Lighter Fluid

[Garf]

I saw a lot of people at the KOI with lighter fluid to assist starting. Exactly why is this stuff better than fuel to help cold weather starting? We don't need this stuff in Miami.

[Douglas Ames]

Was it lighter fluid or butane? Never heard of this for glow engines.

[Hoss Cain]

I saw a lot of people at the KOI with lighter fluid to assist starting. Exactly why is this stuff better than fuel to help cold weather starting? We don't need this stuff in Miami.

Personally I don't think lighter fluid is better than fuel - properly adjusted fuel - for cold weather starting. When I lived in Chicago-Land, and was new to RC I flew in the winter down to 20° with 40 mph winds. There were many items used for such flying and one was a VERY SMALL shot of propilene oxide. However the best seemed to be a small squirt bottle with 1/2 glow-fuel and 1/2 gasolene. That worked very well and the engine did not flood as it did with Prop. Lighter fluid was used but the gas/fuel always did the trick.

[peabody]

Lighter fluid is, essentially, Naphtha, I believe, and has a lower flash point than alcohol....
It is used in all manner of exotic alcohol based fuel blends in motorsports as well...
Most all "all weather" fliers in the northeast have it as standard in their flight boxes.



Have fin!

[Jim Kraft]

As I understand it, the problem is that alcohol does not vaporize at low temps. I remember reading one of Clarence Lee's articles where he recommended adding up to 10% gasoline to glow fuel in cold weather. I know my spark ign. motors start better on gasoline than glow fuel in cold weather.

[john e. holliday]

I remember when  I flew with the Flying Eagles and Sky Devils they were using what  I thought was lighter fluid.   Was told it was empty lighter fluid dispensers filled with model plane fuel.   Was used in the summer time also to prime engines.

[Paul Taylor]

Yea, I saw someone once put eye drops in there engine as a primer. He had fuel in the bottle.

[Steve Helmick]

Yea, I saw someone once put eye drops in there engine as a primer. He had fuel in the bottle.

I was introduced to the virtues of lighter fluid/naptha for priming in really cold weather some years ago by Gerald Schamp, a NE transplant. My eyes were opened...it worked wunnerful. This was at Salem, OR, where the altitude is around 400' ASL, but it was so cold and high barometric pressure that the effective altitude was over 1,000 feet below sea level. Needed a bigger tank!

Lighter fluid is not cheap, nor all that easy to find in a useable sized container. When the squirt can is empty, naptha from the hardware/paint store is the refilling choice...not really cheap, but cheaper by the quart.  Steve

[kenneth cook]

         Lighter fluid is a must for starting Fox.35's in cold weather. Here in the Philly area it comes standard in the field box. Unfortunately though, it makes the engines mean and nasty. They really want to kick back at you initially. A little is all it takes. It surely gives that troublesome engine the edge to start though. As the temps decline from Thanksgiving we tend to use it routinely. Wiring your batteries in tandem also helps in the cold temps. A bunch of us have been just crazy enough to shovel our way out to the center of the circle and fly all day. Ken

[Randy Powell]

As Steve notes, we use it all the time in the Northwest when it's cold, humid and damp. Works well.

[Geoff Goodworth]

This is the first time I have heard mention of lighter fluid but I'm not questioning it.

However, the MSDS for Shell A mentioned hydrocarbons added as an ignition aid. I believe that it was actually acetone—the generic description fitted. The MSDS stated 3–5% depending on season.

I was discussiong this with a work colleague—a retired dirt track speedway rider—who knew all about it. He stated that they used to carry acetone with them and add a bit to the fuel for the first race on cold nights, 'all the time.'

Lighter fluid is readily available from the hardware chains in Oz labelled as Shellite and is relatively inexpensive in 4L containers. Some of our guys use it for cleaning their models.

[Lee Thiel]

I use it regularly here in Tulsa when the temps are around 40 degrees or lower.  Engines start 1st or 2nd time on start flips. I thought everyone did this. Maybe I am doing something wrong, and should be spending more time flipping.
Lee TGD

[Jim Thomerson]

Coldest I have flown in was 24 F.  No trouble starting Fox stunt 35 the usual way.

A story, back in the 1950's at the university, my chemistry major roommate and I were using a cheap lighter fluid which did not work that well in lighters.  We decided it was a mix and set up to do crude fractional distillation.  With gentle heat, suddenly all the lighter fluid vaporized and ended up in the collecting flask.  We concluded it was all the same stuff, and started buying a more respectable brand.

[Elwyn Aud]

I've got a TT-25 that's a bear to start when the temps drop unless a little lighter fluid is used. I try and keep a bottle in the club house all winter.

[Norm Faith Jr.]

I've got a TT-25 that's a bear to start when the temps drop unless a little lighter fluid is used. I try and keep a bottle in the club house all winter.

Hi Elwyn, I bet that's the engine that was on a plane I was launching for you in Dallas several years ago. After you "choked" some lighter fluid in it; you put the glow driver on and it started by itself. Surprise... Surprise!
Norm

[Elwyn Aud]

What probably happened was the engine stopped at tdc and when it fell off compression it had enough momentum to fire up. Sure gets your attention though!

[Ward Van Duzer]

Peabody is on the money! We used Ronsonol in Jersey in the early fifties. I think Scarzoony put us on this!

W.