Diesels available in U.S.

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Bob - 26 Oct 2006 18:59 GMT

I am looking for purpose-built diesel engines in the .40 to .70 size
range. I am trying to avoid conversions, and would prefer to avoid
PAW's (don't like their silencer arrangement or prop attachment
arrangement).

I have a couple of Davis conversions. They fly quite well, but took a
good bit of fiddling to get them working right. The head conversion
was no problem, but both required finding replacement carbs with
smaller throat diameters than came with the stock engines. With some
engines, it's almost impossible to find carbs with smaller throats
that properly mate to the carb mount.

I realize that diesels are easier to find in the UK. MVVS seems to
make several, although I don't know if they use modified carbs (but I
haven't been able to find MVVS in the US lately). The J'EN brand from
Just Engines is a conversion, and they brag about sending both diesel
and glow heads for their diesels, so I'm fairly certain they are just
using the regular glow carb. The smaller carbs I used drastically
improved throttle response, as well as making the needle adjustments
much less critical. I assume this is due mainly to improved vacuum.
When I tried using exhaust pressure on the fuel tank using the regular
carb, it made fine-tuning almost imossible.

Thus my search for purpose-built diesels (preferably available in the
US). I don't know why diesels are so unpopular here. Although they
may be a little weak on the RPM side, they more than make up for this
in terms of torque. One of my conversions (.46 sized) is flying an
older pattern ship that was designed for a .61, and it has more
authority than the .61 it replaced (with a considerably larger prop).
I guess one of the main complaints may be the increased messiness of
diesels, but I've found them much more tolerant of back-pressure, and
my solution is to just route the exhaust to the rear of the model
using largish silicone tubing. They run quieter and cooler, turn
larger props, and use considerably less fuel than their glow
counterparts. Other than their messiness, I can't really find
anything not to like. Also, since they don't require a glow plug, you
won't have one die when the glow catallyst fouls.

Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated.

Bob

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Ed Cregger - 27 Oct 2006 00:37 GMT

>I am looking for purpose-built diesel engines in the .40 to .70 size
> range. I am trying to avoid conversions, and would prefer to avoid
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> Bob

Hi, Bob. It sounds as though you have been around the Diesel Block several
times. <G>

Off the top of my head, Eric Clutton is the only USA resident source of made
for Diesel operation engines. And PAW is probably his main line of
throttleable engines for sale. But don't trust my memory. Contact him
personally. I'll bet you already have several times.

With Irvine out of the Diesel business, IIRC, Enya is the remaining
manufacturer of purpose-built Diesel engines.

The Enya's can be purchased from England, or, if you want less expensive
prices, from www.modelflight.com . I wouldn't assume that all of
Modelflight's prices are lower than Just Engines or the Servo Shop in
England. Certainly shipping plays a significant role in the total price.

I just bought a couple of glow engines (ASP) from www.peakmodel.com in New
Zealand with great success. I don't know if they carry any Diesel engines or
not. Sure wouldn't hurt to look or ask.

Wanting to get going with an R/C Diesel engine again, I bought used versions
of the old Magnum copy of the OS.40FP and a pristine NIB Tower .40 engine a
while back. I just ordered the RJL/Mecoa conversion head for it (they share
the same head). I probably won't use the Tower engine as a Diesel, unless
the Magnum breaks a crank or connecting rod.

I've owned a Davis Diesel Development conversion head and ran it on my
OS.32F-H engine for a while. While not as straight forward operating as a
conventional made-for Diesel, it worked very well. I'll probably buy another
Davis head or two in the near future.

I picked up an MVVS .61 (3090) NIB a while back at a fantastic price. I am
now having Pe Reivers in the Netherlands (MVVS dealer/distributor (?)) look
for the parts from MVVS to convert mine to a Diesel.

Dang, I wonder if this is the Diesel equivalent of Shingles that I am having
in my old(er) age? <G>

Ed Cregger

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Geoff Sanders - 27 Oct 2006 02:35 GMT

I suspect that port timing is a lot of the problem with converting a
glow engine. Made on purpose diesels of the sport variety have pretty
mild timing, so a big carb is a waste of time. Silly as it may sound,
you might have good luck with a Davis Diesel conversion head on a good
old Fox .74. The stock carb is the same one used on their .45, so it
ain't too big, and it's conservatively timed, producing lots of torque
for a glow engine. You can often find one cheap on RCU or Ebay if you
can avoid the idiots who get into bidding wars.

If you've got access to a machine shop, you can buy castings and build
one. Check out Model Engine Builder magazine for information.

> http://www.modelenginebuilder.com/

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Geoff Sanders - 27 Oct 2006 03:33 GMT

Ooops, almost forgot! Here's another source for diesels from all over
the world. He's in Arizona:

> http://carlsonengineimports.net/

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Ed Cregger - 27 Oct 2006 06:48 GMT

I goofed. While I have and do deal with Pe Reivers in the Nederlands
occasionally, this time I contacted Dar Zeelon in Israel. I even called him
Pe in my correspondence to him earlier today. Wow. This is getting serious!

Ed Cregger

>>I am looking for purpose-built diesel engines in the .40 to .70 size
>> range. I am trying to avoid conversions, and would prefer to avoid
[quoted text clipped - 77 lines]
>
> Ed Cregger

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Bob - 28 Oct 2006 05:53 GMT

>Hi, Bob. It sounds as though you have been around the Diesel Block several
>times. <G>

At the time, it seemed more like a merry-go-round. One with few
fellow riders. Part of the problem is that I live in the god-forsaken
middle of nowhere. Nearest LHS is about 100 miles away. No clubs any
closer RC is very much DIY here, with emphasis on the "Y".

>Off the top of my head, Eric Clutton is the only USA resident source of made
>for Diesel operation engines. And PAW is probably his main line of
>throttleable engines for sale. But don't trust my memory. Contact him
>personally. I'll bet you already have several times.

I have spoken to Eric several times, but not lately. My memory is
also a bit hazy, but I think it was Eric that "suggested" I needed to
use a smaller carb back when I was having problems with my Davis
conversions.

>With Irvine out of the Diesel business, IIRC, Enya is the remaining
>manufacturer of purpose-built Diesel engines.

Whatever happened to Enya in the US? I inherited an old scale Piper
Cherokee built by my father in the 60's. I remember him buying all
his equipment while we were in Houston on a trip. The engine he got
was an Enya. Still runs well. He built his radio equipment (kit from
Heathkit) -- servos have linear rather than rotary arms. Still works,
although I personally wouldn't trust 27 mhz with a plane around here.

>The Enya's can be purchased from England, or, if you want less expensive
>prices, from www.modelflight.com . I wouldn't assume that all of
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>Zealand with great success. I don't know if they carry any Diesel engines or
>not. Sure wouldn't hurt to look or ask.

Thanks for the link to Peak Models. Didn't see any diesels there, but
saw some good prices on nice-looking ARF's. Also some good prices on
glow engines IIRC.

>Wanting to get going with an R/C Diesel engine again, I bought used versions
>of the old Magnum copy of the OS.40FP and a pristine NIB Tower .40 engine a
>while back. I just ordered the RJL/Mecoa conversion head for it (they share
>the same head). I probably won't use the Tower engine as a Diesel, unless
>the Magnum breaks a crank or connecting rod.

Sounds like that should work. I just hope you don't have the carb
problems I did. Who actually makes the Tower engine? Looks very
familiar. I initially though GMS, but I don't think the head is quite
right for that.

>I've owned a Davis Diesel Development conversion head and ran it on my
>OS.32F-H engine for a while. While not as straight forward operating as a
>conventional made-for Diesel, it worked very well. I'll probably buy another
>Davis head or two in the near future.

Speaking about conversions, do you know if the Perry carbs will hold
up to diesel? Seems like that might be a reasonable way to go if you
needed to change carb throat size. Perry has a pretty big selection
of carbs that share the throat outer diameter, with differing inner
diameters. I've asked several people if they knew if the
plastic-appearing carb body would handle diesel (including one person
at Perry), but no one I've spoken with seems to know for certain.

>I picked up an MVVS .61 (3090) NIB a while back at a fantastic price. I am
>now having Pe Reivers in the Netherlands (MVVS dealer/distributor (?)) look
>for the parts from MVVS to convert mine to a Diesel.

MVVS makes a few diesels, and their "long stroke" .61 comes as either
glow or diesel (from what I've read). Although I suspect that the
MVVS diesel is just an in-house head conversion, it's supposed to run
very well. IIRC, Morris used to carry mainly MVVS, but it seems they
only carry some MVVS parts now, and have switched over to Rossi.

>Dang, I wonder if this is the Diesel equivalent of Shingles that I am having
>in my old(er) age? <G>

Don't know, but it may be contagious, since I appear to have it too.
In my younger days, I wouldn't have even considered diesel, but since
I've been flying a couple now for awhile I've become more and more
interested. I was never worth a darn on hand-starting glow engines,
but I can hand-start these diesels (now that they're properly set-up)
with just one or two flips. I've even had them fire up when my plan
was only a priming stroke. You just gotta' remember these things are
always live.

Bob

>Ed Cregger

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AV8R - 30 Oct 2006 06:27 GMT

I've got a couple of the MVVS diesels and I love them. Lamp oil, John
Deere starter fluid and medical castor is all I've ever run and I've
never had a bit of problem.

> >Hi, Bob. It sounds as though you have been around the Diesel Block several
> >times. <G>
[quoted text clipped - 86 lines]
> >
> >Ed Cregger

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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / October 2006

Diesels available in U.S.