MK 17 Diesel

Thanks Ken! I have 6 Nitro's and I love them but this diesel is gonna be fun to mess with. I'm a retired truck driver so diesel is in my blood. LOL

I was fortunate to have some old Red Max diesel fuel which is going on 20 yrs old. It works great for me. Davis Diesel fuel is available through Tower Hobbies and should work well for that engine. I believe Davis makes two kinds of fuel one for bushed cranks and one for ball bearing supported cranks. It's nice though if this is your first time that you can buy pre mixed fuel without having to obtain the ingredients as ether can't really be sourced.

I'll look into that. Thanks!

i love the mk17
i might build a tractor puller with one
i run them on this fuel

20% dyether
30% olive oil (castor oil also works)
50% clear lamp oil ( petrolium also works)

i can buy ether is 1 a 5 liter jugs so i do all the mixing myself

Thanks robot797! The olive oil intrigues me. I'll give your mix a try.

i forgot th mention
extra virgin olive oil
that is the kind you want
to be honnest i have not done long term tests
but i ran my cox generator on it
it seems to like it
and my my17 also had half of a liter without problems

i just have to run and wait
ps i sorted my diesels today
and i found out i have 4 mk17 lying around

Awesome! Thanks again

Personally, I would be avoiding the Olive oil as it is way too light. Castor oil is a far better option because it doesn't combust, taking a lot of engine heat out the exhaust with it. A diesel also needs something with extremely good film strength. You can use ordinary mineral engine oil in a diesel. I'd suggest SAE40 or 50 monograde as these have fewer additives and friction modifiers.

i never had olive oil burning
as far as i have observed
it handels the same and does the same as castor but a hell of a lot cheaper (3 euro for 100ml castor here 2 euro for 1 liter olive oil)

robot797 wrote:i never had olive oil burning
as far as i have observed
it handels the same and does the same as castor but a hell of a lot cheaper (3 euro for 100ml castor here 2 euro for 1 liter olive oil)

I would imagine Castor oil should be available cheaper than that. Count yourself lucky that you can readily obtain ether. Last time I bought ether it cost me equivalent to 15 euro for a litre, and I was only able to obtain it through "devious" means. It made me feel like a drug dealer when organizing the purchase. The only "legitimate" way to obtain it is directly from the chemical company using their own hazardous materials delivery service. I could get 3 litres of ether for about $18USD but would have cost me over $40USD delivery. They wouldn't allow me to pick it up directly. We can't use the starting fluid option because, being in a warm climate, all local starting fluids are low ether content.

watertrucker wrote:Awesome! Thanks again

As Ken mentioned, if you can get a commercial mix (such as Davis or Eric Clutton) you are much better off using that at first until you get used to starting and running your diesel. That way, you eliminate the doubts about your fuel and concentrate on the engine. After you are running successfully, then play with fuel mixes.

If you use nylon or fiber props you may find you need to tighten the prop more than normal because the thrust washer on the Mk-17 does not provide much "bite".  

George

I would not recommend using Olive Oil - Castor Oil has very special properties

http://www.go-cl.se/castor.html

Olive Oil has a smoke point of around 200 deg C and is not a very good lubricant. A model diesel engine needs a good lubricant and castor oil is ideal.

If you lean out or over compress a diesel with Olive Oil - its lifespan will be measured in minutes.

Any oil is better than no oil but it would be better to employ a synthetic oil rather than Olive Oil and perhaps a 50/50 mix with castor to reduce the cost.

Olive Oil also tends to "harden" and become less fluid at fridge temperatures.

Thanks George and Ian for the good advice. I'm gonna break it in on Davis Diesel Fuel from Tower and then play with the home brews later. Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes.

okey
but i was always told that extra virgin olive oil is almost the same as castor
and normal olive oil is worse

i can only get food grade castor that is why it is so expencive here
ps my generator is working hard and soking in olive oil XD

robot797 wrote:i never had olive oil burning
as far as i have observed
it handels the same and does the same as castor but a hell of a lot cheaper (3 euro for 100ml castor here 2 euro for 1 liter olive oil)

That sounds like medicinal castor oil, it has a much higher requirements as it needs to be safe to drink in spite of the very potent poison of the castor bean...

You need to get castor oil for our model engines, that is a lot cheaper.
Can't imagine running "extra virgin" olive oil in an engine, the smoke point is very low and you will get soot that creates more wear on the engine, as the lubrication ability of any pristine oil is also affected. Virgin oil might be better then if you must...

sood? never had that never seen it (my cox generator looks realy clean inside)
and for the oil i cant get in in hobby grade
everything is easy to get
exept the oil XD

i am so sorry for taking over the topic
i started a new one just to talk about this

The MK-17 showed up Tuesday! Awesome little engine. I ordered a quart of 1/2A Davis Diesel fuel from Tower along with some fuel line and a 2oz tank. Should be here next week. Gonna try to start it next weekend. After break-in I want to experiment with mixing fuel. Thanks again guys for all your help!

Here is a nice summary of running in a diesel

http://adriansmodelaeroengines.com/catalog/main.php?cat_id=10

Thanks Ian! That's a good read.

watertrucker wrote:Thanks Ian! That's a good read.

I agree.  I knew about the advantage of "heat cycling" but had never considered the hardening of the cast iron piston due to it picking up fine steel particles from the cylinder.  Even with the heat cycling procedure, it's interesting to note that Adrian recommends stopping the engine by leaning it out, to ensure the piston is at its hottest, and not stopping the engine by choking, causing the piston to cool by the sudden rich mixture.  Regardless of diesel or glow, lots of interesting tips.  It's a great website, akin to the old frozen-in-time "Modelenginenews" site.

Rod.

watertrucker wrote:The MK-17 showed up Tuesday! Awesome little engine. I ordered a quart of 1/2A Davis Diesel fuel from Tower along with some fuel line and a 2oz tank. Should be here next week. Gonna try to start it next weekend. After break-in I want to experiment with mixing fuel. Thanks again guys for all your help!

I hope that was Tygon, Neoprene or some other fuel line compatible with diesel fuel. Silicone tubing swells up with diesel.

Good luck with your MK-17.

George

Thanks George! Yeah, I ordered diesel fuel line.