Got some castor oil.....

[Pablo]

I plan on blending up some of my own oils. Just for fun, experimentation and power in my 67cc 2 stroke street eater.

If say I mix the castor oil with Amsoil Saber or Dominator, what percent should I use? I mixed some castor with Saber Thursday in clear bottles at 10% and 20% and nothing weird has happened, no separation or anything. I will do the same with Dominator.

Looking at some MSDS's shows decent amounts of castor in some of the commercially available blends but you know how "
I'm out of gasoline and my leetle tank is low, so time to trudge down the hill.

 

[Johnny]

I understand experimentation, but why mess with a proven formula. Call Kevin at Amsoil on Monday, he should know.

 

[Pablo]

Naw - he'll just tell me not to, and go sit in the corner! He's the driveline guy anyway.

I'm encouraging Amsoil to come out with a castor added race oil.

 

[Pablo]

I drained the remaining pint of fuel out of the tank and dumped it in the mower.

I made a 50:50 mix of Dominator:castor, and dumped in 4.25 oz to a perfect gallon of fresh 87 octane. Mixed very well. Started easy. Smoked just the usual amount - but that's just the fuel in bowl. Went for a ride - at first it smelled REALLY funky. Kinda like burned rubber....I'm sure it's just the old oil gooze being consumed and the pipe sealant junk burning off, also I had adjusted my exhaust again. Now smells pleasant and goes fine......the only thing I noticed, it seemed to take a tad longer to warm up to full power, but not a huge problem. Going down the block it hesitated slightly, did a couple jerkies and power just eased on - once warm, full usual power. I'll need to explore this more.

Did some 1st gear grunt laps in the back yard....seems to have even more low end, if that's even possible. Just think when I lower the gear down....from a 10 to a 9 or 8!

 

[JAG]

How does the poison in the castor bean not end up in the oil?
How does its performance compare to corn oil or other readily available bio-oils?

I ran low on gas last summer for mowing and I made up for it by dumping in Lubromoly Fuel System Cleaner, Lucas UCL, and Break-Free gun oil. I was very desperate! It ran very badly, the exhaust smelled horrible, and I could barely get it started the next time I tried. The mess of deposits that brew made must have been quite bad. I suspect that too much Lucas UCL made combustion quite incomplete.

 

[tom slick]

other then great smell, what benefits does castor in the fuel have over Dominator?

 

[Curious Kid]

Question - Will the use of castor oil lead to glazing of the cylinder?

I bet over time the exhaust is going to get a little oily (recalling days of R/C airplane clean-up).

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: JAG
How does the poison in the castor bean not end up in the oil?
How does its performance compare to corn oil or other readily available bio-oils?

I ran low on gas last summer for mowing and I made up for it by dumping in Lubromoly Fuel System Cleaner, Lucas UCL, and Break-Free gun oil. I was very desperate! It ran very badly, the exhaust smelled horrible, and I could barely get it started the next time I tried. The mess of deposits that brew made must have been quite bad. I suspect that too much Lucas UCL made combustion quite incomplete.


Ah - ricin (the poison) is water soluble, so it's not in pure oil.
There is no comparison. Castor oil is much more heat stable and essentially flows to heat.

Yikes - what a concoction. My brew seems to be burning nicely.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: tom slick
other then great smell, what benefits does castor in the fuel have over Dominator?


Supposedly better high temp performance, better and more oil to the bearings, yada-yada-yada - I'm skeptical as well, but must try it as everyone tells me it's better than Amsoil.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Curious Kid
Question - Will the use of castor oil lead to glazing of the cylinder?

I bet over time the exhaust is going to get a little oily (recalling days of R/C airplane clean-up).


I dunno....I don't think 2oz per gallon will cause glazing. Exhaust is already oily, has been from day way. It's normal in these engines.

 

[Pablo]

So anyways - I've been scooting around with my castor/Dominator blend and the engine seems to be in heaven, from easy starting to fast ripping......I love it! And the smell.

 

[Pablo]

A hard weekend of riding, and I delare my blend a winner!

 

[lars11]

how about the gumming up that castor oil can cause? Anything? Did the other oil negate that?

 

[Pablo]

Well it is degummed castor oil and yes mixing with synthetic oil helps......I'll be tearing it down this fall, so I'll see!

 

[Shannow]

Good work Pablo.

I used to get medicinal castor oil from the supermaket for my weedwhacker to make yard work "better".

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Curious Kid
Question - Will the use of castor oil lead to glazing of the cylinder?

I bet over time the exhaust is going to get a little oily (recalling days of R/C airplane clean-up).


My push on two strokes has always been an oily exhaust. At least (I think) I know that the oil is getting to the last friction face.

Following is a test in AG Bell's two stroke performance tuning, using Castrol R40. Horsepower versus mixture ratio. Suzuki RM125C engine.

revs---8000---8500---9000---9500--10000--10500--11000--11500
20:1---15.7---19.8----20.4----21.3---21.9----22.6----23.2----17.3
27:1---16.0---18.7----19.2----19.6---20.3----20.7----21.4----15.8
16:1---15.4---18.7----20.5----21.7---22.1----22.9----23.6----17.6

20:1 recorded "no sign of carbon. Light coat of Varnish on sides of piston.
27:1 very clean....heavy coating of varnish right around ring lands and down exhaust side of piston.
16:1 slight trace of carbon on insulator (plug), heavier deposits on plug shell and earth electrode. Less Varnish than 20:1.

 

[beanoil]

Castor/Syn blends are not new. Castrol's A747 is a killer oil, and makes power out the wazoo. It has been around for years, as well as Shell Advance Racing M (Australia). Castor is a little dirtier than petroleum based oils, but the protection is unbeatable. Air cooled 2 strokes are a great application for castor blends. 50/50 MAY be a bit extreme, I would have a tendency to run 70/30 petroleum to bean. Interestingly, the Advance M works well in injector apps also, even though it is listed as a 30 weight. You will notice when you tear down, there will be a definite film of oil... castor is sticky, and hangs around for a long time. No internal rust when running castor. I like the idea and commend you for trying it. I think you will see castor popping up more in the future as a renewable source of lubricant (my opinion only).

 

[beanoil]

I've been thinking about this since I read the thread. A few googles have uncovered an on-going investigation into high percentage ethanol fuels (E85) and castor, eucalyptus, and orange oil blends as a more environmentally friendly 2 stroke fuel. I see a new wave of high tech, high C/R, injected PWC's, scooters, and a migration to new fuels in OPE's. But, I have been accused of being a little nuts at times also. The 2 stroke future hasn't died, it's just waiting for the right conditions to re-invent itself... kinda like KISS taking off the make-up, then putting it back on.....

 

[DesertDually]

Originally Posted By: beanoil
The 2 stroke future hasn't died, it's just waiting for the right conditions to re-invent itself... kinda like KISS taking off the make-up, then putting it back on.....


I do hope you are right, I am a hardcore 2 stroke aficianado. I also love castor bean oil and i run it in all my 2-stroke lawn equipment as well as my motorcycles, ATV's and PWC. We go thru some Klotz Benol around here! I keep gallons of it on hand!

 

[Pablo]

Sounds neato beanoil!

I had my head off and again so far, so good. Very clean. I get some interesting dribble out the exhaust, but no worries.

I told Amsoil they need to make a castor/syn oil.