Enya SS40.....fuel

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[paul d]

I had one of those years ago, no ball of fire but ultra reliable, never wore mine out despite hours of use. If it was mine I would stick to 20% castor fuel with 5% nitro.

[brokenenglish]

Posted by paul d on 29/09/2020 07:19:06:

I had one of those years ago, no ball of fire but ultra reliable, never wore mine out despite hours of use. If it was mine I would stick to 20% castor fuel with 5% nitro.

I agree. The real question is, do you want to be sure, or do you want to take a risk, knowing that, if you're wrong, you'll only find out when it's too late...

You've got a nice old engine... so run it like a nice old engine.

[Graham Davies 3]

I've had one of these for 30+ years! I was an impoverished 'yoof' when it came into my possession in a secondhand pitts special that lasted approximately 20ft from first take off! Following that, the Enya graced the pointy end of many, many models. It was and still is a great engine.

Point is, I ran it on all sorts of nonsense when I didn't know better, and it still runs fine today! I seem to recall running it on 5% nitro (because that was my defacto choice..) and either straight 20% caster as has been mentioned, or 18% 50/50 caster ML70, if I recall.

Or a mixture of aftershave and chip fat. Times were hard you know...

Graham

[edgar]

I had one from Steve Webb's, they recommended fully synthetic when I bought it, the manual Here says castor or synthetic. I hope it helps.

[J D 8]

I stopped using mainly castor based fuels years ago apart form some that have a small percent of castor in them.

All my engines run on the same fuel, from Enya 90 four strokes down to old OS max 15's [ plain bearing's ] and including an SS40 with no problems. This old Cox thimble drome rescued from a box of junk was happy running on synthetic oil 5%nitro .

[Robin Colbourne]

I had an Enya SS30 on which I put many hours in a trainer I used for instruction. I used Southern Modelcraft's '5% Double Lube High' fuel, which had 9% castor and 9% synthetic oil in addition to the methanol and 5% nitromethane. It was a while back, but I don't recall any problems with it.

[kc]

I dont agree about the comment " they were no ball of fire" I found my 2 Enya 40SS plain bearing were up around the same power as OS40 ball bearing engines. That is to say much more powerful than OS 40 FP. The Enya 30SS plain bearing was as powerful as the average 40 too. And the plain bearing Enyas last forever!

I always used straight castor - no nitro. Still running OK last time I used them before I switched to electric. I won't sell them but would sell the OS though.

[Graham Davies 3]

I agree kc; my ss40 had plenty of power. I have a 40FP too and completely agree. The 40FP is a very pleasant engine, but the Enya had mojo...

[wingcoax]

I am currently re-furbing my ss40 after a 15 year layup. It is approx 40 years old and has only had one new bearing over that time. I ran it on SMC 5%. It used to be in a ROBBE PUMA, not a light model but did very well.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[paul d]

A car from the fortys would soon go bang if lubricated with a modern 0w10 synthetic oil, I honestly think brokenenglish gave the best advice but at the end of the day it's yours to do with as you please, one thing I do remember from my ownership is that it took a age to run in.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Maurice Dyer]

Used Enya for years. Whoever said no ball of fire is wrong. Plenty of power and bullet proof tough.

SMC 5%. Gallons of it. Forget castor.

Maurice

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Engine Doctor]

Posted by Doc Marten on 29/09/2020 23:21:59

0-10 is an extreme unless you have a race engine, most modern road cars would suffer on that. I'm sure you really knew I meant a suitably graded synthetic?

Enya have always said good synth is fine, I'm curious as to why everyone is reluctant to use it even now.

Hi Doc . This is my take on it . I don't intend to upset any fellow modelers or start ANOTHER Castor /Synthetic oil war of words, .

You will always meet modelers who have grown up using castor and wont change or try synthetic based fuels due to various old wives tales and myths .Most of the flyers I know who use castor use it because its cheaper and will make up all sorts of reasons not to use synthetic oil based fuels in their modern engines .

Reasons NOT to use Castor based fuel : Technology has moved on and modern engines produce more power and hence more heat. By heat I don't mean touching the casing to test it , I mean internally during combustion etc . Castor oil when burnt produces carbon and when overheated coats moving parts in a sort of varnish that in turn causes more friction and more heat and ultimately engine failure . Looking at older engines internals that were made when the technology was changing fast back in the seventies and eighties the results of overheating and castor oil were all too often plain to see. It resulted in Pistons coated in a black carbon coating , or a thick brown varnish . other engine parts were also affected. Ducted fan engines of the day were short lived due to the revs and heat build up often causing piston failure . When this coating was visible the damage was done and parts needed replacing. Castor in four-stroke engines was just as bad causing thick build up of carbon on the valves and in the ports . Castor oil would set like gel in the cam gear causing cam or cam follower failure . It also baked on the outside of the engines making them look like a well used chip pan , remember them ? Even fuel with 2 or 3% castor added will cause carbon build up and a messy engine

Synthetic oil back in those days were a bit hit and miss but again technology has improved and engines run better and last longer on the modern synthetic oils . Look at the posts by John from Laser engines . He has been testing engines on fuel with 5% oil ! and they run perfectly well .Allso strip a modern engine down after hours of running on a modern synthetic based fuel and the piston crown will usually be spotless. That would of been unheard of forty years ago. Engines run on synthetic fuel are also easier to keep clean externally as the oil resists heat and doesn't set to a varnish or burn on like castor oil.

Even when synthetic oil does burn its generally low ash and leaves virtually no carbon build up hence why modern engines and car engines don't need regular de-cokes and run for incredible mileages

Reasons to use castor based fuel. Castor oil has its place in old engines that were designed for it and generally didn't have the tighter tolerances of modern engines with ABC piston liner set up .Also use Castor based fuel for engines with iron piston liner technology that have been run for some time on castor based fuels . On these engines the piston will likely be coated with a glaze of castor that permeates into the pores of the iron , creating a seal to give a good compression. Run an engine like this on modern synthetic based fuel and the fuel will quickly clean away the varnish and the engine will lose compression

 

Edited By Engine Doctor on 30/09/2020 11:12:09

[paul d]

Very well explained, so in Doc's case he should run his enya on castor ( unless it's new of course)...

[Jonathan M]

Agreed - excellent post Engine Doctor - I've learnt hugely from this.

[GONZO]

Another personal plus for castor is it gives you soft hands

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Robin Colbourne]

Posted by Doc Marten on 30/09/2020 14:47:59:

... if castor is needed with an Iron/Steel combo then why would Enya recommend synth for all these years?

Maybe for places where model car or helicopter fuels are much more readily available than other types?

[Nigel R]

"if castor is needed with an Iron/Steel combo then why would Enya recommend synth for all these years"

As I read it, if the engine had already been run on castor based fuel, continue.

Otherwise, synth.