Just in case anyone else is struggling to get the 'magic juice' I found this link which may be worth a look.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_63...tm.htm#8142505

sparks

I think Chas is right about the 70% being a weird brew, the ether smell is not as strong as it should be for sure.

Yep, we've a lot to thank the b****y "Elfins" for. (No, not the engine)

Regards Ian.

TBH Ian, I think Elfin 'P' would provide more success than the 70% stuff that I got from the local Witchdoctor... ;-)

I think your 70% Ether contains 30% alcahol , which is apparently common in medicinal ether(anesthetics) You need lab grade or technical or solvent grade ether.
The John Deer ether is 80% with the remaining being almost all butain gas as the propellant -may have up to3% lube oil- useually below 1/2% tho.
Stewart

Originally Posted by clipclop

I think your 70% Ether contains 30% alcahol , which is apparently common in medicinal ether(anesthetics) You need lab grade or technical or solvent grade ether.
The John Deer ether is 80% with the remaining being almost all butain gas as the propellant -may have up to3% lube oil- useually below 1/2% tho.
Stewart

I'm sure you are right Stewart, but there's not a lot of call for John Deere tractors here in the Sandpit, I'm not saying there aren't any, but i'd be surprised if they ever suffer from cold start problems....hot start issues, maybe ;-)

sparks

A question from the "Control Line" forum about an unknown diesel from Russia:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1308195
Look relatively "modern" but might be from the 80's.

The russian diesel is beyond me!

Report of successful decanting of the easy start.

Needed or not, I had left the can of easy start in the freezer for a day.
Got home this evening, opened a window and upturned the can to spray off the propellant gas. It took a minute or two. left it upturned for a few more seconds, squirted the last bit of residual pressure then put it back in the freezer for a while.
Took it out an hour later and tried the pressure with the can upturned.
I got a neat, single jet of fluid
Squirted the fluid into a screw top bottle until there was no more.

To check, I carefully pierced the bottom of the can with the opener
very slight hiss, barely perceptable
cut off the bottom and there was only half a teaspoon of liquid left in the can, hardly worth the effort really. It smells like ether should smell!! :-)

Fuel mix later.

sparks

Originally Posted by zl3vml

If you can get these then after freezing the cans punch a hole in the bottom and catch the liquid in a bottle and use this in your diesel mix, the oil content will not make much of a difference.


Mark

Well Mr. Duh, I would enjoy your video posting of catching ether at any temperature after puncturing the bottom of a pressurised aerosol can.

Sparks, I think the neat, single jet was your stuff! No need for the second cooling or spray-off, when it stops spraying inverted the first time, you're ready to puncture (one each side, pour off and enjoy).

Hey Chas,
the second cooling was done, just to be sure that I had got all the propellant gas out, as you say, there was no need, the neat juice flowed freely.

Now to the next problem...it is sooooooo long since I started, or ran a diesel!

Got the DC Merlin all hooked up, mixed the fuel, around 40/40 + 20 of castor

first problem was air in the line, sucked that through by choking the venturi
but apart from a few minor snaps, no run

a squirt in the venturi and two or three flicks later we have a buzz or two.

Kept trying this, up and down the compression, in and out the needle, but nothing more than few seconds bursts, but never quite picking up in time for me to ease the compression, lean the mix etc. It was still great to hear that diesel sounds, even if only briefly.
I'm suspecting that fuel isn't being pulled in, any suggestions on spray bar orientation? I can't recall that it mattered so much ....?

Or maybe I need a bit more Ether in the mix?

Any suggestions guys?

sparks

Originally Posted by Chas

Well Mr. Duh, I would enjoy your video posting of catching ether at any temperature after puncturing the bottom of a pressurised aerosol can.

I dunno Chas, maybe we do things differently to each other?

Seriously tho, if you invert the can and make a hole in the bottom (now the top) the propellent will hiss out.....

So then you turn the can the right way up again over your jam jar and the heat from your sticky mitts will let the Ether squirt out into said jar.

But as we are "down under" up and down might be the other way for yoos up there.....

Mark

Originally Posted by sparks59

Or maybe I need a bit more Ether in the mix?

No....your present 40% ether content is already touching the ceiling....you would be just fine with 30%, maybe less...no rocket science here...

Those "few seconds" bursts indicate that your fuel should be ok, and the fault is to look for elsewhere....i.e. a leaking backplate seal, incorrect tank position, leaky fuel line, etc....

Another possibilty: (quoting info from the excellent 'Modelenginenews' site)

A note for Merlin owners, there is a red fiber gasket that fits under the exhaust port band of the liner. This gasket not only seals the crankcase for primary compression, it also sets the "deck" height of the cylinder and thus, the transfer/exhaust ports. If it's missing, or too thin, transfer does not occur and you've no chance of ever starting the engine.

Interesting note thanks Glue'.

I also think the fault is elsewhere. I had the fuel tank about level with the crankshaft, though the line is a little bigger diameter than i'd like, and the tank is a clunk type. They are all I can get here. After I blew the bubbles through it seemed to stay reasonably clear.

I guess what I should do it get out the tin plate, brass tube and big soldering iron and knock one up.

I'll have a look at the rear seal.

The red deck seal is there, and I think it looked ok when I whipped the head off to take a look at the internal conditions. Maybe I need to check that the cylinder landed properly, but I was careful sliding it back in.
If it's too thin, how will I know?

any thoughts about the orientation of the spray tube?

cheers
sparks

I guess what I should do it get out the tin plate, brass tube and big soldering iron and knock one up.

Yep....or finding a small mustard tin etc, thus having 85% of the job done...

any thoughts about the orientation of the spray tube?

The 'classic' position is '04.30' or '07.30' (with a one-hole spraybar)

Originally Posted by zl3vml

Seriously tho, if you invert the can and make a hole in the bottom (now the top) the propellent will hiss out.....

Mark, have you ever actually done this?

I run my DC Merlin with the spraybar hole out of sight, ie. facing "downstream" - works fine. So long as the red washer is there, thickness shouldn't be too critical, as the alteration to timing would be almost too small to measure.

Don't lose that propnut! The bugger is 3BA, and you won't find those in B&Q!

Chas,
The initial advice of refrigerateing the JD start cans has shown a secondary problem , that of disolved butain being trapped in the ether , which later causes gas bubbles in fuel lines and giveing inconsistant runs. Its now recomended(I have done this) to just invert the can and spray off the gas, then open up the base of the can- I use a rotary style can opener n cut the whole base off, makes pouring out the ether both quick n easy. Only a small amount of ether is lost this way and all the gas gets to escape.
Stewart