[Rhodes22-list] Winterizing

[Robert Skinner]

R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
> Slimmy,
> The use of fogging oil is an old habit
> carried over from God only knows  when
> and nobody knows why...

There was, and may still be, an occasional
case of piston rings welding to cylinder
walls.  This was more common in 4-stroke 
engines, as they have (or had) a different 
layout of piston rings, one which was designed
to remove oil from the piston walls in the
space above the piston.

In the absence of oil, the extremely smooth 
surfaces of the rings and the cylinder walls
sometimes bonded at a molecular level, welding
together without benefit of heat.

Fogging was/is supposed to prevent that, among
other things.

As a general practice, I give the starter cord
a pull to turn my motors over (not start them)
once a month when they are not in use.  This
may be overkill, but none has ever seized.

However, when I was doing small engine repair 
work while going thru college, I ran into a case 
of ring weld now and then, even in motors that 
had not been overheated or run dry of oil.  When
I pulled the head, the cylinder walls were not 
scored or spalled - but they were dry, even 
though there was oil in the crankcase.

I leave it for someone else to explain why 
oil-mix 2-strokes need fogging.

/Bob Skinner