COME KINDLY TO TERMS WITH YOUR ASS

“Come kindly to terms with your ass, for it bears you.”

  This saying of unknown origin was the first sentence of one of the twentieth century’s most read non-fiction book, and is well applies to the issue of splines. On some CO2 models, the most forward part of the crankshaft is splined, which means grooves are machined into the shaft to positively index the aft propeller disc to the shaft. When properly torqued, the prop is secured to the shaft and may rotate as the crank rotates.

  I know what you’re thinking, “yeah yeah yeah we know that elementary stuff.”

The reason I bring this up, is next to the connecting rod, this is weakest point in many CO2 motors, and should be treated with much respect. Many new-to-CO2 fliers take that aft plate as just another washer, and strip those splines clean off by putting some pliers on that plate and twisting. Now it’s just another washer!

  Let’s say you just bought a Motor off the EBay, and like a lot of them, they are all gummed up and the crankshaft/prop won’t turn. It’s going to take a lot of oil and some back and forth to work that crank loose to be decently rotational. Listen up ~ 

ONLY WORK THE MOTOR BACK AND FORTH WITH A PROPELLER FIRMLY SCREWED INTO THE SHAFT

  If you neglect to do this and the prop is loose, the splines can strip out and you have lost the engine. If at the time you don’t have a suitable prop, use a piece of hardwood or a paintbrush handle, just make certain that backing plate cannot wobble on the shaft end. That aft plate was pressed onto those splines and was not designed to be pulled on and off repeatedly. While we’re on the subject, if you’re trying to loosen a bound-up crank, oil and time works better than force. Be patient, ya hear? 

Oils like 3-in-1 and Kroil are dandy to loosen stuck or seized motors, but after they are loosened and are rotating normally, that same oil must be removed or flushed thoroughly from your crankcase before CO2 runs are accomplished as you don’t want it distributed throughout your plumbing and tank. Verily, verily I say unto you ~

WHAT MAKES THEM OILS GREAT AT LOOSENING STUCK METAL PARTS IS ALSO WHAT MAKES THEM GREAT FOR EATING RUBBER SEALS AND CRAZING NYLON SEATS.

Before using a solvent penetrating oil, take the time to remove and bag the seals and seats so they don’t get any of these reactive oils on them.  Only use a fine mineral oil such as sewing oil, or some Gasparin CO2 motor oil for normal engine operations and after-run. If you’ve never disassembled a CO2 motor, check the tips sheets I have available here at the annex.

Be like Billy . . . Behave yourself!

College Days - Rod goes Phi Slamma Jamma!

 (Edit 14 January 2020 ~ I deleted the part where I conjectured that engine RPMs were a factor in the rapid wear of the rod. Any moron would realize that the filler is not subject to the pressures and flows of operational cycles. When the piston is out of TDC, the ball (and I'm refering to the head valve ball,) is seated and filler pressure is system pressure. When the ball, at TDC, displaces the ball, the rod is still against the sealing seat in the nipple, as the pressure is still considerable. Sorry I don't have any moron to write for the annex ~ just me, a special kind of moron. When I refer to educated guesses you can infer to my level and success in education)

  I was working on a Davis/Carbonic .049 CO2 conversion Saturday and Sunday, and the owner’s primary complaint was the tank would not take a CO2 charge. On these Brown fillers, and you know how fond I am of them, instead of a ball it has a rod to stop the outflow of gas/liquid when you disconnect the charger from the filler, hopefully keeping the CO2 in the tank.

  In this particular one, the rod bit was just a teeny chunk, performing no sealing function. [See photo]

  So how does it get this way? I don’t know for sure, but I can make a couple of educated guesses. The Carbonic conversions were the largest of the modern CO2 motors, and were capable of tremendous speeds and rpms equivalent to the glow versions. The .049 in displacement is over 13 times the Telco, with a slightly shorter relative stroke. Look at the size of that tank and the huge plumbing and you’ll see what it’s capable of.

   I believe the rod just hammered itself like hard cheese on the aluminum ‘bail’ that retains it in the bore of the (aluminum) nipple and keeps it from going all the way back and blocking the orifice in the filler bell [in towards the tank and engine.] The ball in the head valve had a considerable amount of soft crud on the ball seat, causing a considerable amount of leakage from the head when it was supposed to be sealed. One thing I have noticed as I take these type fillers apart is that the end of the rod that seals against the hole in the nipple usually is “belled” out somewhat, larger than the inboard end. I can only assume resulting from the constant repetitive contacts during a run. I believe I read in one of the Mueller articles that the static pressure on the valve seat is approximately 4 pounds at 800 PSI at standard day ambient temperature. That’s a hell of a lot for a tiny, non-steel rod made of an indeterminate material. 

  Moral:  Brown filler don’t work? Unscrew that nipple and take a good look at its component parts.

2019 BTI CATALOG

To view and print the latest catalog, click link below.

2018-2019 BTI CATALOG [CO2]

BROWN FILLER ROD REPLACEMENT

About a month ago I posted some pix about how I replace the ineffective "rod" style flow stopper in a Brown filler on CO2MF, but the photos got sort of cut up in the slide-show. Let me try them here. Eventually I want to edit this material into a tip-sheet.

~IMPORTANT NOTE~

This is a procedure that I am just experimenting with. Don't pound the living shit out of your filler, rendering it useless. Just because it worked for me once, and the underlying principle is sound, has no bearing as to the sucess of subsequent attempts.

VIEW/DOWNLOAD THE BTI TIP SHEETS

MOW, MOW YOUR CO2 PROBLEMS AWAY!

TELCO SLIPPING MAIN BUSHING

Symptoms and good and bad fixes for the older telco engines where the speed adjusting bushing backs off when the engine is running, slowing the engine to a stop.

THAT PESKY BROWN FILLER

The filler nipple on the Brown Jr. and Davis conversions were designed well but become quite persnickity as they age. Here's some ideas and techniques to hopefully get them back to a working state

USING THE SIMPLE POLISHING KIT

If you've ordered a cylinder or filler from me and recieved a polishing kit with it. here's a tip sheet to keep it simple

CO2 SEAL KIT TIPS

Here's some general information/good bathroom reading for working on your CO2 motors, for experienced and novice alike

SERVICING THE TELCO CHARGER

Telco chargers are alright ~ face it, all the chargers can be somewhat finicky - and frustrating. But the Telco one is strong, has a 2mm nozzle so it fits many of the later model engines except the tiny ones, and one came with every engine sold unlike the Browns and Modelas where it had to be purchased seperately; so there is a lot of them out there. But unlike the others, Telco decided to crimp the nozzle on so the seal, ball and seat could not be inspected or replaced. But fear not . . . click on the link below to view the kit 9-T instruction kit

CHANGING THE BROWN CHARGER SEAL

The old aluminum hoop-style CO2 cartridge chargers haven't been made in at least 30 years, and the main neck seals just dry-rot to pieces. Here's a little treatise about the Brown chargers

BUYING CO2 ENGINES ON EBAY

Here's a sheet I made about some things to consider when you buy CO2 motors on EBay. Let's face it, like it or not it's pretty much the only game in town when it comes to where you can buy obselete items

SOME CO2 MOTOR LEAK CHECK TIPS

Has nothing to do with anthropology or Dr. Louis Leakey. How to interpret your Telco's bubble trails during a leak check and some tips to fix.