Have not seen any posts from this gentleman in a few years. Anyone know if he is still around?

Status: offline O.S. Max engine durability varies from model to model. Just because a .45FSR has lasted and lasted doesn't mean that a .46 AX will enjoy the same long life.

The Glow Engines forum here on RCU has extensive posts regarding engine durability testing. The following post by Dr. Nitro was made in a thread concerning the O.S. Max 1.20 AX 2-stroke, and is frequently cited:

quote:

ORIGINAL: DR NITRO

For the past few years I have been paid to test run engines for a model fuel company. Since I have my own private flying field and am out in the middle of nowhere and retired, I can do this till my heart's content and not bother anybody. Mostly I run them on the several engine test fixtures, then a few of them I will actually fly on one of my planes or heli's. I even have a set of load beams to mount on car engines and a ducting system to cool the head when I test run them. I have gone through lots of engines, some were good , some were junk.

I use as a baseline, the average 40 size two stroke will run 15 minutes (at varying throttle positions) on 8 ounces of fuel. My goal is to get 400 hours on an engine or 100 gallons, whichever comes first. I have had numerous engines make it past this mark and a few that did not. To be be fair, I do a few things that the less experienced modeler does like shut them down for the day and do nothing to them until they are run the next day, I also run them a bit lean but only to the point where the rpm's are peaked, not past peak and generally use a prop that is on the small end of the scale for the given engine. I do run them on a fuel type that is intended for that design or recommended in the instructions. and always two identical engines are run identically at the same time, one with a competitors brand fuel and one with the company I'm contraced by, just for comparison.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I have run the engines you mention above and a bunch more of the OS line, this is what I got before the engines just simply wore out:

25FX- got to about 6 gallons
32SX- got to about 20 gallons after the first set of sleeves
40FX- got to about 20 gallons
46FX- (early ones) about 6 tanks
46FX- (later ones) about 40 gallons
OS 50- (airplaneversion and heli versions)- could not get past 10 gallons without it puking the bearings, longevity testing suspended on the modern OS 50
61FX- got to about 65 gallons
OS70 Heli-got to about 3 tanks on both engines, rods gave out. replacement engines made it to about 15 gallons
91FX- got to about 35 gallons
160FX- (after several tries and replacement motors, testing was abandoned)
OS 120 Surpass III- bearings failed around the 15 gallon mark, heads warped around the 50 gallon mark
OS 91 Surpass- got about 80 gallons before it was just plain worn out
OS 70 FL- after about two gallons of frustration, testing was abandoned.

As a comparison, heres some of my test engines that are in either the 400 hour club or 100 gallon club
Fox 35 CL, 40 bushing, 40BB, 45, 46, 50 and 74
Enya- 25, 40's (all the 40's), 50SS, 50CX, 60 (all versions) and 4-strokes: 46, 53, 90, 120 (old and new) and the 155 (everything tested)
Irvine- 46, 53
Super Tigre (italian)- 34, 40, 45, 51, 75, 90, 2300, 4500 (no chineese ones tested yet)
K&B (Pre Mecoa)- 40 (4011), 48, 61
Thunder Tiger- 25, 40, 42 bushing, 46, 61, 65 bushing, 120 and 4 strokes: 91 and 120 (everything tested)
Magnum- 46 (the only model tested)
Webra- 50
YS- 45, 53, 91AC
Saito- 56, 65, 72, 80, 91, 100, 120, 180 (everything tested)
Moki 135, 180 (everything tested)
MVVS 40, 49, 77, 91 (everything tested)
Rossi 45, 53 (everything tested)

Now heres some that did not make it to the club:
Anything Mecoa
Anything Leo
Anything MDS
Anything OS (modern)


Don't flame me guys, these are just the results experienced. In all cases, fuel should not have been an issue since failures in the OS line on one fuel were very soon repeated on the other, which indicates design problems.

Dr Nitro

Tommy, this is a (quote) from a post by Dr Nitro that was quoted by Big Ed Mustafa in 2005. Nitro seems to have left and removed himself entirely from RCU, Jim or Barry can add to this but I think its possible to completely remove ones self from here posts and all.
Searches do not come with Dr Nitro except in quoted stuff.

Because of his posts being removed, maybe they were not reliable information.  I can only think of one reason all posts would be removed.

The desire to leave RCU and officially deactivate their account happens all the time.

He may be back on RCU with a new name.

There does not seem to be a good reason to remove old posts.  But it happens and I miss some of them.  They just got wiped off, no achive so to speak.  That's a down side of RC Universe.

Chip

Going here to ask specifics is a good idea: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_239/tt.htm

I remember a similar situation a while back. Actually, I remember some but not details like you are asking. A member is not supposed to be able to delete old messages like that. This is because some leave in a huff and good info gets lost forever. There was a guy who tried to delete 4000 messages. There may be a way if you have multiple accounts but that is against the rules here. It could be that he did delete his whole account, but I'm just not sure about it. If his post count was small, maybe he deleted them one by one.

That post by Dr. Nitro remains controversial. Maybe someone remembers pertinent facts after that was posted. It is possible to find jobs running the smaller engines. The old drone program included a lot of .61s. I have two of them myself from the 1980s. Some of what he lists makes sense.

Barry, as I remember it he made a lot of people mad and on top of that did not like his conclusions questioned. I myself put no stock in what he claimed.

I had decided that maybe a small part of it was true somewhere along the line but heavily embellished.

He's working as a Lobbyist now......

Originally I was going to be impressed that he had such resources to run a 100 gallons of fuel through som many engines. But then I noticed it was for a glow fuel company.
My question would be what kind of fuel did he use for his tests. I wouldn't need to know the brand, but the nitro percentage, and oil blend, whether it was all synthetic or castor oil or a blend of both would be helpful.

Here's Fuelman's posts

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/sear...an&top=500

Here's Dr Nitro's posts

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/sear...&top=20000

Dr Nitro was actually more of a car guy

He ran fuel evaluations for Fuelman?

He was in the Syracuse, NY area

Those of you interested in the fuel and glow engines subject and reading in the links above, will eventually come across Downunder's website?

That's some good reading also

http://www.holdfastmac.com.au/tech.html

Should I be concerned that the folks who got to Dr. Nitro might be coming after me next? I love a good conspiracy theory...

Not a chance Ed.[8D]