Evolv-ing Thread

[cigatron]

I still buy carb kits for my 2-strokes BUT I have swapped out all my EPA Compensating carbs with older model Zama or Walbro carbs. My newest Stihl string trimmer is the only exception because it's still under warranty.
You're right Willy, some elcheepo china carbs are less than some rebuild kits but the older Japanese Non-EPA carbs are expensive and getting harder to find. That said, I would never buy a rebuild kit for an EPA Compensating carb (post circa 2000).

 

[awsum140]

Given the degradation of ethanol I think the effect is to lower octane by the time it gets burned, especially in things like lawn equipment where fuel may sit for months before use. Even if it raises octane, the energy needed for its production is far greater than the energy it can provide, even at 99 octane. A net loss either way, but the politicians feel so good about it (especially in their wallets) plus its another notch in the old regulation belt.

Another thought...wonder how much whiskey could be made with all that corn that goes for ethanol in cars?

 

[cigatron]

Sounds like the Vandy vape Pyro V2 RDTA is right up your alley.

I have bunches of RDTAs in a drawer around here somewhere.

 

[BillW50]

I have bunches of RDTAs in a drawer around here somewhere.

No they are squonkable with a huge deep well (4ml) and a RDA on top.

 

[cigatron]

No they are squonkable with a huge deep well and a RDA on top.

Yes, I've seen that bf RDTA. Good thought for those who need a little extra juice capacity beyond a traditional 8.5ml squonk bottle.

 

[Steamer861]

A chainsaw isn't really a seasonal thing for me. It's an occasional, when I need it, I need it right now thing.

I do agree with the ethanol situation. Trouble is it's darn near impossible to find ethanol-free gas in some areas.

Ethanol Free gas is easy here, all the pumps are marked with ethanol content
All "Super" 93/94 octane in Canada is ethanol Free

Maybe a Chain Saw isn't what you need?
No worries about Gas or Dead Batteries

 

[BillW50]

Yes, I've seen that bf RDTA. Good thought for those who need a little extra juice capacity beyond a traditional 8.5ml squonk bottle.

I thought it was good for those who doesn't want to squonk every 5 or so hits.

 

[Rossum]

Now my weed wacker, I've had that one going on ten years I think and it's always started, I have never done a thing to it or anything with the fuel, no additive, no running it dry for the winter, just use it and forget it, next spring it fires right up. But chain saws, always gave me trouble, carbs clogged every year I went to use one, got mad at having to yank on them one day

Yeah, that's pretty much my experience too. String trimmers and leaf blowers, no problem (Echo). But every dang gas chainsaw I've had has been a royal pain after a period of disuse, including the Echo that I got most recently. I bought that one just ahead of Sandy, so I'd have one that I knew would start and ended up not needing it then. Dunno what it is about chainsaws, except that when I need a chainsaw, I need it right now. So I suppose it's just Murphy having his way with me.

 

[Rossum]

Maybe a Chain Saw isn't what you need?
No worries about Gas or Dead Batteries

Picture Danny Glover.

I'm getting to old for that stuff!

 

[SlickWilly]

Here you go. Are you part of the sleeping sheep herd or can you think for yourself? Ignore it, keep your eyes closed, skip over this post and don't watch it, or take a few minuets and wake up! Watch it, I double dog dare you!

Theses people are stupid and expect you to be too.

​

 

[Steamer861]

But every dang gas chainsaw I've had has been a royal pain after a period of disuse

Buy a Stihl The MS170 (Home Owner Saw) Goes on sale for under $200 at least once a year

 

[Rossum]

Buy a Stihl The MS170 (Home Owner Saw) Goes on sale for under $200 at least once a year

I'm good for now, thanks!

 

[BillW50]

You know model gas engines uses a fuel made from methanol (20%), nitromethane (10%), and castor oil (70%). And as far as I can tell, that stuff never goes stale. And the engines uses glow plugs made from a platinum round coiled wire. They are usually heated by 1.2v @ 3A. Gee that might be a good wire to use for vaping. They seem to last for years and years. I don't think I ever carried any spare glow plugs with me since they are so reliable.

And those model gas engines are just amazing! No valves, no rings on the piston, no clamps on the crankshaft, and super easy to rebuild. And an 1hp size one is really tiny and fits easily in your hand. To get 1hp out of a 2 cycle, it is about 50cc in size. I don't think I ever had a faulty carb and I never had a problem from starting them (having that nitro in it is like starting fluid). I guess you can have a faulty carb, but it is probably rare.

I always wondered why these engines were never accepted in chainsaws, weed wackers, etc. Heck and maybe something larger. Last time I bought the fuel, it was like 4 to 5 bucks a gallon. An 1hp size engine used like an ounce of fuel per minute. Maybe they are so compact and has lots of power for its size, larger engines of this type might not be able to stay cool enough.

 

[Rossum]

I always wondered why these engines were never accepted it in chainsaws, weed wackers, etc.

How many hours will the run before they're worn out? I suspect they're a bit like a high-end car racing engine; you can get outrageous amounts of power from them, but ya sure can't expect them to run for hundreds or even thousands of hours.

An 1hp size engine used like an ounce of fuel per minute.

So 60 ounces per hp-hour? Call that a half a gallon, or 3 lbs of fuel. Your typical 2-stroke burns less than 1 lb of fuel per hp-h, four-strokes are under 0.5 lb per hp-h, and diesels are around 0.3... Can you say "inefficient"?

 

[awsum140]

Way back in the "olden days", when I was a new home owner and broke, I borrowed an electric chainsaw from my neighbor, a Sears 14". I had some, seasoned, oak firewood that needed to be cut down to fit in the woodstove.

To make a long story short, that saw just wasn't capable of cutting a lot of dried, old, oak and the magic smoke came out about halfway through the job. Panic City! I went to Sears, bought him a new one exactly like the one I smoked and bought myself an 18" gas saw a well.

Being a prankster, I had to do something with that smoked saw. I went into my little shop and built a hand crank attached to the motor shaft on it, piece of flat stock with a long bolt for a crank handle. I took it back over to him, later that day, and showed him my "improvement" to make it more portable. The look on his face was worth the cost of both the saws and the effort to put that crank on it. He was happy with the brandy new one, though.

 

[SlickWilly]

You know model gas engines uses a fuel made from methanol (20%), nitromethane (10%), and castor oil (70%). And as far as I can tell, that stuff never goes stale. And the engines uses glow plugs made from a platinum round coiled wire. They are usually heated by 1.2v @ 3A. Gee that might be a good wire to use for vaping. They seem to last for years and years. I don't think I ever carried any spare glow plugs with me since they are so reliable.

And those model gas engines are just amazing! No valves, no rings on the piston, no clamps on the cam shaft, and super easy to rebuild. And an 1hp size one is really tiny and fits easily in your hand. To get 1hp out of a 2 cycle, it is about 50cc in size. I don't think I ever had a faulty carb and I never had a problem from starting them (having that nitro in it is like starting fluid). I guess you can have a faulty carb, but it is probably rare.

I always wondered why these engines were never accepted in chainsaws, weed wackers, etc. Heck and maybe something larger. Last time I bought the fuel, it was like 4 to 5 bucks a gallon. An 1hp size engine used like an ounce of fuel per minute. Maybe they are so compact and has lots of power for its size, larger engines of this type might not be able to stay cool enough.

One of these days I've got to get one of those engines just to play with, they have always intrigued me, they are very cool little engines. Many years ago a buddy brought one of his monster trucks with one of those engines to a gym and ran it around, it was fast as hell! I was amazed how well he could control it from those hand held controls when it was going blazing fast! Didn't take long for someone to hear it, come in and tell him to knock it off LoL.

I can only speculate the reason they aren't used on a bigger scale would be the heat generated from a larger size, that's just a guess. Another thought is mass, a larger engine with the parts in motion, heavy weighted moving parts will require closer tolerances otherwise they will beat themselves to death quickly. If you've ever seen how quickly an out of tolerance (on the loose side) connecting rod bearing on a V-8 diesel engine will give out you know what I mean, doesn't take long.... Those tiny engines don't need as tight tolerances and they can quickly dissipate heat, the large amount of oil in the fuel also has to help reduce friction, less friction = less heat, they also run on nitromethane, (see link below). I'm sure someone has experimented with upscaled models, now you've got me curious, I'll have to make a note to research this.

Did you know top fuel dragsters engines is the cars shown below are NOT water cooled? Nope, air & oil cooled! And those engines can burn close to a gallon of nitromethane per second! (@ $25+ a gallon) Here's some interesting read How does top fuel dragsters cool their engines
What is top fuel and how is it different from gasoline?

 

[SlickWilly]

I wonder if oil mixed with the gas keeps it from degrading quickly, maybe it shields it from air and/or oxidation as quickly as straight gas? I know the can of two cycle for the weedwacker doesn't get that bad gas smell even after setting a year, take a can of straight gas thats set for a year and give it a whiff, or if you've ever worked on a car that has set for a long time, old gas has a distinct odor. With time becomes thicker, as it evaporates it leave a varnish, if you've ever taken apart an old carburetor you've probably seen it, gas with or without alcohol does this.

 

[BillW50]

How many hours will the run before they're worn out? I suspect they're a bit like a high-end car racing engine; you can get outrageous amounts of power from them, but ya sure can't expect them to run for hundreds or even thousands of hours

Yeah, but you could rebuild them faster than rebuilding coils for your RDA. There isn't much parts with them either. I dunno, maybe the piston or cylinder or both might need to be replaced, but I can't think of anything else (maybe you could have bent the crankshaft). I flew them for decades and they are same engines I use today with no maintenance at all with them. I can't even recall replacing a glow plug yet. But yes, I seriously doubt any of them have even 500 hours.

So 60 ounces per hp-hour? Call that a half a gallon, or 3 lbs of fuel. Your typical 2-stroke burns less than 1 lb of fuel per hp-h, four-strokes are under 0.5 lb per hp-h, and diesels are around 0.3... Can you say "inefficient"?

True, but they are tiny and barely weighs anything. That has to be a huge plus right there. And the fuel is so storage friendly. The only harm I know of is if the fuel is exposed to open air too long, it absorbs the moisture and then it could go stale. But otherwise, I don't think they ever go bad.

 

[SlickWilly]

Speaking of fuel burn, one thing I found with rayon (maybe it's the same with cotton??) on a new build it will go through juice like a tank that has a leak, but once the coil starts to crud the consumption drops way off, so do the clouds. It's amazing how I can have such greatly thinned tails and yet that rayon feeds those coils all that juice without dropping off even during a long lung hit, well I guess cotton cant do that (with thin tails).

 

[TrollDragon]

No they are squonkable with a huge deep well (4ml) and a RDA on top.

I have a Medusa Reborn that squonks as well, the juice comes out on the deck instead of filling the well.

Awesome RDTA.