Cox Model Engine - Reed Valves

Reed Valves

There were three main types of reed valve produced:

1. Early engines—Space Bug, Thermal Hopper, Strato Bug—circular twin copper reeds
2. Bee Engines prior to 1989—star shaped single beryllium copper reed held in place by a circlip reed retainer. (see image on left)
3. Later Bees, Killer Bees, Venom (post 1989) —oval shaped stainless steel reed which is held in place by a plastic reed retainer. (see image on right)

Later variants of the star and oval reeds were made of Mylar and Teflon. Some say Mylar is the best while others prefer the stainless steel and then others prefer the Teflon. Claims are that Mylar and Teflon are lighter and make the engine easier to start and go faster, but they do not last as long as the stainless ones.