Saito twin on gas with ignition???
10-02-2005, 03:44 PM
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Saito twin on gas with ignition???
Saw this a while back at a swap meet, a Big saito twin, 270 or 300, with a battery driven spark ignition. Guy claimed it would run on gas with 2stroke oil. I had been lead to beileve that these were strictly glow fuel with 18% or better oil. Was he wrong? can it work? Will it last?
Ken
Ken
10-02-2005, 04:28 PM
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RE: Saito twin on gas with ignition???
It'll work fine--as long as you still mix 18% oil---or thereabouts--in the fuel.
All pointless if you ask me.
To me--the whole pojnt of a gas engine is that the fuel is cheaper than glow fuel. The reason why glow fuel is sooooo expensive is because it's got 18%--20% oil in it. You ever bought a quart of Klotz and mixed your own fuel? The oil is what costs ya the big $$$. Not the nitro or the methanol.
So---you switch a big 'ole Saito to gasoliine and spark ignition--big deal. It won't last 3 minutes on a 40:1 mix.
The rod bushings are NOT bearings like you'll find in 99% of gas engines. They are BUSHINGS and require that much oil to lube them properly. Knock the oil down to 40:1--and you'll spin the rod bushings right out of it in less than 3 minutes---probably a LOT less than 3 minutes.
Stay away from it. You'll not save any money trying to convert a glow engine to gas because your still gonna have to pay for the oil in the fuel. It'll still leave a slimy mess all over your plane--if you run enough oil in it to keep the rod bushings intact.
All pointless if you ask me.
To me--the whole pojnt of a gas engine is that the fuel is cheaper than glow fuel. The reason why glow fuel is sooooo expensive is because it's got 18%--20% oil in it. You ever bought a quart of Klotz and mixed your own fuel? The oil is what costs ya the big $$$. Not the nitro or the methanol.
So---you switch a big 'ole Saito to gasoliine and spark ignition--big deal. It won't last 3 minutes on a 40:1 mix.
The rod bushings are NOT bearings like you'll find in 99% of gas engines. They are BUSHINGS and require that much oil to lube them properly. Knock the oil down to 40:1--and you'll spin the rod bushings right out of it in less than 3 minutes---probably a LOT less than 3 minutes.
Stay away from it. You'll not save any money trying to convert a glow engine to gas because your still gonna have to pay for the oil in the fuel. It'll still leave a slimy mess all over your plane--if you run enough oil in it to keep the rod bushings intact.
10-02-2005, 05:51 PM
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RE: Saito twin on gas with ignition???
They can be made to run with about 10% oil. The bigger problem is getting the carb to flow the right mix of gas, remember with alky you have a 7:1 air fuel ratio and with gas its 14:1
10-03-2005, 05:18 AM
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RE: Saito twin on gas with ignition???
Most guys put ignition on for reliability, not to run gas. Even 10% oil is a lot of cash. The carb won't work with gas either. And the other problem would be keeping it cool, real hard to do with gas. Buy it and run FAI fuel in it as mentioned above.
Tom
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10-03-2005, 10:10 AM
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RE: Saito twin on gas with ignition???
How about low cost oil like Penzoil? That works just as well as high priced synthetics in my gas engines. The reason you don't use it in glow engines is it doesn't mix well with alcohol.
