controlliner

I know this is a sacrilegious question but, has anyone used synthetic oil in their diesels? I'm seeing castor oil as getting very spendy. $69.00 for 4 liters of Castrol Benol. I am a firm believer in the castor oil Gods and the excellent lubrication properties, but.....money.

1QwkSport2.5r

Look at BulkApothecary.com. Castor oil sells for around $17USD/gal. The shipping might be kind of expensive, but it likely would be cheaper than your current option. I've been using oil from genre and have seen no discernible differences between it and the stuff I got from S&W fuels a few years ago.

Jennifer Curtis

I use half castor and half klotz techniplate
total oil 25%. The rest is half ether and
half kerosene. Then add 2% ignition
improver. This is very successful fuel.

Jenny

aspeed

Didn't the diesels use mineral oil up to the 1970s? I would think substituting a similar weight synthetic might be ok. Most of them mix with kero AFAIK, alcohol is the tough one to mix with. Yes, Klotz here would be $15 a litre. Even car motor oil is seldom less than $5 a litre. What about 2 stroke oil mixed maybe 20:1 or whatever? IDK, I'm not really a diesel guy-yet. Ether is controlled except for truck motor starter spray.

1QwkSport2.5r

I wouldn't worry about using synthetic oil in a modern technology diesel that's ABC or AAC for example, but you couldn't pay me enough to use any synthetic oil in a ferrous piston engine. Diesels are "old school" technology, so I stick with and will recommend an "old school" fuel. Just my two cents.

controlliner

Mineral oil was used as the fuel part of the mix, with castor oil and ether.

aspeed

Oh. Didn't they use an 80W oil in some mixes? I read a lot of Aeromodeller in the 1970s but didn't always understand the 'British' English terms.

1QwkSport2.5r

I remember reading a pamphlet for I think Drone diesels or something like it from the same era with the fuel requirements being 70wt mineral oil and ether only. Kerosene has too much energy and usually if used would blow them apart. I suspect those old engines ran on the ether and the oil sealed them up so they'd actually run. I want to say the oil component was somewhere around 40% with the remainer being ether.

chrisb5259

Back in the day we used a mix of 25% straight 40W motor oil, 25% ether, 47% paraffin (kerosene), 3% amyl nitrate. All available at the local chemist, hardware shop and petrol station for sale to a 13 year old schoolboy....... This was the combat mix, the general sport mix used a bit more ether and less amyl and paraffin. I've only got the combat mix written down.

aspeed

I was sure someone would remember. Oh, welcome to the forum.

controlliner

And using 40 weight oil, you got good life from your diesels? That is my concern with my PAW's and Ollies

aspeed

Excuse me while I snicker. Long life in a combat motor might be less than a season, or two matches. Broken needles, cases... Depends on if there are midairs mostly, but regular crashes hurt too. I will add that just going through a 1970s homelite chainsaw manual, that 30W oil was used for the motor, and for the chain. Now they are all coloured different, and snowmobile, outboard and motorcycle oils are all different. At least the bottles and price tags are.

chrisb5259

We used what we could afford, castor was expensive. Paraffin mixes well with mineral oil and acts as a lubricant in its own right, I don't remember any particular issues with engine wear. If in doubt replace the 40W with castor, it'll still work!

qazimoto

My Feedback: (1)

Different style of combat. Ollies and PAWs can last for decades. A lot like the 100 year old hammer with five new handles and heads.

chrisb5259

That unforgettable sound as two combat models meet head on. that particular howl/splat as your lovingly prepared Copeman tuned Ollie met another less worthy engine. The thought still brings a tear to my eyes. PAW's were tough but not as fast, AM's were fast and fragile, Frogs were too heavy, glows were for Americans......What you needed was a nylon covered Dominator (or similar) with an Ollie or ST 20/15D hung off its nose for success

fiery

My Feedback: (2)

The sound of two combat models as they make final union certainly is distinctive.