Regular Engine Clean

I think with the Syn. oil combined with the castor you have a little much if you can reduce the syn.to 5% and 20% castor would not hurt the engine at all ,, There is one person here that run only synthetic oil and has never had a problem . An easy fix to me would bee just remove the fuel hose from witch ever is easier and syringe some alcohol through the spray bar (just enough to clean out ) Although you should not have to do this in my option . You could also and i have done this on a engine not wanting to perform force some fuel through the needle valve on a bee type engine put hose on one side and cover the other nipple (so it can't get out ) to open up the tiny holes .

Hi All,

Thank you all for your replies. All of them are clearly methods that work for you and are therefore very useful advice to me! It is the one piece of after-run maintenance never mentioned when discussing after run care and I felt it is a piece I am missing as a clean fuel path is very important, and if it helps me get a reliable and consistent run from my engines each week, then its not much work whichever way I do it, or combination of advice. Somewhere between it all is the Gold I was seeking Little things can make a big difference sometimes, even if it does nothing more than make me feel better that Im maintaining my engine better, thats a win anyway.

I will look at my fuel mix Im using also. I have a drag race fuel supplier not far away and I can buy race quality methanol, nitro and he sells castor also. So I think I will go see him, he might even mix it for me for a bit extra, then I can have 25% nitro, 20% castor, and 5% synth and the rest methanol. Maybe even 15,5 castor,synth. That might help keep the system cleaner. I wouldn't go all synth, although I have no issue with people doing that, and it may work well for them and maybe is even better, but the traditional way, with a bit of synth to help clean from its detergents seems a good pragmatic solution.

thank you to all that have offered advice.

Yabby

Glad We could bee of some help Yabby , That sounds like a plan to get some mixed up for you to try out . One more thing Are you using a filter on the filler hose to filter right before going into the tank or even tank to engine hose. ? Consider joining our little group , It's free and obligation is very low LOL Love to see some of your projects and you can do YouTube and post here on the forum ! PS. Most people here as far as i know use a 10W oil as in air tool oil for after run oil .

Good morning my friends. For several years I have been using the spray can of brake cleaner which can be found at all the auto parts houses and probably available at Amazon and Walmart and Ollies as well. What makes it great for our uses is it has fairly high pressure and comes with a spray tube for direct application and does a fantastic job of cleaning the fuel jets (needle valve ports) and the entire engine as well as dirt if you happen to semi-bury the engine on a flight.

If you haven't used the Brake cleaner spray before you should give it a try. Once you use it you won't use anything else.

My tip for the day!

Dick

Could not agree more, Dick. I also keep a can in my field box just in case.

It is not so efficient in removing large slabs of sand and debris from the engine after an unplanned landing in rough dirt terrain where I usually fly - for that purpose I use the garden hose-, but for cleaning the venturi and the cylinder after a disassembly, it comes really handy.

Yep,
I use the can of break cleaner when my Bee runs erratically.
I remove the needle valve and give a shot of brake cleaner down the needle valve hole.
Then a shot of "clean" fuel down the hole. Then thread the needle valve back into the hole.

By the way, on my fuel line I use a Sullivan "crap trap" filter in the line when I fuel my engines up.
I like where you can see the screens and the gunk it collects.
Just to make sure I'm getting debris free fuel.

I've always used carb cleaner on small engines because it is formulated for use on aluminum, plastic, and pot metal that they are made from.
It is still very strong and will take the skin off your hands if you are not careful.
It is especially useful in cleaning old fuel out of the red Cox tank mounts.
Just put the spray straw into one port (a small piece of fuel line will make connection) and turn the other ports away from you.
Give three shots with about a minute between each and your hard to clean tank mount is cleaner than the day it was made.
Of course, only use outside or in well ventilated areas.

Goodaye all,

Since starting this thread quite some time ago, i have learnt a lot! The number one for me has been that I mix my own fuel at 25 castor,25 nitro,50 methanol, which I get from the distributor who sponsored my GP motorbike road racing, and after that my speedway racing, so Im confident of very high quality ingredients. I use inline filters and even clean them now and then

I clean my entire model after use from one end to the other with a rag and a bit of metho on it. Surprising how many little faults can be found as you do this. Ones that would have been serious later but not quite yet. Again, learnt from my bike racing where after a race meeting we did either rings or pistons and rings. rings every meeting. pistons every second. Crankshaft every 500 miles. The last thing after the work was the bike was cleaned in great detail from one end to the other, every nut checked, all lockwire checked, every piece of the frame cleaned and inspected for cracks,....... I clean my models in a similar way and it has saved me from a crash next time I flew. Things like a small split in my plank wing, or one elevator hinge coming loose. I clean the outside of my engine with metho and a rag, and then I clean the fuel chain through. My engines get used each weekend so I dont worry about after run oil. But if storing an engine for a while I work Singer oil through them which I quite like.

before running an engine that has sat for a week or longer I work some oil through the front crank plate and through the crank housing as that sees load often well before oil. matbe its not needed. but it makes me feel better. Probably a lot of what I after using a model is not needed, but I have a beer whilst I do it, and I it makes me feel better, so no harm done.

Yabby


I tend not to disassemble an engine unless I have to and have found this to be fine, but I believe I have improved the initial builds I do from people hints and ideas on the forum, hence my engines start easy, run consistent and are reliable. I build rubbish models but I cant help due to old habits looking after them post use.

I had not thought about using carb/brake cleaner to clean fuel tanks but it's a great idea.

For rotary valve engines I use Remoil squrted with the straw through the needles opening, then blown out with low volume compressed air. For longer term storage I add a drop or two of after run oil followed by lots of flipping.