OS MAX 15

Hi everybody!

Does anyone know if the OS 25 LA engine has an ABC construction or an ABN instead? The specs at Tower Hobbies say ABC for the 25 LA, but the specs for the spares (piston & liner) for the same engine give them as ABN. Also all the others in the LA series (except the 46 LA) are listed as ABN. Could it be that the 25 LA in original form comes with a chrome (ABC) plated liner, but the spares for it come in the nickel plated ABN form? Or is it that the Tower guys have just got it a bit confused. Would I be correct is assuming that the chrome in ABC makes for a better engine than the ABN, which is just a cheapie alternative with poorer durability? I have heard of the nickel being spit out after a while. All your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

jaka

Hi!
Its ABN...and has always been!
But who cares what they are made of as long as they are functioning perfect...and those small OS LA engines are real good engines and last for a life time.

Regards!
Jan K

carlosponti

My Feedback: (1)

i did some reading on this because it sparked my curiosity. it appears that all LA engines are ABN but due to confusion they market them as ABC. there really is not a difference. chrome plating is the more modern process but nicle worked for plating years before chrome came about. in motorcycles the only difference was price and the shinyness of the chrome over the nickle. plenty of people have run these engines with no complaints and i imagine you will to. i am surprised though they are nickle plating because i always understood it was more expensive.

OS MAX 15

Hi!

JAKA, you are quite right! They do have the good reputation of lasting for ages. Do you have any experience in running them on 100% synthetic alone? There are the plain bearings to consider, I guess.... but I was still thinking of 15% Coolpower synthetic (The blue stuff) instead of castor. Will it be ok? Do you think 15% synthetic is enough?

Thanks!

OS MAX 15

Hi!

Carlosponti, thanks for investigating. I came across more or less the same results about OS using ABC or ABN. That's what made me ask. From what it looks like it doesn't seem to matter. As Jaka says, as long as they go well for ages, who's to complain? It's interesting you mention nickel plating is more expensive than chrome - didn't know that. Expense aside, I thought chrome must be better because model engines work in the high performance sector.

Cheers!

da Rock

If I remember correctly, most iron and steel has to be nickle plated in order to be chrome plated.

I'm pretty sure that bumpers (back when they were steel) had to be nickled in order to take the chrome.

Rcpilot

My Feedback: (78)

Is there a specific reason why you want to run synthetic oil?

Tower Hobbies says "minimum 20% oil content"

I don't think I'd run 15% oil in that motor. The plain bearing engines need a bit more lubrication than a ball bearing engine. It's metal on metal. You should have a pretty good oil coating on the 2 surfaces to keep them lubed properly.

You could buy your synthetic fuel and then mix a couple ounces of castor oil in each gallon. That would bring the oil content up AND the castor would help in the lubrication department.

You'd need to add about 6.5oz of oil to the 15% mix to bring it up to 20% total oil.

Red B.

Previously I used to run a couple of old OS FP engines and also a newer OS LA engine using synthetic oil with no addition of castor. It worked great. I gave the engines away a couple of years ago to some beginners in our club. It happens now and then that I encounter my old engines at the field. They are still working very well, easy starting and with good compression. If I remember correctly I used 18% synthetic and 5% nitro.

/Red B.

jaka

Hi!
Yes! Nowadays (since 6 years ) I always run my engines on 15% synthetic oil (Motul "Micro" or Aerosynth 2 ) and these small OS's trive on it!
I mostly use 5% nitro in my engines except from some MVVS engines that doesn't like any nitro at all.
Many fliers over here in Sweden even use much less oil than this. 10% oil or even less is very common.

Regards!
Jan K

Red B.

Hi Janne!
IMHO, less than 10% oil is on the low side for bushed engines.
Nowadays I use 15% Aerosynth syntetic oil and 5% nitro for all my methanol engines.

/Red B.