In Defence of Nitro

The latest episode of the Care and feeding of IC engines goes against the recommended procedure from the manufacturers of all the Glow types I have or had.

MDS
Irvine
OS
SC
J'en
Plus a couple similar to the SC badge

The article does however state that the given procedure works for him.

Very well done so far.

Flytilbroke wrote: The latest episode of the Care and feeding of IC engines goes against the recommended procedure from the manufacturers of all the Glow types I have or had.

MDS
Irvine
OS
SC
J'en
Plus a couple similar to the SC badge

The article does however state that the given procedure works for him.

Very well done so far.

A valid point FTB. It should also be noted that I recommend reading manufacturer's instructions first and that I offer this procedure if those instructions are not available. I always recommend following the manufacturer's instructions if they are available. Not withstanding that I have developed this methodology over many years and have used it successfully on OS, Enya, HP, Tiapan, YS, MDS, ASP, Supertigre, OPS, and even Mills and DC. Admittedly the last two were complete rebuilds of diesel motors with components I manufactured myself. I have no experience with Irvine, SC or J'en.

As you have noted I do not offer this procedure as the correct one, or the best, I merely note that it works for me.

Great stuff Grumpy42.

I have no quibbles about the running in procedure described in the latest episode, the main point surely is to run a bit rich, not at full throttle and for short periods to ensure both the engines and its bearings do not over heat.

As this is intended to include beginners should there not be a bit of an explanation as to why this sort of thing is so important.
Along the lines of
"Methanol as a fuel can burn very hot so much so it can cause the engine to over heat and seize, particularly when it is new and slightly 'tight'. Running a bit rich significantly reduces the combustion temperature and also ensures an adequate oil supply.
It is possible to ruin even a well used glow plug engine by running it on too weak a mixture."

Just my two pennyworth.

At the risk of sounding argumentative, which it is not meant to be. ABC Two stroke Glow motors in the main are meant to be brought up to full speed for short periods during the initial running in period. This is meant to bring them up to Full running temperature to allow for the designed expansion of the metals used in both the Cylinder and Piston. The rest of the time other than these short runs, are run in a fuel rich state described as "four stroking". The Cylinder bore is slightly tapered in toward the Cylinder, hense the tightness, especially when new. The idea is that if run in when in a cool state, the wear may be excessive and when eventually they are brought up to full speed and temperature they may be too loose and less than optimum fit.

As Grumpy42 states, read the manual if you have one. Other than that I know a few modelers who copy his procedure.

Flytilbroke wrote: At the risk of sounding argumentative, which it is not meant to be. ABC Two stroke Glow motors in the main are meant to be brought up to full speed for short periods during the initial running in period.

As Grumpy42 states, read the manual if you have one. Other than that I know a few modelers who copy his procedure.

I understand this to be the correct procedure for ABC as well.
Maybe a point Grumpy will cover at some point is how oil acts as a coolant, not just a lubricant.
The oil absorbs heat energy from the metal & is then expelled out through the exhaust. .... care to elaborate on this in your serious thread Grumpy?

Pol.

I don't think you're being argumentative FTB. We are all reasonably intelligent on this forum and a good robust discussion with alternative points of view is what makes it worth while. As I have already noted there are always several different ways of going about things in most aspects of our hobby - (or if you like religion). I know my method is different to that of OS but I have seen a few blokes take the "put it in the air and run at full throttle" to extremes - result - seized motor. I've found that running the motor for the first tank at less than full throttle gives the other components time to bed in and then a gradual advancement to full throttle - with frequent throttling back seems to bed the piston and liner in as well. The other difference is that I do not run my motors in in the air - I do all my running in on the bench. A motor gets much hotter much quicker on the bench - especially when it is brand new. I do recommend that beginners follow the manufacturer's instructions and offer my method if they have no manual for the motor. Once again I say - it works for me.

Polyphilla wrote: I understand this to be the correct procedure for ABC as well.
Maybe a point Grumpy will cover at some point is how oil acts as a coolant, not just a lubricant.
The oil absorbs heat energy from the metal & is then expelled out through the exhaust. .... care to elaborate on this in your serious thread Grumpy?

Pol.

The next installment of Care and Feeding will go into a lot of the design philosophy of I/C engines Pol. I'll tackle design considerations and one of the items to be looked at is cooling. Post should be up about the end of the week - in two sections - it's a long one.

BTW Pol - when's the big day??????

Grumpy42 wrote: The next installment of Care and Feeding will go into a lot of the design philosophy of I/C engines Pol. I'll tackle design considerations and one of the items to be looked at is cooling. Post should be up about the end of the week - in two sections - it's a long one.

BTW Pol - when's the big day??????

The next installment of Wedding Plans will go into a lot of the philosophy of marriage Grumpy.
I'll tackle marital considerations and one of the items to be looked at is arguments over workshop space. Post should be up about the end of the year - in twenty two sections - it's a VERY long one.

End of the year Phil Oh, a cooling off period I wish it would stop dripping on me head when I go outside, I have a few Engines to give a Springtime rev up. Big problem is indesision, use an Irvine .46 which I have or get me an Irvine .53 to mount on the much worked on "used" Seamaster aquired at the 2011 Nationals. My original Seamaster started life on .46, and a .53 much improved it. The original Irvine .53 from my previous Seamaster is decorating the bottom of Loch Insh.

I took the Electric out of the Nationals one. Now it will be