Any pictures of that crash?

    If you use oil from a cooling coil of high voltage transformers  the chances are very high the lubrication properties  are minimal.  I wouldn't take a gamble on that stuff.
  John L.

George Aldrich wrote/spoke about using or experimenting with "Turbine Oil" from time to time. I would guess that Randy Smith might know something about it. I'm not sure who else to ask...maybe John McCollum or Bill Lee.  Steve

HI Bob,

I use Mobil Jet II turbine oil as an after run / long term storage inhibiting oil. I also use it in my metal tanks to stop them from corroding in between contests.

This has been tested and is used regularly by (multi class) AMA speed record holder Jerry Rocha of Napa, CA. Jerry is the highest performing and most consistently fast speed
flier (in many different classes) that I've ever known. Jerry regularly wins the NATS and often on his first flight of the day.

The late Greg Settles told me he used 1/2% in his unlimited nitro fuel which he found to lower his cyl. head temp by 50 degrees. I forgot to ask him if that made him go any faster.

It is a bit of extra work to flush out my tanks before every contest, but not that big of a deal. (Contests being less & less these days)

I do note that this turbine oil contains Tricresyl Phosphate which is not recommended to be on exposed skin, so a level of caution (gloves) should be exercised if using this oil to prevent direct contact with your skin. That being said I have been around this product for 40 years servicing jet engines (almost daily), and with a modicum of care have not experienced any health issues from being exposed to it. MJ II must be a good product (at least in turbine engines) as it's used in the airline industry all over the world.

I hope this is of some value.

Merry Christmas

Paul

just got back from the Top Gun R/C scale event .got to see two 1/3 scale ships go head to head at eye level ,not Pretty$$$$$$$$
anyway one of the vendors was selling Turbine oil rated at over 40,000 RPM .has anyone ever tried Turbine oil in a glow or diesel motor,RAD

 If the oil includes TCP, it will not be any good for a glow engine. TCP used to be in automotive gasoline but when the government dictated all cars to have catalytic converters, TCP had to be removed since it destroyed the converters. Same problem with our glow plugs.

I use a small touch in my diesel fuel since TCP is an EP lubricant, and the diesels don't have that pesky glow plug in there.

Turbine oil is made for rotating equipment. Most common use is in bearing housings and frames with frictionless (aka "ball") bearings.

Some people see the word "turbine" and think it's made for jet engines. Not the case. The gold standard in industry is Mobil DTE VG 68.

Most, if not all, turbine oils are somewhat limited in temperature applications.

The most common viscosity grade is ISO VG 68, but turbine oil viscosity may change dramatically with temperature.

Almost all turbine oils are loaded with additives too, anti-foaming, anti corrosion, etc. They should not be used in two-stroke motors!

Why? Because they aren't designed to be blended with other liquids. They are also designed for long life. Compare that to a two-stroke oil that is designed to be blended and only requires a very short life. I can get more technical,  talk about mers and hydroscopy and whatnot,  so if anyone wants to get all petro-nerdy feel free to IM me.

In peace,

Chuck

Not really. In a turbine engine the gearbox is the sump so the oil lubricates all the gears which is why I called it an EP (Extreme Pressure) oil. There's an oil pump of course which supplies oil to various bearings including the rotor bearings but it's relatively small and generally runs at around 40-50psi when above idle speed (at least with the engine I'm most familiar with).

Hi Brian,

I would  humbly suggest you look up the PDS's for turbine oils.  Like I said, start with Mobil DTE, and it will give the applications.

Steam turbines - yes, turbine oils for the bearing frames which generally have IMO pumps and offboard lube reservoirs with cooling and reserve capacity (such as mandated by API standards) , but not in the sump of aircraft engines!

Any aircraft turbine engine I've been around has had very specific lubrication oil requirements, not a generic "turbine oil". I think the FAA would have issues with that!

Regarding "EP" lubricants, that's even more common in bearing greases. I think Mobilux EP has been used in electric motors for a long time. Could be wrong there but pretty sure. If you want to get into esoteric lubes like Krytox it gets really fun. 


In peace,

Chuck

Brian, Correct. This thread started with someone asking if "Turbine Oil" would be good to use in our glow engines.

Turbine Oil is a generic term used for highly refined lubricating oils used in machines.

Gas turbine aircraft engines have some pretty unique oils they use since it must both lubricate the bearings and the gearboxes at high temps. Sometimes the mechanical seals are run wet too. 

Chuck