Time for a New Fuel.....

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

For as long as I can remember I’ve used Southern Modelcraft Mo Glow fuel; of course the big snag is that you can only buy it from the shows. This hasn’t really been a problem as I usually attend one of the big shows each year but recently I’ve stopped bothering because a) you can see most of the items on offer in the Trade Village via the internet & b) I’d rather be flying myself than watching someone else doing it…. Now I want to make clear that I’ve been very happy with Southern Modelcraft fuels; they are excellent & have served me very well & if I still went to shows I would most certainly continue to use them but as I don’t I have no way of buying them.

So….I’m now running low on glow fuel & need to stock up but what to buy? I have heard that it’s possible to replace the fuel tank with a thing called a “battery” & that this is re-fuelled with “electrons” but this sounds very far fetched to me & not like “real modelling” at all so I’m looking for a normal liquid fuel…..

I’m a great believer that you shouldn’t chop & change from one fuel to another as this will require the engine to be tuned more frequently & clearly this can lead to unreliable running. “Set it & forget it” has always been my mantra so security of supply is also important.

I’m quite drawn to the Weston range of fuels in general & Prosynth 2000 in particular as these are well priced & can be delivered to my door for a few pounds. I’ve heard many things about Weston fuels from “Best fuel I’ve ever used” to “engine wrecker”. Clearly both views cannot be correct. We hear rumours that Weston fuels have very low oil content but these are only rumours as the makers will not divulge the contents of the fuel. Some say that low oil content is “a bad thing” & that using less than 20% castor oil in a glow engine will lead to it’s immediate seizure but is this really true? I have very fond memories from the early 80s when Model Technics Dynaglo first appeared which made my Thunder Tiger 25 go like an absolute rocket. There were soon dire warnings that such low oil content fuels (Dynaglo is 8% synthetic oil & 2% castor oil) were bad for engines & I stopped using it. But metallurgy & oil technology have moved on so much do we really NEED such high oil contents in our fuels…..? Most of the extra oil seems to end up running down the side of the model after all. I'm not a huge fan of castor oil either believing that something designed in a laboratory will always out perform something squeezed from a plant when it comes to lubricating engines.

So…after all that waffle, in a nutshell I’m after a “New Fuel”….let the debate begin & help me to decide……

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[bert baker]

Lazer 5 has 15% oil 5% nitro  and 80% of the other stuff

The fuel for the radial engines 7%, oil

if the plane is smothered in oil is it to much oil

from the manual

• Zero percent or low nitro (5–10%) fuel with low oil content (5–7% oil/fuel ratio)

 

Edited By bert baker on 29/01/2017 19:58:04

Edited By bert baker on 29/01/2017 19:58:31

Edited By bert baker on 29/01/2017 20:00:41

[will -0]

I tried MT pro-power but found it rather agressive on all forms of covering/paint. Back to MT formula irvine for now.

[bert baker]

I had Hot Aerojuce blow the front off a four stroke a Mack 10cc and destroy a brand new Jen 91

It burnt well on the fire

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Posted by Percy Verance on 29/01/2017 19:53:49:

Oh dear Steve, you've done it now..........

You might be right Percy.....I've often found that if you ask 10 aeromodellers for their thoughts you usually get at least 11 opinions....

I should probably mention that my models are a mixture of 2 & 4 stroke powered & I'm very much an ordinary "Club Flyer"....

[Peter Miller]

Just for my twopennorth

I use nothing but Model Technics Formula Irvine 10% on everthing from .049s through all two strokes and fourstrokes and I never have to tweak a needle vavlve.

[ChrisB]

Can't beat SMC fuels

[Shaunie]

Used Southern modelcraft fuels years ago with no problems.

Using Model Technics formula Irvine 10% now with no problems.

I do wonder though whether we need so much oil in our fuels though. My Stihl chainsaw is over 20 years old on a diet of 50:1, that's 2% and revs at 13000 rpm with no problems.

Shaunie.

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Agree Shaunie but we must remember that such engines have roller bearings in the big & little end & these are happy on a sniff of oil......plain bearings need a bit more.

Plus of course petrol itself is a little bit "oily".....methanol on the other hand has zero lubricating properties...

[Jon H]

Model Technics Laser 5 or Techpower 5 would be my recommendations.

15% oil (good oil) is plenty and we are experimenting with far less as many of you will know.

In the case of a 4 stroke the oil in the crankcase is just that, oil, no fuel in there so the lubricity of petrol vs methanol is not a consideration.

My Laser conversions still use bronze bushes on the big ends and so far run 50:1 without issue but testing continues

Edited By Jon Harper - Laser Engines on 29/01/2017 21:49:16

[John Stainforth]

Optifuel gets my vote! My engines seem to run noticeably better on this than other brands having identical oil and nitro contents (*supposedly*).

[Richard Wills 2]

I now use Optifuel 12% in everything, 2 and 4 stroke, aero and heli. All love it, needles are non critical, and starts instant even in winter. brilliant

[Jon H]

The optifuel is not bad, but 18% oil? and with 12% nitro? bleh, so much mess

[Jon Laughton]

Swapped from Model Technics Duraglo 10 to Prosynth 2000 10% about four years ago and have had no problems whatsoever - my engine fleet is almost exclusively OS both two and four strokes. I have made the same recommendation to flying buddies and they too have had no problems. I love the convenience of the fuel being delivered to my home and the service from Westons has been superb

[Robin Colbourne]

According to their website, Southern Modelcraft fuel is for 'collection only' except for their show sales. If you can get a group of people who are willing to all stock up at once, then a trip to them with a car and trailer would be worthwhile.

5% Double Lube Hi is my preferred fuel from them (5% Nitro, 9% castor oil, 9% ML70 synthetic oil). Easy starting, clean running, and great throttle response!

[Bobby]

Hi Steve, Had the same problem many years ago as you and changed to Model Technics Bekra 10% nitro which is Ok with 4 strokes, 2strokes, heli models with whatever engine installed. The spec says heli fuel first, but suitable for all others. I have changed all eng to 4strokes only for sound reasons  Bob  PS. it does not contain Castor which is my choice, if you have been running eng with castor you have to run very rich to start with, to remove castor varnish from the insides

Edited By Bobby on 30/01/2017 12:48:58

[Cuban8]

I've heeded Laser Jon's advice and switched to Laser Mix fuel in all my engines. Should have done it years ago!

Why are people still using Castor oil in fuel...................just habit, I suspect.

Edited By Cuban8 on 30/01/2017 13:17:42

[Old Geezer]

Whilst "tidying" the Office (reading old magazines and moving heaps around) I came upon a long-ago acquired Saito FA 45s - I'd forgotten this little sweetie, and she deserves to fly, but having only LiPo fuel these days I need to buy some of the oily stuff for her.

The accompanying (very old) instructions very firmly stress that the FA 45s must only be fed 20% Castor fuel, with the advances in fuel technology, is this still true, or would those of you in the know suggest the addition of some Synthetic might be an improvement on 20% Castor. Also, what percentage nitro' would be recommended?

Oh, and any suggestions as to a suitable airframe for the Saito to power?

[Braddock, VC]

I used to use prosynth 2000 10% in all my engines 2 and 4 stroke, a mix of os, saito, irvine, laser, enya, ys, TT, frog, and magnum 4s with no problems. I changed to their liquid gold 15% what an eye opener lovely transition, needle valve not critical and almost the same price as the prosynth 10%. Well worth a punt.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by Gurth Scriven 2 on 30/01/2017 16:02:23:

Whilst "tidying" the Office (reading old magazines and moving heaps around) I came upon a long-ago acquired Saito FA 45s - I'd forgotten this little sweetie, and she deserves to fly, but having only LiPo fuel these days I need to buy some of the oily stuff for her.

The accompanying (very old) instructions very firmly stress that the FA 45s must only be fed 20% Castor fuel, with the advances in fuel technology, is this still true, or would those of you in the know suggest the addition of some Synthetic might be an improvement on 20% Castor. Also, what percentage nitro' would be recommended?

Oh, and any suggestions as to a suitable airframe for the Saito to power?

I know of several Saito 40s,45s and 50s that have been run on a diet of Southern Modelcraft 10% (15% ML70 2% Castor) for decades. I did rebuild one of them for a friend, but that was years ago and it was a bearing failure which would be fairly irrelevant to this debate.

Something like a Flair Magnatilla or Astrohog would trot around very happily with the 45 attached.

Edited By Martin Harris on 30/01/2017 16:22:19

[Jon H]

Posted by Gurth Scriven 2 on 30/01/2017 16:02:23:

Whilst "tidying" the Office (reading old magazines and moving heaps around) I came upon a long-ago acquired Saito FA 45s - I'd forgotten this little sweetie, and she deserves to fly, but having only LiPo fuel these days I need to buy some of the oily stuff for her.

The accompanying (very old) instructions very firmly stress that the FA 45s must only be fed 20% Castor fuel, with the advances in fuel technology, is this still true, or would those of you in the know suggest the addition of some Synthetic might be an improvement on 20% Castor. Also, what percentage nitro' would be recommended?

Oh, and any suggestions as to a suitable airframe for the Saito to power?

I have one of these in a Flair Nieuport 17 (see photo) and i used to run it on the fuel martin suggests but for the last year i ditched the castor and used my normal Laser 5 fuel. It works a treat and runs better than ever.

I agree with his airframe recommendation too. A nice biplane would be ideal

[Ian Jones]

My fuel of choice for everything for the last 12 years has been "Model Technics Ivine Contest 10" but with the closing of nearby model shops and the price hike in fuel generally I found it was getting difficult and expensive to come by.

A friend introduced me to Weston fuels and I settled on Prosynth 2000 10% which after a few clioks on the main needle I found to be a worthy replacement. Delivery, no problem. So I'm in the thumbs up for Weston crowd now.

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Thanks for all the help & suggestions......I'm very drawn to the Weston fuels for several reasons....the ease of supply & the (allegedly) lower oil content. I'd be lying if I said the keen pricing wasn't a factor too.

Which to choose though? Prosynth or Liquid Gold.....I wonder if they'd send me a mixed case so I could try both....

[Jon H]

if you are running any Lasers be aware that none of the Weston fuels meet our warranty spec.

And before everyone goes mad I am not getting into a debate about why this is and wont be answering questions about it.

Its not compliant, we don't recommend it for Laser engines, end of story.

Sorry to be abrupt, but we will be arguing for weeks otherwise and that is not the point of the thread.