Wick starting was: Semi-diesel

I had some involvement with Field-Marshall tractors many moons ago, and more recently with a big Crossley marine pump-scavenged direct reversing 2-stroke. The FM uses starting papers, essentially blotting paper soaked in, IIRC, potassium nitrate & dried. These are definitely intended to be lit before insertion to the cylinder head, & glowing at the time of starting. I have the idea that KNO3 is a bit of an oxidising agent, & will help it to continue smouldering in the confined space of the cylinder - is this about right? The Crossley uses wicks, in a roughly similar arrangement, but they don't seem to keep smouldering at all well. This combined with the time taken to get six of them in place, each one much more fiddly than the Field Marshall, makes me wonder whether any of them is burning by the time the engine is ready for starting. That in turn leads me to consider whether there is any need to light them, or are their characteristics such that the heat of compression plus, perhaps, some diesel mist will set them burning more readily than the diesel on its own. Does anyone here know for sure, or wish to speculate further?

Cheers Tim

Tim Leech Dutton Dry-Dock

Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs

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