RCU Forums - nitro fuels

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- - nitro fuels (https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/questions-answers-154/4864318-nitro-fuels.html)

I can ask a dozen people about nitro fuels and get a dozen different opinions. I currently use Byron's fuels but have been told that they can cause bad carbon build up. I would like to have some imput from my fellow pilots as to what fuels they have had the best experience with. I have been wanting to try Cooper's fuel but have not had any luck locally for a steady supply.

All your glow fuels are going to create a certain amount of carbon build up.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you take care of the engine, it will most likely need a rebuild before/if the carbon ever becomes a problem.

I would be more concerned that the fuel have some castor oil in it. The castor, even though it will leave a hard to remove varnish on the outside of the engine/muffler, will protect the engine in the event of a lean run.

There are no magic fuels.

However, there is a magic oil that is used in glowfuel. It's castor oil. It is great insurance. However, it also has a weakness. Too much of it isn't good in the long run. So look for a fuel that has a castor/synthetic blend of oils. Beyond that..... ain't no magic fuels, and for the most part, ain't no bad ones.

If you're flying 4cycles, they often run better on slightly higher nitro. The heat keeps the glowplug glowing between firing strokes.

If you're flying small 2cycles, higher nitro is good because they don't usually have enough mass to keep themselves hot enough.

Any major brand of fuel is going to be good. And did I mention that there aren't any magic fuels?

Very often, an engine that isn't running too good will run better if you switch fuel. This usually leads the flyer to decide that he has discovered THE MAGIC FUEL and he then feels compelled to spread the word for the rest of his career. What has usually happened is that his engine had the wrong heat range glowplug for the fuel it was acting up on, and the new fuel matched the heat range of the plug. Or sometimes changing the nitro content will match the timing in the engine better than the old nitro percentage did. The amount of nitro affects the timing of the engine. Change the nitro content and the fuel fires off earlier or later. Change the fuel and sometimes the change in timing gives better performance just from the change in timing. And sometimes the engine is lugging the wrong size prop and a different fuel (nitro/timing/oil content/operating temperature) matches up with that prop. Or sometimes the prop is too small to keep the engine loaded, the engine runs too cool and winds up running lousy, and a hotter running fuel solves the problem. Magic? Not really.

I've found that the Byron 10% nitro, 20% oil is perfect for my needs.
it contains a castor/synthetic blend as well.

I am very happy with it, but as said before it is just a matter of getting all the combination right from glow plug to propeller to tuning to nitro and so on :)

Since returning to the sport this spring, I started using Power Master 15% with 18% oil, and have been very happy with it. I run the same fuel in a ST G51, OS70 and an YS110, all seem to run fine on it. I guess its like car owners, your going to find some for every product for a different reason. Until I've been informed as to why I shouldn't use the Power Master, I'll continue to use it ....... Greg

ps: Marvel Mystery oil after run oil is standard also

Also see the thread in the "Go fast" forum. I asked a similar question.

3 Rossi's, 4 saito's, 2 Os's, all run on Cool Power 15% full synthetic oil, 100+ degree Texas heat, DO NOT use after run oil

extreme prop planes/ fuel

Every engine you own will like a different fuel best. Most of us find a fuel that works well enough in all of our engines so that we don't have to lug 4 different jugs to the flying field.

I bought 4 gallons of a fuel I'd never tried before. Not one of my engines will even run on the stuff and it's a name brand. The reason I bought it was because I had been using fuel with castor oil but I was tired of cleaning the stuff off my planes. So I bought fuel that was all synthetic.

I get that fuel to work by mixing another fuel with it 50/50. Once it's gone I won't buy it again obviously. What I do plan to do is buy a gallon of several different fuels and try them out until I find one or two that I really like.

By the way, Wildcat premium extra 10 or 15% is excellent fuel but it's the stuff with castor. My engines love it but I hate cleaning it up.

Paul,

Awesome site with the magnet buidling board. Initial cost for set up is there, but it sure looks nice and neat while building a wing or fuselage. Some great tips in there for building a scratch plane. I'm going to send the link to my friend\builder who still uses a pin board, and dozens of T-pins...... Greg

Call me a OldTimer but stick with something with castor.

Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On.[X(]

Thanks Rod. When I started building with magnets the ease of building straight and quality aircraft became much easier. Pins can give as good of results but it takes a lot longer.