Hello All:

      What would cause a very fine dryer looking lint to form in my fuel? This results in the fuel filter being clogged to a point where fuel is difficult to pump from the plastic jug to the fuel tank.  This has happened in the past. 

       Is there something growing in my one gallon bottle of fuel?  The lint looks off white in color and made of many very small fibers.  The mass may be easily removed from the filter screen.

       Any suggestion/comments?  Oh yes, I do mix my own fuel.

       Tia,

       Frank

     This is a result of actor oil in your fuel. The castor bean is a relative of the soy bean, and we all know that you can make anything from a sweater, to a soda bottle to a hamburger from soy beans. It's similar with castor beans. As the fuel flows through fin mesh screens and small passages, it extrudes the fibers from the oil over time, and will build up to a point where it won't flow. I had to clean out my pre-filter on my syringe this afternoon, also.  This is also why I run a filter in the models I fly also, to give this some place to happen other than the spray bar. the only way around it is to run all synthetic oil or fly electric. I just try to clean filters whenever I think about it as a preventive measure.
     Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

         Hi All:

         Thanks for the replies.  I am happy to hear that other people have experienced this curse.  Is there anyway that this can be avoided?

          Stay curious,

           Frank

         

   Did you read my post Frank?

I have had that exact problem but only with Sig fuel. And it happened many years ago.

Never an issue with Powermaster or Brodak fuel.
Still, however, no matter what I use, it gets filtered from syringe to tank and from tank to engine.

Bob Z.

     Hello Again:

     For some reason, my fuel will NOT pass through a paper coffee filter.  What is up with that? Lol

      Frank

What about paint filters available from auto paint stores?  One store near me has different mesh screens available.  I guess it depends on your definition of coarse and fine mesh.

I just live with the lint in the castor and clean the filter screen as needed.

The only fuel I've had problems with white flakes (not strings) was FHS Red Max all castor fuel. They claimed it was from synthetically processed castor...which was the cheaper way. That was back in the 1990s. You could filter a gallon today and the flakes would be back tomorrow. What brand castor are you mixing with?