Fuel for glow engines

Can anyone advise me on the best fuel to use and why, also where is the best place to obtain it. 5% and 10%

Peter

Depends on the engine: small/large; plain bearing/ball bearing; lapped piston/ABC ETC/ringed. (no diesels I presume)
As an example, Cox 049 TeeDee is a steel piston and liner with a ball and cup little end and a plain main bearing. Usual fuel is 20%castor and a min of 20% nitro. A big Super Tiger is a steel liner with a ring, a conventional little end and a ball bearing main. Usual fuel is 7% synthetic oil, 5% castor and 5% - 15% nitro.
As I said at the start, depends on the engine/engines.

Pete best all round fuel is model technics Bekra 10%, myself, Rich and others have been using it trouble free for years and non of that horrible castor in it either

M

yup bekra is the good stuff.

Kerosene? All the best IC (and occasional EC! ) engines run on Kerosene

Andy

Thanks guys
But why is it better than any other and where do you buy it ? is it local ?
Peter

Well for everyday usage, sport flying of planes, on modern ball bearing ABC engines I've used Southern Modelcraft fuel (15% ML70 synthetic + 2% castor) for the past 10 years - no problems. At £10 - £12 a gallon for 5% - 10% nitro its cheap enought. You could pick some up at Weston Park and if you require 10 gallons or more there is a quantity discount but you need to pre order.
southern.modelcraft@virgin.net
Allan

Bekra gets my vote, I use 10% in both two stroke and four, helis and fixed wing the Klotz oil in it seems to suit glow motors well though don't try Klotz oil in petrols it did'nt work for me at all

For Glow
I have used commercial Fuel, particularly ModelTechnics and Moglo (Southern-Modelcraft) obtainable at shows and my own brews.

Diesels ...Oh I love that smell !

FuelMix Ether Kerosene Castor oil Isopropyl Nitrate (from ModTech web)
D1000 35% 35.00% 28% 2.00%
D2000 30% 43.75% 24% 2.25%
D3000 30% 47.50% 20% 2.50%
Gas Power
I have Roto 25
recommend Motul 2Stroke mix
(800 2T premix Ratio :For off road applications premix at 2% (50:1).)
Jonesies Motorcycles St Asaph Ave Kinmel Bay

I used Bekra 20% in my helicopters for a number of years with no problems at all. This year I changed to Optifuel 20% as Zaid and I negotiated a direct deal on bulk purchase which showed a cost saving. I now use this fuel in all my engines both helicopter and fixed wing. Both fuels have 18% synthetic oil.
The amount of nitro depends on what engine you are running (see the engine instructions for guidance) but in general 10% nitro will help to give a smooth tickover and more than enough power for sport use. Increasing the nitro content not only gives more power but allows you to run slightly richer which in turn means that the engine runs cooler. I carry a melted piston from a Hyprer 50 on my key ring to remind me of the penalty of to lean an engine run.
I thgink that the Model Exchange carry Bekra and I know that Steve Web has started to stock Optifuel. I have 6 gallons of Optifuel 20% in stock if you want a gallon to try.


DaveS

Thanks again guys

A great help I can see that one point mentioned is that good fuel helps to stop the engine stalling if the engine is correctly set before flight, possibly slightly rich.
It looks like Bekra 10% has the vote for a general use fuel for me. I know this is what Richie recommends also.

Peter