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I have been doing some research on new fuel technology and had the opportunity to ask for help from Wendell Hammond of PowerMaster Fuels recently. Specifically I was looking for a high quality fuel to run in the my OS 140 EFI with the objectives of eliminating bearing corrosion, lowering the operating temperature and increasing main bearing life.<BR>
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As it turns out, Powermaster has been developing new fuels for both the YS 4 stroke and OS two stroke engines. Powermaster has worked with some state-of-the-art oil and corrosion inhibitor manufacturers and have developed a new low viscosity fuel that appears to meet all of the objectives I have been working toward. I asked Wendell if I could try them out in my OS 140 Electronic Fuel Injection engine (onboard computer and sensors that track both RPM - instantaneous and maximum, and Cylinder head temperature - instantaneous and maximum). These onboard sensors make the engine a good candidate to test new fuels. Powermaster provided a 20% nitro blend of the PowerPac fuel along with the standard Powermaster YS 20/20 fuel. <BR>
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I ran both the Powermaster 20/20 and the Powermaster 20% Powerpac Low viscosity fuels and compared the data versus other fuels from reputable manufacturers that I have been using. The table below shows the results for the full throttle sustained RPM and the cylinder head temperature on a consistent fuel injector setting. The engine is propped with a 17/12 APC wide blade which is a relatively high load and is fully cowled in a PL products Smaragd airframe. The day I did the test, the temperature was 93 degrees F and high humidity.<BR>
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<B><U>Fuel </U> </B><U>Nitro content</U> <U>Max RPM</U> <U>Cylinder head temp - deg C</U><BR>
Powermaster PowerPac 20% nitro 7800 122 degrees<BR>
Powermaster YS 20/20 20% 7650 134 degrees<BR>
Brand ZZ 25-30% 7600 149 degrees<BR>
Brand ZZ 20% 7500 134 degrees<BR>
Brand XX 20% 7500 142 degrees<BR>
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The Powermaster powerpac 20% low viscosity fuel gave 300 more RPM and the cylinder head temperature was the lowest by far (122 degrees C vs 149<BR>
degrees C for the Brand ZZ fuel). This means that the engine was producing more horsepower and the engine actually ran cooler with the Powermaster powerpac fuel. Also the regular Power master YS 20/20 blend showed good performance in terms of higher RPM and lower cylinder head temperature as compared to other fuels. </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"><B><I> My conclusion is that that not all fuels of the same nitro percentage are the same. !!!! </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></B></I>Also new fuel/ oil technology has the potential to translate into reduced bearing / mechanical wear with the lower operating temperatures. Also the proprietary corrosion inhibitors have the potential to eliminate bearing corrosion. I understand that YS engines may be recommending this new fuel for the YS DZ fuel injected engine in a 30% nitro blend. Also some of the helicopter guys are running the fuel in very high stress environments. <BR>
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I have flown several flights with the Powermaster Powerpac low viscosity fuel and really like the way the engine runs. It puts out a smokey exhaust<BR>
trail which generally indicates a good, rich setting (safe for the engine) and excellent power. The engine was set for 7800 RPM on the ground and<BR>
showed a maximum 8250 RPM in the air (the onboard computer captures the max RPM). It was clear that the Powermaster powerpac low viscosity fuel provided the best power and smooth performance in the air. <BR>
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This information is provided solely to gain insight on the technology improvements for fuel manufacturing. I am not sponsored by Powermaster. If you have interest in some new fuel alternatives, contact PowerMaster and Wendell Hammond and see their website. Wendell is very knowledgeable and great to work with. <BR>
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Note: I am not bashing other fuel manufacturers and will not disclose the real names of the other fuel manufacturers shown above -- they make good products as well.<BR>
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Ron Barr<BR>
AMA 6507<BR>
NSRCA 249<BR>
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