Is Cool Power All Synthetic really any cleaner than fuel with Castor oil in it?
#1
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Is Cool Power All Synthetic really any cleaner than fuel with Castor oil in it?
Getting sick of the greasy mess. Want to know if Cool Power is less gooey. Somebody said it makes your plane green. Really? Thanks!
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Full synthetic still slicks up your plane, it is not something I concern myself with, 45 seconds of using a paper towel and minimal effort and the plane is clean. I use the 10% WildCat 2/4, it's good stuff. It does not turn the planes orange.
#5
Normally all synthetic oil doesn't reduce the oily residue left over. The helicopter guys tend to like it as with their engines they have less residue left over to clean off of their heli's. But the reason there is less residue is due to the fact that the synthetic oil does burn and is consumed when the engine is running. Thus little to no residue. But the scary thing is if the oil burns, then what is lubricating the engine? Now they can get away with it with the helicopters due to how they adjust and run the engines. The heli guys run their engines fairly rich. You can see the cloud of smoke coming out of them too. Except the oil in their case is burning and thus the smoke. But for model airplanes, when you have the engine consuming the oil then it is too lean and it burns up quickly. So you need to be more careful to ensure that the engine doesn't go lean on you.
Now then I did not see any difference with leftover oily residue on my planes using all synthetic versus castor oil or a blend for that matter.
Now then I did not see any difference with leftover oily residue on my planes using all synthetic versus castor oil or a blend for that matter.
#7
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I believe Cool Power is also a much lower oil content thus less oil to get on the plane. I use SIG Syn Plus which has a full 18% oil by volume and it still gets oil on my plane which is fine with me. Unfortunately it is discontinued.
#8
If the needle is set properly, any glow engine will slime up the side of your plane regardless of what oil is in the fuel. Cool Power is 16-17% oil IIRC, which is less than what most model engine manufacturers suggest as a minimum for their engines (18% usually). Many folks have used it as it comes in the jug without issue, but the key is having your needle set properly.
The car guys run 8-10% oil in their engines with good longevity, but needle settings are far more critical at those low levels of oil. Higher nitro content helps as the needle needs to be richer for the engine just to run, so more oil goes through the engine at a given time with say 20% nitro than 5% nitro. At the end of the day, glow engines are all slimy. If you don't want the slime, maybe a gasoline/spark ignition engine is for you. I like the slime personally. Windex and paper towels work great for cleaning it up.
The car guys run 8-10% oil in their engines with good longevity, but needle settings are far more critical at those low levels of oil. Higher nitro content helps as the needle needs to be richer for the engine just to run, so more oil goes through the engine at a given time with say 20% nitro than 5% nitro. At the end of the day, glow engines are all slimy. If you don't want the slime, maybe a gasoline/spark ignition engine is for you. I like the slime personally. Windex and paper towels work great for cleaning it up.
#9
The synthetic vaporizes and the castor oil does not. So best to use at least some castor in the fuel for longevity. It is also good for protecting against corrosion. To clean castor oil easily add some alcohol to your favorite cleaner.
#11
Well I thought we were talking about Cool Power. I believe Wildcat uses a thicker synthetic that has a slightly evaporation point. But all will have some droplets as the exhaust cools instantly as it exists the muffler from expansion, some of the oil will condense from that, also inside the muffler from cooling inside the muffler. As I recall the Coolpower synthetic evaporation temperature is right below the exhaust temp and takes very little cooling for it to condense. Wildcat may have an evaporation temp slightly above the oil in Coolpower.
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Thanks Hugh, I never used Cool Power, there are a lot of knocks floating around concerning it, but I have no experience with it. You're right about the Wildcat synthetic lube having some body to it.
#15
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Normally all synthetic oil doesn't reduce the oily residue left over.The helicopter guys tend to like it as with their engines they have less residue left over to clean off of their heli's. But the reason there is less residue is due to the fact that the synthetic oil does burn and is consumed when the engine is running. Thus little to no residue. But the scary thing is if the oil burns, then what is lubricating the engine? Now they can get away with it with the helicopters due to how they adjust and run the engines. The heli guys run their engines fairly rich. You can see the cloud of smoke coming out of them too. Except the oil in their case is burning and thus the smoke. But for model airplanes, when you have the engine consuming the oil then it is too lean and it burns up quickly. So you need to be more careful to ensure that the engine doesn't go lean on you.
Now then I did not see any difference with leftover oily residue on my planes using all synthetic versus castor oil or a blend for that matter.
Now then I did not see any difference with leftover oily residue on my planes using all synthetic versus castor oil or a blend for that matter.
Cool Power heli fuel uses red oil which is low viscosity, so it may appear to be less oil to clean off compared to airplane fuel which uses the high viscosity blue oil.
Helis smoke alot because they would generally use 20% oil and run them fairly rich. This is because they don't get the same airflow over the engine for cooling as airplanes do, so rely on more oil for cooling.
The oil serves 2 purposes - Lubrication and cooling.
Synthetic oil does not evaporate, if it did, then it wouldn't cool the engine properly.
The oil will burn whether the engine is in a plane or heli, but it doesn't burn completely. The higher the oil content or richer the mixture, the more smoke is created. Nothing to do with being a heli or plane. It's purely oil content and mixture.
#16
Helis often run 30% nitro 23% oil from what I've read - plus a friend of mine flies helis and that's the mix he used. Oil doesn't cool for beans - what helps cool the engine is the high nitro combined with the required rich needle setting which allows more fuel to go through the engine at a given time. The oil may carry away a little bit of heat, but not much.
#17
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Helis often run 30% nitro 23% oil from what I've read - plus a friend of mine flies helis and that's the mix he used. Oil doesn't cool for beans - what helps cool the engine is the high nitro combined with the required rich needle setting which allows more fuel to go through the engine at a given time. The oil may carry away a little bit of heat, but not much.
#18
QSport is correct. Also the synthetic oil vaporizes, not evaporates, That is a huge difference as vapor has many saturated droplets and evaporation implies that the oil becomes superheated with no droplets. It does so as the fuel burns, so there is still plenty of oil on the rings because the oil gets there from the crankcase around the piston and from the bottom. Think about it in a four stroke engine all of the oil is in the crankcase and the rings are lubricated from oil sprayed on from the wrist pin or vapor from the crankcase.
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You also have to give oil credit for removing heat by reducing friction, that can't be ignored. I am also in the camp of those who believe the oil removes a substantial amount of heat, otherwise it wouldn't burn your hand when it comes. I am not being disagreeable Tim, that's just my view however right or wrong it may be.
#20
Methanol has a much higher latent heat of evaporation than any oil used in model engines.
Its not that I know everything, because I don't. It's common knowledge to a somewhat experienced modeler IMO. Test the theory yourself and prove me wrong instead of quibbling. You could really rub it in and make a video of the whole experiment too.. If I didn't have a foot of snow in my yard right now, I'd make the video for ya.
Its not that I know everything, because I don't. It's common knowledge to a somewhat experienced modeler IMO. Test the theory yourself and prove me wrong instead of quibbling. You could really rub it in and make a video of the whole experiment too.. If I didn't have a foot of snow in my yard right now, I'd make the video for ya.
Last edited by 1QwkSport2.5r; 02-04-2016 at 04:27 AM.
#21
You also have to give oil credit for removing heat by reducing friction, that can't be ignored. I am also in the camp of those who believe the oil removes a substantial amount of heat, otherwise it wouldn't burn your hand when it comes. I am not being disagreeable Tim, that's just my view however right or wrong it may be.
Oil doesn't completely vaporize and castor doesn't at all, so the heat causes temperature change not phase change. Also a liquid conducts the heat into your body much more quickly and our sense picks up both heat and temperature. He didn't say it doesn't take any heat away, just not as much as some claim.
#22
Methanol has a much higher latent heat of evaporation than any oil used in model engines.
Its not that I know everything, because I don't. It's common knowledge to a somewhat experienced modeler IMO. Test the theory yourself and prove me wrong instead of quibbling. You could really rub it in and make a video of the whole experiment too.. If I didn't have a foot of snow in my yard right now, I'd make the video for ya.
Its not that I know everything, because I don't. It's common knowledge to a somewhat experienced modeler IMO. Test the theory yourself and prove me wrong instead of quibbling. You could really rub it in and make a video of the whole experiment too.. If I didn't have a foot of snow in my yard right now, I'd make the video for ya.
#23
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QSport is correct. Also the synthetic oil vaporizes, not evaporates, That is a huge difference as vapor has many saturated droplets and evaporation implies that the oil becomes superheated with no droplets. It does so as the fuel burns, so there is still plenty of oil on the rings because the oil gets there from the crankcase around the piston and from the bottom. Think about it in a four stroke engine all of the oil is in the crankcase and the rings are lubricated from oil sprayed on from the wrist pin or vapor from the crankcase.
#24
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Methanol has a much higher latent heat of evaporation than any oil used in model engines.
Its not that I know everything, because I don't. It's common knowledge to a somewhat experienced modeler IMO. Test the theory yourself and prove me wrong instead of quibbling. You could really rub it in and make a video of the whole experiment too.. If I didn't have a foot of snow in my yard right now, I'd make the video for ya.
Its not that I know everything, because I don't. It's common knowledge to a somewhat experienced modeler IMO. Test the theory yourself and prove me wrong instead of quibbling. You could really rub it in and make a video of the whole experiment too.. If I didn't have a foot of snow in my yard right now, I'd make the video for ya.
#25
Drac,
I am a professional Mechanical Engineer and he was correct. The oil is not a significant portion of the heat loss. I could put up some calculations if you want but I doubt that would suffice.
I am a professional Mechanical Engineer and he was correct. The oil is not a significant portion of the heat loss. I could put up some calculations if you want but I doubt that would suffice.