Hello!
My turbine has not been started the last 8 months.
Is there something I need to think about before I start it up?
Do not think that the turbine wheel does not roll as easily as before, not sure.


Fuel is kerosene with 2 stroke oil
Motor Merlin VT80

Regards
Sejenssen

I had Ram 1000 that had been settingfor a couple of years.


I made sure the pump was not stuck, inmy case it was gummed up. I used a battery and ran the pump bothways until it loosened up and kero flowed.


I then ran the pump to pump fuel to thebearings until they freed up, I moved the wheel by hand.


I then started the turbine and let itidle for 5 minutes, before running it up.


I have not had any bearing problems.


Hope this helps.

Hi Sejenssen
Gaspar dose not recommend 2T oil in fact recommends not to use it as it gums up the bearings once cold making it hard to start on the next attempt.
You may well want to flush the fuel system through first to clear the pump wile disconnected from the turbine with fresh fuel and his recommended oil.
Then warm up the turbine itself to loosen the bearings before its first start useing that new fuel oil mix with a freshly charged battery pack .
Hope it all goes well.
MV

On the jets munt vt80 page it says "The VT80 can use not toxic oil like Mobil DTE light or 2T to keep the environment clean...."

Hi
Have not been on the JM web site for a wile but have spoken to Gaspar on a number of occasions and his direct advice is the wrong 2t oil + VT80 or M100 = reason for non start.

Best bet is to chat to him direct, he is always helpful and replies very quickly.

[email protected]

the rotor spool problem is caused by 2t oil.. (maybe high % used) and some time together low external temp.
you can run the engine last time before "storing" with fuel and turbine oil (aeroshell mobil...ecc)
about 1 min.

Hi,

don't use 2-stroke oil alone.

I did the same, as the manual states (page 17) that you can use 2-stroke oil JASO FC or better at 3% mix.
After six months the turbine would not start and after speaking to Gasper was repaired under warranty.

I bought my VT80 beginning of December 2012 and the manual is version 1.1/2012.
Gasper told me that shortly afterwards they printed a new version 1.2 stating that you should not use 2-stroke alone.

I use now the recommended mix of 3% Mobil DTE light and 1% 2-stroke oil and have so far no problems.

Ulrich

i use dte+2t and some time in different engine the rotors is not full free..

Hi chrigui,

Oh, that's bad. You really scared me now.

So, would you only run on Mobil DTE light at 5% as one option in the manual allows?

The manual says: Recommended: 3% Mobil DTE light + 1% 2T Oil

I don't want to wreck my turbine again.

What are other VT80 owners using?
Would really like to know their experiences.

Ulrich

Hello!
There will be no more 2 stroke oil in my engine.
Does anyone know where i can buy Mobil DTE light or equivalent in Norway?

Anyone running VT80 on diesel?

Gaspar has telemetry to merlin engines, anyone who has tried this in
Futaba SG14 system?




Regards
Sejenssen

Im using diesel on my VT80. no problems or flamouts at all. Mobil 5% oil, and diesel straight from the the fuel station.

Do you still get similar thrust and flight times?

tia

According to Gasper you can use diesel no problem.

See the thread in the Merlin Turbine Clinic "Diesel vs Kerosene".

When I first got my VT80 I used diesel just for the convenience of getting it from the fuel station. But I changed to paraffin as diesel smells quite badly and the wife was not amused.
It's more expensive than diesel but I don't fly that much so it's OK.

I would say i used about 1.6L of fuel for a 7-8min flight in my boomerang sprint its very light on fuel, not measured the thrust but it pushed the sprint well enough

My mail with Gaspar:


Yes, it works, some guys don’t see any difference, but personally I see that startup is longer and acceleration is slower, but no problem at all for the engine.


3% should be OK, probabilly less is OK, but never tested.

Gaspar

You do not have to be afraid ..we have test some engine and all are strong to spool rotor wit DTE 3%+1%2T (DBV OIL) ..you can do some test changing the oil % ..or
you can run the engine before storage with fuel+turbine oil