Nitro fuel qualities
 

Hey there, just wondering if anyone can tell me what makes up nitro fuel.
What I mean is what are the chemical percentages that go into making 25% nitro fuel?

I have some fuel going out to be tested and need to know what its chemical break down should be.

25% would be 25% nitromethane, somewhere between 8-14% oil, either castor, synthetic or some combo of the two with the rest methanol. That's it. Some may have small amounts of rust inhibitors, anti-foams or detergents in them but not much and they aren't needed.

Cheers for that, would the added dye also be a quantity?

Not all fuels have dye and when they do, it's just a few drops. Not even .1%.

Could I add a couple of drops of food coloring without affecting it?

The way I understand it is most food dyes are water basted and that don't work with our fuels. I could be wrong. I'm sure someone will chime in on this.

The oils most of the time give the fuel it's colour.

what fuel are you testing?

Correct, food coloring is water based and will not mix with the fuel, It will seperate itself just like a few drop of oil in water does.

Lance
RcRenew

PM sent

Why PM?

Here is a link to some oil based fuel coloring products,
http://www.unitedcolor.com/petroleum.html

Hey Dave

when you have the fuel tested its important that it has a dye in it to test with . What you may find a problem is that in Australia under Govt regulation there is a chemical added to all methanol which is a reactant to heat and sun light exposiure which is a safety indicator. When you get safe methanol from a fresh batch it is a very slightly blue colour. this is the indicator. If you pour a fresh batch of methanol and its not blue then it may have been exposed to heat prior to you receving it. When its fresh it has more chance of reacting to dyes in fuel and can fade in colour when exposed.

The Indicator has a PH of about 7 or 8 . Now depending on the dye used in the RC Fuel it may also detriorate the colour dye of the fuel added when not stored correctly. Typically it can fade in sunlight or if it goes from extreme cold to heat .. like if you store it in a fridge then take it to the track and leave it in 40 deg sun light. These extremes can fade the colour of fuel. typically the colouring is less than .03 % of the make up of a fuel . Mind you the fuel can fade while being transported. Even if its in a van or car in the back or in the boot of a car. this can kick off the process.

Wether a fuel has a dye in it or not makes absolutely no difference to its performance except in top end. Some Dyno runs with fuels with no dye have returned between 300 to 500 more rpm in the top end. This is typically good for Drag Racing or Boat / Plane applications.

There are plenty of fuel dyes avail for fuel, . The more you use the more chance you have of leaving discolouration inside the engine.. some people dont like it happening but its not always the dyes fault. Gulf Western make an awesome colour dye for this application. It is PH balanced and alkaline in make up. yes alkaline can react in nitromethane but only in lage or equal ratios .. when used in small quantities makes no diff.

Hope this helps with your testing

Cheers Sandy

www.massivemods.com

In a normal case the oils are making the differences in performance and needed maintenance but you can get Methanol ad Nitro in several ranges of purity. Les purity is cheaper but it will affect the performance, less purity does also mean there is more water in it and that can sometimes be the cause of rust on the bearings and crankshaft.

I think youll find that nitric acid residue and moisture coupled with slack after run care are the key cause of corrosion in methanol based fuels.

All methanol has water in it. its impossible not to have a small component in methanol because of its Hygroscopic nature.

There are about 4 brands of methanol avail in Australia that im aware of. All are pretty good. I had some years ago from Kuwait in green drums. that stuff was really nice, it felt smooth. The Coogee meth we generally use is not bad .. it has a raspier feel to it.

You know you can get a 25 litre of nitro fuel and add a cup of water to it and you will not notice the difference. Some top fuelers add water to their nitro fuel.