nitro fuel

BFassassin

where do you guys get your nitro fuel?
i dont have a local hobby shop so i would need to order it online and get it delivered.modelsport dont deliver it outside mainland uk

tallus

I get mine at http://www.greenhobbymodel.com/ good guys who know their stuff and are always willing to talk/advise.

vectra

You can also get it at Halfords if they are closer to you.

@ tallus..
What fuel do you use ?
I am using 20% in my Revo but am thinknig of going to 25% to give it a bit more grunt..
I know that it would shorten the lifespan of my engine but by how much?
I really dont use the revo that much anyway so I probably wouldnt even notice the amount it would shorten it by..

BFassassin

do they deliver or would i have to go to them.thanks

BFassassin

i dont have a halfords close by either.
i hope i can find somewhere because if i cant i mightnt get a nitro car

tallus

I'm using 16% on my savage, hyper and RS4 and rush evo, and 5% on the menace. Derek recommended staying on 5% on the menace because it's over powered anyway.
On the topic of engine lifespan, I dont know to be honest, I'd rather have fun running it on a higher percentage fuel to be honest. I know that doesn't suit everyone but it's the way I like run mine, but obviously that's not for everyone.

tallus

BFassassin wrote:

do they deliver or would i have to go to them.thanks

I dont think either of them deliver, but I might be wrong.
How far are you from either of them BFassassin?

vectra

Where abouts are you living BFassasin ?

BFassassin

im living in dundalk co.louth at the minute. i dont know of anywhere that i could get it here.

vectra

BFassassin wrote:

im living in dundalk co.louth at the minute. i dont know of anywhere that i could get it here.

Ring Derek at the details I gave you
He should be able to sort you with a supplier
Lots of them on the other side of the border as well
Some in Newry as far as I know

BFassassin

cheers vectra

vectra

OK
Try these for nitro.

Mid Antrim Models

Lisburn County Antrim
Model Mania

Somebody here may be able to help you out as well as it should be quite close to you.;)
Navan Nitro Nuts


Hope some of that info gets you sorted.

BFassassin

i found a place in dundalk that sells it for €5.50 per litre they also do gallons but they are down to their last one and are splitting it up into 1 litre bottles.
they also have this truck for sale it is a CEN something for €399.
thanks andypimpkin2007 for pointing me in its direction

tallus

BFassassin wrote:

i found a place in dundalk that sells it for €5.50 per litre they also do gallons but they are down to their last one and are splitting it up into 1 litre bottles.
they also have this truck for sale it is a CEN something for €399.
thanks andypimpkin2007 for pointing me in its direction

Try some other forums too to see if anyone has had one ? I had a cen fun factors ATX for a while, didn't have any problems with it, but I have seen people bitching about Cen models on other forums.

g5hn710m4xpdwy

if you ask me its a cen magnum nx
its on the body and box ;-/

BFassassin

thanks i will probably go for a revo closer to the summer there are plenty of parts and hop ups available for it plus it seems to be a very good truck

@flunked i know it is a cen magnum i couldnt remember when i was posting before

Plug

Is there such thing as nitro fuel going bad, I,m asking this becouse I have a gallon thats nearly a year old. I also keep the cap on it the whole time.

BFassassin

i read on another forum that it doesnt go off it should still be ok

vectra

Plug wrote:

Is there such thing as nitro fuel going bad, I,m asking this becouse I have a gallon thats nearly a year old. I also keep the cap on it the whole time.

"Enter Coolwings"
He is the King of Nitro

Anyway,
As far as I know the following applies to nitro

1)
Buy a gallon nitro.... Take out a half liter or whatever your bottle holds.
... Clos the cap tightly on your gallon again.... If you follow this routine without having your gallon open for too long then it should be ok.

2)
Buy a Gallon of Nitro.... Open it and fill your tank.... Dont tighten the cap on the gallon properly...Use up your tank fill it again... Continue with this procedure and then put your aallon away without tightening your cap and I am pretty sure it will go off.

I could be wrong but I dont think I am . :cool:

Another thing to do is,
Try a tank and see if it works... If it does... Best of luck

coolwings

Hiya Vectra - it's is ironic - most of my models at present seem to be "dry" leccies, (I still have a pair of "slimers" tho)

Model Fuel is:
A nitro methane - doesn't go off
B methanol - which can go off two ways -
- 1 methanol absorbs moisture from the air (very quickly) like tissue paper over a boiling kettle
- 2 ultraviolet light degrades the methanol
C fuel dye - shouldn't go off but it does, especially in strong sunlight
D oil - which can be synthetic or castor - the synthetic types store well - but the castor oils form a crystalline deposit over time, so castor oil degrades over time, unless you are in the habit of filtering the sludge in the bottom of your container.

So if it is synthetic and airtight and kept in the dark it may keep years.

If it is castor and airtight it will keep 6-12 months ok and degrade slowly so at 18 months it will work, but not as well as you would wish, and so on. The bit in the lower half of the container might clog up your carburettor at this or a longer period.

If it is darkly coloured, and allowed to warm up daily in sunlight, the dye will fade, and at the same time assist methanol degradation. So you get a serious falloff in quality, over a few months.

What Vectra says is right - if it was airtight, try it and see.
General guide:
If it opens like a flat soft drink with no "psssss" , it's on the way downhill, but it may still be good enough, try it anyway.
If you look in in bright light and see jelly-like threads in the fuel, or crystals in the bottom, filter before trying it.

coolwings

coolwings wrote:

..... methanol absorbs moisture from the air (very quickly) like tissue paper over a boiling kettle ....

BTW
If you ever have bought high nitro fuel and don't like the effects of it, (possible rattles=detonation, overheating engine, glowplugs burning out each run) in your particular model, and want to return to your old fuel.
you don't have to waste the new fuel.
Just add a teaspoonful or three of water - yes, water - to the fuel, and mix in by shaking vigorously.
Test it and see. It is instant flashpoint retardation, or fuel degradation, and it has the effect of creating a blend similar to a lower nitro fuel.
Which in this case is what you want to achieve.

In a gallon quite a bit of water may be needed to apparently drop nitro by 5%.
But don't forget to shake before refueling, until the mix is used.

Plug

I do have a half gallon of 16% quikfire and it did overheat the engine and burned out 2 plugs:( Will that water trick do the job as I have only got 2 plugs left and dont want to burn them out. Thanks

coolwings

1 - Add a bit of water ! Sounds mad I know!
2 - if you prefer, add an extra plug washer under the glowplug. This has a similar effect, but is more easily reversed.
3 - Set the main carb needle at a richer setting (1/4 turn further open approx)

Take your pick, and see which is best.

vectra

OK,
I am running out of Tornado Blue Thunder 20% at a rapid rate now seeing as my son has taken a shine to it for his tmaxx.
I just phoned Halfords and the guy on the other end of the line told me that they have Tornado 16% and 25% in stock at €25 a gallon :eek:

Guess what i will be buying next

OH
By the way.
That was their Liffey Valley depot number I rang and he said that they have both in stock at present.
I will be phoning their Limerick department tomorow to check their stock and might just jump in my car and get some..

coolwings

Interesting ... I've never seen it in a gallon container so far.
The small three litres bottles - I've seen, gallons? Not so far. But maybe they do have it.

vectra

Right .
This is the current fuel I use As you can see it is £21.99 a gallon sterling.

This is the one gallon size of the Tornado 25% that i will hope to use And as you can see it is £26.99 STERLING..
I suspect a Muppet answered the phone and read the price of sterling and thought it was euros.

coolwings

vectra wrote:

Right .....I suspect a Muppet answered the phone and read the price of sterling and thought it was euros.

Yes - UK Sterling costs a lot more.... almost half extra by the time the bank margins get added.
The 20% and 25% fuel I (yes me personally does this job in Green Hobby!) make up for special formulations requests - usually heli competition fliers or YS engine users but also unlimited boat racers) works out at €28 - € 32 a gallon, approx a tenner less than those ones at Modelsport - and our guys are naming the ingredients and percentages to fine tune their models.
Of course my 65% nitro GG Turbo+ 65:24 fuel mix is in the €40 price range per gall that you seem to be paying for your truck fuel. But for the past 2 years I'm the only one in Ireland that seems to be using such loopy juice. And my own use has gone down on account of my quarter scale F1 Tunnel is in hospital following 50+ mph airborne barrell roll into the water at Blessington. Sorry no video. :eek:
Waiting for a new conrod & crankcase at the moment.

coolwings

All my pics are lost.Something like this - but 12" longer!

here's a real tunnel

vectra

Nice boat.. :eek:
Shame it took a dive.

Now back to the nitro..

So are you saying that you could mix up a "hot" fuel for my trucks and make sure they would have enough lubrictaion at the same time for a lot less than i am paying right now?

also
would I be on the safe side "chancing" a gallong of Tornado 25% ?
or would it be a tad too high?

coolwings

You can make a fuel to do anything in terms of specialist requirements.
Also....some of the prices I see for model fuel appear (to me) to be sorta crazy numbers. But, the guys using these fuels are happy, so who am I to say they're wrong?
Remember - Patrick and myself tuned a T-Maxx to run properly on 5% at €16 a gallon, yet many say they won't go on 5%.

Maybe the cure for "nitro envy" is more money!

tallus

My Hyper seems to run just as fast on the green models 5%
I didn't see much, if any difference, only noticable change was she didn't lean out on me like she did on the 16%. I used to think the throttle was sticking open