liquid_TR

Actually, too much carbon build up starts to blow plugs at progressively shorter times. Heres my 46ax when it was run on castor mix. I had to clean it - see the difference for yourself.



The carbon build up was very high - and this engine was run for 6-7 gallons of byrons 10% (which I never used again)


Now with synthetic oils theres virtually no carbon build up in my engines after gallons of runtime. just mirror like shine!



PS: forgot to mention that this engine which a bought from a friend was used & abused for 10s of gallons of fuel.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

W8YE and I tore down a 4 stroke that was run with drug store castor added to the fuel. The owner wasn't into tuning his engines much. He just ran them. A bearing went when the retainer broke, and we replaced them. The entire engine was shiny like new. The bad bearings where shiny too. There was no varnish or rust anywhere.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The Saito engine blw is referring to was some four or five years old and had been on at least two different planes. The owner mostly ran Omega fuel which has some castor already but he always added about 2 oz caster to a gallon. I just knew of the guy to ever have but one jug of Cool Power the rest was all Omega.

Doc.316

WOW!
Ok...am not an expert but geese...alot of people have a lot of ideas on this subject....lol Ok...I have replaced a bunch of bearings....and have flown both 70's, 60's, and modern engines. If you have a really old 1950's type engine...use what the instructions call for 30 wt mineral oil.....the bearing clearances are LOOSE...and need the thick oil for lubrication. It is well known that castor has a higher flashpoint than klotz....if you run your engines lean...use castor... If you are still running veco's. mercos, etc.....use castor. If you have a "new" type engine (the newer engines have way tighter tolerances since they are cnc machined and it seems like they are honed better) use a mix of castor/klotz...(use klotz to mean synthetic). Castor helps with rust. If you want max power run all synthetic...(do not set it lean though)...... Helecopters are a different deal...they frequently have a hard life compared to fixed wing. That is why they use a lot of oil...but they need power so they use a lot of synthetic oil).....Cars are the same since they want a lot of power. I have replaced a bunch of bearings over the years....(a bunch since the local hobby shop owner is my best friend)....and I can tell ya ...it really doesn't matter anymore...since nooone will tell ya how much oil is in their fuel....Rust is bad...make sure the fuel you are using contains some....unless you need POWER....the amount depends on how well you take care of your engines. Running the fuel out and hitting it with some kind of oil.

Alcohol has water in it...(not much but enough to make your bearings rust really quickly). Thick gooey castor puts a film on them and protects them some but.....and protects from a "lean run" ....it is thick.....and takes a lot of heat to make it break down...

Steve

Oh yea..what kind of fuel do I use.....depends on if I am running a "Veco" or a modern engine....and It depends on how much power I need....

jessiej

I don't recall having an engine that required 30 wt mineral oil, but most of the old ignition engines used a 3 to 1 mix of gasoline and 60wt. They will also run on methanol and castor at the same ratio.

jess

Doc.316

Woops..yep 60wt it is...(er sorry been a while since I have run one of those)...my mistake.
Steve

Ernie Misner

A question for the guys who are using wax or Pledge to protect and simplify cleanup...... Does the wax tend to make the edges of the covering start coming loose?

Thanks,

Ernie

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I haven't noticed that happening on Ultracote. I use wax.

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

Jess....the 30w and 60w were motor oil....motor oil is mineral oil.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Dave,

Not always to some people. There has been some interesting confusion over what 'mineral oil' means to old timers and Europeans.

jessiej

Yes, That has always been the general understanding. The real question was 30 vs 60 wt. The 60 wt can be a bit difficult to find in some parts. I most recently found some marketed by Custom Chrome.

jess

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The term, Mineral oil (such as - Baby oil), has a myriad of uses even beyond medicines and food. It is sometimes even used as a laxative much as castor oil. So there could be some confusion between the two. However the mineral oils I have seen for human or animal use was either odorless or contained some perfume. Whereas all castor oil I've experienced - smelled like castor oil. Some industrial uses of mineral oil would be like for electrical transformer oil.

richgrow

I'm running Morgan Cool Power 15% in all My Glow Engines. Can I ADD Castor Oil for More Protection to a Gallon size bottles? If So How Much? And where can Buy Quality Castor Oil to Mix into My Fuel? Who Sells it? I have both Ringed and None Ringed Engines. Only been in R/C Airplanes 2 Years but used Build and Fly U-Controlled Combat Wings 10 Years before went into Army Aviation for 23 years. A fella from Aero-Works said I Should Run 20% Cool Power and Add 2 or 3 oz of Caster Oil to a Gallon for Best Performance & Longivity for My ( 16 ) OS Max Engines, ( 1 ) Thunder Power Pro and one Tower Hobby Engine, all 2 Stroke Engines. What do You all think? I'm hearing some very interesting comments in this tread!!! richgrow

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

You can use castor oil from the drug store if you wish.

It is generally cheaper to use Sig Castor oil or Klotz BéNOL LUBRICANTS

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXS627&P=7

http://www.sigmfg.com/IndexText/SIGCO001.html

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

You can also get Castor from a motorcycle or snowmobile shop...
I have noticed that if you have a new/full plastic jug of fuel, that 4 oz. fills it right to the top.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

I'm just enjoying how this thread is entitled Castor oil - A final word? and that final word has gone on for 20 pages!

Even if you could fly without castor oil, why would you want to?

jessiej

And this is only one of several threads!

As to Why? I suppose it is the constant search for a solution to a problem that does not exist.

jess

martinoto

Very old thread... and I did not read it all...

Probably someone already wrote this, but in a recent post, Troy Newman (YS guru) stated that YS engines doesn't like Castor AT ALL, so he recomends fuel with synthetic oil only. Seems strange to me, because YS engines runs on high nitro, so temperature will raise to the high levels as well, but Troy insisted that Castor is no good for those engines.
Interesting...

It is also interesting to note that engine manufacturers have changed their oil contents reqs from the past. For instance, my NIB OS61VF eats no less that 20% oil content (as per the manual), and I don't think the liner steel of this engine is too different from today's liners. Also, while OS recomends 18% oil in their modern lines (46AX for instance), some of the most famous brand of fuel delivers fuel with 15-16% oil content. Strange, since OS share a good portion of the engines market... OS is now "lowering" the requirements al oil content on their new engines...

I think that manufacturers took an empirical approach to what synthetic oil could do to the engines. Seems to me that manufacturers didn't trust synthetic at first... with enough time testing did by us, they are starting to see that is nothing wrong with synthetic...

gkamysz

My Feedback: (19)

I'll have to agree, even OS's new Wankel is recommending synthetic. If that engine can run on it any modern engine can. New materials and coatings, improved tolerances, time moves on, including lubricants.

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

I don't know who Troy Newman is, but apparently he knows more about YS than YS does.

YS says that straight castor can be run in their engines if so desired. I've been using fuel
with castor in my YS engines for three years now. I won't be running them without castor,
that's for sure.

YS engines, as well as any other normal two cycle or 4 cycle engine thrives on castor.

Some engine manufactures warn expressly against running the lower oil content fuels, I
have seen them. The was a time when oil manufactures made 4 strokes fuels with less
oil in them than the two stroke blends. Their thinking was that 4 stroke engines needed
less oil than the others. This was of course total balogna. They were simply introducing a
new product to the market, and telling people they needed to use their new product.

Some folks actually fell for that balogna. Sandwich anyone ?

Their is nothing wrong with synthetic, as you say....other than the fact that if you have a
lean run, your engine may be damaged or ruined....that's all. No problem.

FBD.

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

Greg....what wankel were you referring to ? Was it like one at Tower ?

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...XPVE3&P=7#tech
__________________________________________________ ________________________
NOTES FROM OUR TECH DEPARTMENT
This is the O.S. Max 49-PI Type II .30 Wankel Rotary Engine.

FEATURES: Ideal for boosting power in small-scale planes, and reducing weight
for mid-size craft
Redesigned carburetor venturi for more airflow resulting in more
power than previous Wankel engine from O.S. Max
Muffler can be angled in different directions for increased mounting
versatility
Does not require special Wankel glow plug
Two year limited warranty

INCLUDES: O.S. Max 49-PI Type II .30 Wankel Rotary Engine with OS F glow plug,
carburetor, fuel tank clunk, muffler and instruction manual

REQUIRES: Fuel: Use top quality methanol-based model engine fuel containing
approximately 25% castor-oil & 15% nitromethane.
__________________________________________________ _________________________

The oil recommendation for that wankel is straight castor. Did you see another recommendation ?
The only change I see to that engine is the carb. I'll bet money the inside of that engine is
exactly the same as the old one....wanna bet ? I have one of those engines, btw.

OS recommends straight castor to be run in that engine, because the is no better lubricant
on this Planet....if their were, OS would have you to use it in their engines. Synthetic cannot
give the protection and durability castor can....it never has, sorry.

FBD.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The Y-S engine - castor oil relationship has to do with the caster eventually gumming up the regulator in storage. It has nothing to do with running the engine.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

I don't mind a little "extra" work to clean my airplanes...actually, all I gotta do is wipe 'em off w/ paper towels...so I see no advantage in using synthetic oils there. I like the smell of Castor...and it makes me feel better just knowing it's there

As for the gummy residue...it's not a problem and will wash away with denatured alcohol or carb cleaner spray.
post # 4000...gotta get me a cup 'o coffee [8D]

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Flyboy Dave-

Troy Newman is the YS direct support member on RCU. He took over from Dave Shadel.

gkamysz

My Feedback: (19)

Yes, that one. Don't read Tower's BS instructions as they are wrong on many, many pages. Download the actual manual from OS.

http://manuals.hobbico.com/osm/rotary49pi_2-manual.pdf

You almost proved me wrong.