ORIGINAL: slope-soarer
Having managed to buy some castor oil, which at times was looking like mission impossible, I was surprised at how thick (viscous) it is.
The castor would normally be diluted down considerably when incorporated into a commercial fuel mix. The castor oil in a commercial model fuel would be around 24%
The modified olive oil I make is not as viscous but... there is a larger quantity of it in the fuel around 33 % or so.
Is the extra quantity of olive oil in the fuel going to offset the fact that it is less viscous than the castor ?
The castor must surely become much less viscous when diluted down with kerosene and ether ?
Am I missing something here ?
Reg
Reg,
As stated in an earlier post, it's my feeling too that a less viscous oil can be made up for by using more of it. Have you ever had an engine that was, essentially, worn out? No compression at all when trying to hand start. Then you inject some oil into the intake, get your compression back and with a normal prime, finally get a run.
As my preceding post implies, if you have enough, almost any oil will do, within reason perhaps, as long as it's a vegetable oil with its polar characteristics. Your observations and my own have prompted me to consider experimenting with glow mixes using alternate vegetable oils and methanol. No nitro but I do have that Amsoil stuff that THEY call nitro that's really a blend of nitropropane and some other junk. If we get a run that's reasonable, and if the engine stay together, we just might also be shaking up the glow world too. Now that we've been dragged into the fuel forum, why not?
But many thanks for your input on making up custom made lubricating oils for our engines. I'm getting the suspicion that only glow engines with their higher heat and RPMs have a true need for the exceptional lubricating properties of a refined castor oil. Maybe traditional, steel/iron diesels also do need the stuff but maybe modern, dieselized, ABC
style engines can thrive on alternate oils. And as mentioned, maybe our modern diesels would benefit from synthetics.
If you run into troubles with your pharmaceutical castor, such as not mixing with kero alone, do send me a PM and I'll fire off some Klotz Benol over to you. Unless that idiotic and farcical, no liquids policy interferes. [&o]