wmay11

iTrader: (3)

Hi guys, looking for some help on mixing fuel..... unfortunately we do not have all the top fuel brands available and the only other option is to mix my own batch. I can source good nitro and meth. My question is what good oils should I use? Totally synthetic or should I add castor. Also what are the percentage splits for oils. We have klotz k-100 and there degum castor locally too. Are there better oils around, and what about igniters and anti foaming agents. Any help would be great, I run 1/8 circiut.

Warren

speedracer1bp

iTrader: (20)

I used to mix my own fuel for years when the supplies were available and had no problems. The recipe is as follows. You need a GLASS Quart measuring cup. Use de-gummed castor oil. Put 10.5 ounces of Degummed Castor oil in your measuring cup. Add Methanol to the quart mark, stir till mixed. Empty into gallon container. Then pour a full quart of Nitro into the measuring cup (this helps get all the castor). Add to gallon container. put two more quarts of Methanol in and shake...... You now have perfect 25% nitro. Remember there are 128 ounces in a gallon. I never messed with ignitors and anti foaming stuff. I thing that is selling fluff.
Hope this helps!!

stefan

Make sure you get the highest grade methanol that"s available. Methanol is cheap to begin with, so don"t try to save money here. 99,95% purity, nothing less.

Methanol is the most important ingredient in nitro fuel.
Cheap methanol makes you engine run like crap and will let it rust.

For oils, use Klotz Benol castor oil and Klotz Techniplate synthetic oil.
4% of each oil is a good point to start with. If you want more security, use 6% castor and 4 % synth.

Formula:

25% Nitro methane
4% Benol
4% Techniplate
67% Methanol

Mix it by volume using metric measurements, it's soo much more precise and easier.

When you make bigger batches which you want to store for a while, make sure to put a nitrogen blanket on the fuel in the can, so it won't spoil. Same goes for the methanol. The stuff is hygroscopic and will react with the moisture in the air.

Yep, it's not as simple as it looks

Roelof

I mix:

25% nitro
3% Castrol Racing-M (also known as M50)
6% Castrol MSSR
66% methanol

wingracer

iTrader: (24)

What's so UN-simple about it? We may be using a rocket fuel but it's not rocket science.

About Klotz. It is about the best readily available stuff out there. There are a couple others I think are even better but I'm not sure they are still around (been a few years since I did any fuel). You definitely want castor but I would use a synthetic as well, about 50/50. Like Stefan said, 4% castor 4% syn is about perfect.

wmay11

iTrader: (3)

Geez, this has been very helpfull, but does the 8 percent offer good protection? And how would you rate the fuel made with klotz and Benol over the likes of Byrons and Tornado etc. Burnt my fingers with local fuel. Did 7 min on a tank and picked the car up on the cooling head of the motor, streched the piston on a near new motor.
Whats the diff between techniplate and kl-100?

Thanks guys

wmay11

iTrader: (3)

Hi wingracer, what are the other oils you prefered?

Thank you

stefan

What I meant is using nitrogen to protect the raw materials and the mixed fuel for example. Not everybody has a bottle off nitrogen in the basement.

stefan

When I lived in the States, I had a couple of negative experiences with fuel from the shelf.
I used ODonnell, which usually was very good.But every so often we got a few cans which were not. Motors broke or were really hard to tune.

You never really know how old the fuel is that you get from the hobby shop, since none of the nmanufacturers puts an expiration date on the can, so it could have been sitting at a distributor for month, even years.

That"s why I decided to make my own fuel. I was manager of a chemical company, so I had access to all the raw materials, and cheap :-)

With the help of Edward N.we came up with the above formula and the stuff was great. Best of all, it was always fresh.

Uriah Murnan also tried it and liked it very much. Just before the stuff became really popular, I decided to move back home...

The beauty about home made fuel is, that you have total control over the raw materials and the shelf life of the fuel.

wmay11

iTrader: (3)

Hi Stefan, I got some specs for the meth that is produced locally and its states a min quality of 99.9 pure, is that OK, I have the spec sheet that I can send to you. I am sure you can make more sense of it than what I can. It goes for $1.05 per litre, if this is good enough then I can start mixing. Only downside is I have to buy 25 litres.

Cheers mate

stefan

99.9% should be ok. Usually the next grade down is 98,5% and that's no good.

$1.05 / litre is a good price and 25 litres is not much. I had to buy 200 litre drums

The meth costs you less than what you usually pay for one gallon of fuel

wmay11

iTrader: (3)

200 l, how much racing have you done buddy? I would hate to know how many motors you go through in a year

Roelof

Just do it together with some friends. most people are interested in cheap and good fuel.

wmay11

iTrader: (3)

Hi Roelof, where do you get your Castrol oils from.
And what do you guys think of Red Max olis, so far I can source all the stuff locally except castrol oils.

Roelof

A while ago I did order 12 liter each at a car parts shop.

I believe they did handle it over to Castrol Classics based in England.