Mixing in a little castor oil

rsv1cox Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:37 am

Using Larry's conversion calculator I mixed in four ounces of Sig castor oil into an existing bottle of Sidewinder fuel @ 20% nitro and 10% oil. Having nothing better on hand, I used a one oz iodine bottle flushed out. This stuff on a cool morning is about the consistency of honey, resisting the urge to take a taste Smile

I added the four ounces.

I had just received this C/L Enya .09 and using it gave the new mix a try.

Previous owner evidently had painted or touched up the model with the engine on it. Lot's of epoxy on the back case too. The propeller that came on it is interesting. It's unmarked except for "Made in Japan" and D7 P4.5 on the hub. The PO also used a pencil soldering iron to etch the numbers 2348175 into one of the blades. Curious.

Using the new castor mix it started on the third flip a little lean. After running it rich for a while I leaned it out and it ran strong until I shut it down. I love these little Enya's.

I cleaned it up and it turned out nice. I have a couple of these Enya .09's. I'm thinking about scratch building another P-38.

I guess the point of all this is that I feel a little more comfortable about the longevity of my engines. Smile

NEW222 Mon Aug 24, 2015 3:53 pm

Great post. I am just about to mix in my castor oil as well, and am using the same Sidewinder fuel as you are. Just a quick question. Did you stir in the castor oil after adding it, or did you shake the living bejesus out of it to mix it?

rsv1cox Mon Aug 24, 2015 4:57 pm

Yes, That shake thing. Smile

The castor is heavier than the fuel and it all sank to the bottom. Shaking it mixed it up. I think I will shake it each time I use it.

Bob

Oldenginerod Mon Aug 24, 2015 5:06 pm

Good job with the Enya Bob. I actually have another one on the way as well. Hopefully it's a runner once I replace a missing head screw. That makes about 4 or 5 Enya .09s for me. Favorite engine of all time (sorry Cox guys).
Actually, Enya only recommend 0%-5% nitro. As a youngster I only ever ran mine of 0 and it always performed faultlessly.
Once this one arrives it will get a good coolant cook-up and a replacement head screw & we'll see if she runs.

Rod.

rsv1cox Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:44 pm

Thanks Rod, My favorites too. My first "Big Boy" engine was an Enya, I still have it, a .29 mounted on my Sterling Fledgling. It's been inactive for the past 30 or so years, but I just bought new batterys for the Airtronics so I may have it back in the air soon.

Not to worry you, but I hope there isn't a reason for that missing screw. Usually the screw threads will strip first before the case. But, it's probably just missing under the previous owners work bench.

We share the feeling of accomplishment in taking a dirty old engine, cleaning it up and giving it new life.

I have this one coming, an ebay buy for $12.95. I was the only bidder. Wonder why. Smile

It will give me a morning or two of enjoyment crock cooking, disassembling, cleaning it up, reassembling and running. I did check that anti freeze, reading the back panel it is full strength. I just did a couple of Wen's in it and they turned out nice, but this time I scrubbed them with a tooth brush while they were still hot in the pot. Fingers got a little warm though but it was worth it. Smile

**RknRusty** Mon Aug 24, 2015 11:49 pm

Ooh, that's pretty cruddy. It should give you a nice feeling of accomplishment when it shines again.
I wonder what that number scribed on the prop was. Strange place for such a thing. Just stay out of the arc of those old props, we don't want you to have 2348175 stitches on your face.

I have an Enya 35 with a square venturi, but I've never cranked it. That's a brand I know nothing about. You're tempting to bolt mine up and crank it.
Rusty

Oldenginerod Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:08 am

rsv1cox wrote:Thanks Rod, My favorites too. My first "Big Boy" engine was an Enya, I still have it, a .29 mounted on my Sterling Fledgling. It's been inactive for the past 30 or so years, but I just bought new batterys for the Airtronics so I may have it back in the air soon.
Not to worry you, but I hope there isn't a reason for that missing screw. Usually the screw threads will strip first before the case. But, it's probably just missing under the previous owners work bench.
We share the feeling of accomplishment in taking a dirty old engine, cleaning it up and giving it new life.
I have this one coming, an ebay buy for $12.95. I was the only bidder. Wonder why. It will give me a morning or two of enjoyment crock cooking, disassembling, cleaning it up, reassembling and running. I did check that anti freeze, reading the back panel it is full strength. I just did a couple of Wen's in it and they turned out nice, but this time I scrubbed them with a tooth brush while they were still hot in the pot. Fingers got a little warm though but it was worth it.

I paid $16.50 AUD, that's about $12 USD and it was local. I checked and he says the screw is missing & not broken off, although I had thought about the stripped thread thing. Not to worry, a new crankcase is readily available and not expensive if everything else turns out to be ok. The seller did say "poor compression", but that's probably (hopefully) due to the missing screw.
As mentioned, I have about 4-5 .09s now, a .15 that I bought brand new as a kid, a .19 that I got from Japan on ebay for about $9 delivered, a .35 with the square venturi and an unflown .60 which I inherited along with the .35. I doubt I'll ever build anything big enough for the .60, but it sure is exciting (and a little frightening) to bench run.

getback Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:03 am

Cool Deal , I have a .09 Enya myself I need to get back out and rerun I think I had to little castor and too much Nitro last time and it got hot and didn't want to restart ? Yea Bob my first big goy engine was a Enya 29 also had a hard time breaking that badboy in its on a shoestring upstairs and needs bellcrank fixed, recovering , ect. she was scary at 15 yrs old . Lol getback Embarassed

**RknRusty** Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:13 am

My first Big Boy engine was an OS .35fp. I got it when I was 57 Haha.

rsv1cox Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:44 am

Rusty, I call it "Crispy", looks like it stayed in the bottom of a lake for some time.

I wonder about that number too. Why the effort. It could be someone's social security number missing a number but it could be to weak for me to see it. Maybe an ID incase it flew away.

Rod, I would love to collect Enyas, but the number of types built is staggering. .049's thru .60's and beyond, C/L. R/C, BB, SS, Boat, Heli, 2 stroke, 4 stroke and more. I counted the number of needle valves available on ebay and came up with 22, there are probably many more.

Needle valves are maddening. So many different types. I have bought some Enya's minus NV's and finding the proper replacement is difficult.

I have started testing all of mine I have recently purchased. I can't keep them straight so I record the date, type, and if they run well or not on a piece of paper then clean and bag them for future use.

RK Flyer Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:49 am

I just ordered some Brodak 10% nitro , 29 % castor for my older Fox, Mc Coy & Enya engines, 35 - 15. Has anyone tried this fuel before?

RK Flyer Flying

TDbandit Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:00 pm

RK Flyer wrote:I just ordered some Brodak 10% nitro , 29 % castor for my older Fox, Mc Coy & Enya engines, 35 - 15. Has anyone tried this fuel before?

RK Flyer

I have, I run it in my Fox .35 and .15X and had good results with both so far on it my .15X especially seems to like it. Opinions of others may be different though (Bandit)

Oldenginerod Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:03 pm

RK Flyer wrote:I just ordered some Brodak 10% nitro , 29 % castor for my older Fox, Mc Coy & Enya engines, 35 - 15. Has anyone tried this fuel before?

RK Flyer

With that much castor oil you will make a big mess, and depending on the quality they use it could lead to some serious varnishing, but you certainly won't do the engine any harm. I think it should work pretty well for that engine.
In fact, not many people understand that additional castor actually serves to increase compression, thus potentially improving performance. Then again, that much oil may create extra drag also and counter any performance gain.

TDbandit Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:19 pm

Oldenginerod wrote:
RK Flyer wrote:I just ordered some Brodak 10% nitro , 29 % castor for my older Fox, Mc Coy & Enya engines, 35 - 15. Has anyone tried this fuel before?

RK Flyer
With that much castor oil you will make a big mess, and depending on the quality they use it could lead to some serious varnishing, but you certainly won't do the engine any harm. I think it should work pretty well for that engine.
In fact, not many people understand that additional castor actually serves to increase compression, thus potentially improving performance. Then again, that much oil may create extra drag also and counter any performance gain.

I've been using it and so far I haven't had any issues but yup it is very messy and there is a real chance you can develop varnish especially with a screaming lean run. but the good news is you can be rest assured that it will be well protected. (Bandit)

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