running a full 20% nitro mix.

The NORVEL site has a fuel FAQ discussing the needs of these engines -- and also has a comment that some customers have experienced some problems with Morgan's CoolPower, but there was no indication of what they were. See: http://www.norvel.com/til/TechNote.T002.html

Walmart carries castor in 4 oz. bottles for about $2. You can buy Bakers AA castor from SIG Manufacturing (www.sig.com) at 7.95 a quart -- found in their fuel selection. If you want to use the same lubricant that NORVEL has bottled in their NVX fuel, then get Klotz BeNOL --

I have found two fairly competitive sources -- http://www.clementsracing.com/productCat87820.ctlg and http://www.champweb.net/chuck3/index...get=Klotz.html

Some of the folks here run 20% castor and others are running all synthetic --

The specs on Klotz Techniplate (SIG's synthetic) and BeNOL are here:

http://www.klotzlube.com/Merchant2/m...de=RC_PRODUCTS

I run almost exclusively the MA 6x3 and APC 5.7x3

the "other" Andrew

Tim Wiltse-RCU

Rog,


Now I have heard not to use Drug store castor oil because it's made different. I have a quart of SIG's Castor myself. I would get my hands on that. With a Norvel I don't think I would need as much castor anyways. The higher castor I run in my Cox engines is to help seal the reed and keeps the piston/rod balljoint happy. The Norvel will be happier with a smaller prop. Leave the real mans prop...the Cox Gray 6x3 for the Cox engines. It has alot of blade area.


Later,
Tim

Andrew

I have used medicinal castor oil, but only in a pinch and only in limited amounts -- there were no noticeable ill effects, but that is likely due to the limited usage -- it was as an additive and not the only lubricant in the fuel.

Castor oil is recovered either thru mechanical pressing or by solvent extraction -- apparently the lower quality oils are chemically extracted. Lubricating oil is mechanically extracted and has also been degummed or had much of the resin removed. This resin will cause heavy varnish buildup or deposits. Straight medicinal oil is mechanically extracted, but not degummed -- this is what Tim was referring to -- and will varnish up and harden over time -- especially if used a lot or as an exclusive lubricant.

I have also found Bakers AA at some drug stores -- the AA and AAA oil has been degummed and can be used -- the AA rating is what SIG sells. Some of the racing castors have been further refined. One of the big diffenences between synthetic and castor oil is the film strength specification -- Klotz Techniplate All Syn. has a film strength rating of 5, BeNOL Refined Castor has a rating of 10 with 10 being the most wear resistant -- probably explaining why castor works best for the COX piston/rod balljoint.

If you go the drug store route, look for Bakers AA or Bakers AAA -- in either case, you will probably not find more that a 2 oz or 4 oz container. The easiest route is to order a quart from SIG or BeNOL from one of the other suppliers.

Coming from the dope and silk days, we used to add a couple of drops of castor oil to the dope as a "plastisizer" to slow the dry time and reduce shrinking.

the "other" Andrew

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

HI ROG! If you add 8ozs of SIG caster to a new gallon of fuel, you have EFFECTIVELY increased the oil content of whatever you started out with by about 5%. All for about $2. I don't bother measuring because there is usually 8ozs of air space in a new gallon jug to spare, then I transfer some to the field box bottle that holds a quart. As far as props are concerned, the white GRISH props might as well be called white trash. The results in the thrustometer thread show that COX, MAS, and APC are the way to go. I like the MAS 6-3 cut down to 5.5" for pulling streamers with the BIG MIG or AP .061. The APC 5.7-3 can be a little bit much for some .049s, but is a great choice for .061s

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

the cool power is 20% all synthetic (the green) and Omega is 17% lube @ 30% castor and 70% synthetic(the pink) I have heard of some problems with Byron fuels coating the glow element but thats all I remember hearing about it....so a 5 x 3 eh? dont know if I have one of them...Rog

Thanks for all the help guys, oh I did find 2 black grish 5 x 3 tornado props in the parts bin I'll give one a try next time out....