NITRO FUMES RULE

I just read a thread regarding the quality control on carbs the STS engines come with.
This guy claims two carbs had to be replaced because of metal shavings found in them
and one of the carbs had a cracked banjo fitting. I have read nothing but good on these
engines regarding power and relibility. I am getting ready to purchase A STS D30M and
was wondering if anybody that has experience with this line of engines has had similar
problems ??

If you are not smelling nitro fumes and listening to the sweet song you are not LIVING !!

supertib

Well I have experience with these mills...and a bunch of other mills as well...... Metal shavings and a cracked banjo are totaly possible, though the banjo is brass and not prone to cracking... But it is fully possible.... But metal shavings can be flushed out with nitro spray, and a banjo is a $0.50 peice... Neither thing is grounds to change the carb...

I have also read the same guys post, I tried to get a dialogue with him about the engine, as I have some questions to ask him about the way he broke in and ran the STS engine.... But he seems to not want to discuss the engine...Actualy I have seen several guys saying the STS engines they had didn't run good............ I then try to ask each person what happened and how they broke in and ran the engine, as 99.9% of the time a persons bad experience is from there own personal errors, not the engines.....I try to point that out but most people dont want to hear it LOL


Anyways the STS mills are awesome, they are not the easiest motor to setup, they take a little skill and patience to get dialed in..They are a motor that needs a slow 1 gallon break in... As well they need to run there own STS pipe to work up to potential....

NITRO FUMES RULE

I trust what you say because I know you have a ton of experience with the STS engines partically
the D30M. I have seen your CRT run in the video you guys recorded. That thing hauls asss!!!.
Listen I am putting one in my Revo with the Qouncepts stage 3 conversion, Tekno battery box/fuel
tank conversion , Mugen MBXT 150cc Fuel tank, foward only conversion, Robinson Racing hardened
steel ring and pinon sets and Maximizer steel diff cups. I was wondering what you thought of the
Jammin JP3 pipe as I have already ordered this and you recommend the STS pipe ? I have 17 +
years in the nitro brotherhood and always respect new opinions and like to hear different ideas
and set ups. I have had a lot of nitro engines and each one has its differences. Is there anything
special with the D30M I should know about, break in, glow plug, ect.? It will be fired using a starter
box. I would appreciate your input ! Thanks !!!

If you are not smelling nitro fumes and listening to the sweet song your not LIVING !!

supertib

The JP-3 stinks on the STS 30, being a 3 chamber pipe it really restricts the flow... for the most part the JP-2 is not a ery good choice on the bigger motors, it really kills the motors top end power.... I will give you more later, but definitely get the STS pipe, please I beg you nopt to bother with a JP-3 on this beast of an engine.

AllAboutFunHobbies

Hi, this is not a promotional add. I just wanted to give my two cents. We sell STS engines and so does Top Speed Toys, I've never had anyone come back to complain abotu there engines, I don't believe Mark has either. I think we don't have them come back because we take the tiem to help them install the engine and get it running and make sure they inderstand the break in procedure for the engine. I have more times than not broke the engine in for them if that's what they wanted. They are good strong racing engines, they preform well when broke in properly and tuned right. If you get it take care of it and break in the right way and take your time tuning it.

BigGrump

The STS .30 comes with a lot less "pinch" than the STS .28. This can give the illusion the engine is broken in before it actually is. When I broke my STS .30 in, I must have gotten in a hurry as I had it running fast at tank six, and race tuned it at about tank 8. I found I had spoiled a lot of the compression. I replaced the piston and sleeve, and this time took it a lot easier. Waited for about 1/2 gallon to tune. Much better. Pinch was gone at the same time, but compression is way up now. I now have it at 2 gallons and compression is holding up the same. Engine does run very well with the STS pipe. My only regret now is that I did not listen and pre-heat the engine before starting it for the first six tanks. I believe now the compression would be even higher.


Dennis

supertib

I am very glad to hear things went well......And I compliment you for taking the time to give the motor a fair chance, alot of people would be here badmouthing the motor with the experience you had.. That shows class and humility, two very good traits in a person... If there is anything I can do to help just let me know.... Once day you need to get your finger on one of these STS 30's with some mods, its a total beast of an engine

Yes the STS 30 is an excelent motor, but it is also very fragile to improper break in, and will fail very early if break in isn't correct... With my way of breaking in there is still pinch at 1.5 gallons and starter box breaking compresion at 2 gallons .. I have overseen the break in of a few of these mills now and IMO they are the most sensitive I have seen yet... But the good news is that once its broken correctly the motors seem to hold their compresion extremey well...My piston will go almost to the top of the sleeve, but still makes huge compresion...STS must have used different angles on the sleeve tapers on this mill IDK

Its too bad alot of people aren't going to take the time needed and are going to wreck alot of these motors very early

NITRO FUMES RULE

Hey Supertib! Whats going on dude. Listen I took your advice and ordered the STS
pipe to go with the D30M. I was able to cancle the order for the JP-3 pipe. Mark at
TopSpeedToys gave me a ten dollar discount on the pipe by ordering it with the
engine. I was wondering what method you use to break in this mill. I normally
use a heat cycle type berak in using a heat gun to pre heat the cylinder on
the first few tanks. What do you reccomend and is there anything special to be
aware of on the run in of this engine? Also do you tear the engine down and
and flush out any metal particles before the first tank is run? Don't mean to be a
pest but what glow plugs and percentage of nitro do you reccomend? I appreciate
the info. Like I said before I have a ton of nitro experience but love to hear new
methods as each engine has its own characteristics. Thanks !!

If your not smelling nitro fumes and listening to the sweet song your not LIVING!

supertib

Well my advice with the STS 30 is to do the break in very slowly and gently.... Be sure to keep temps between 200-240 at all times, as well be sure to keep RPM low at first...... I would slowly break this engine in over a period of 1 gallon before I would even attempt topping it out....

I will post more when I get a chance, but the key with this motor is slow and easy, The motor is very fragile till it breaks in, and there isn't the most pinch to work with, so you have to be careful to make a good seal and not wear the piston too fast....

ogranadino

Hello guys, Hi I have the STS30. engine. til' Now It only runs 5 tanks(Im in brake Inn). SCREEMER ENGINE!
I have big problems for setting the idle needle. I can't found the idle of my engine.
I move the needle idle less by less until the engine stops(less RPM) but all the time the clutch bell is engaged(rotating) and forcing the diffs to move in.
I just can't have the engine working without the wheels moving. This particular engine needs more hard clutch springs? or something different? for getting the idle?


I'm using my old clutch bell, clutch spring and clutch shoe from my old HPI 4.6 HO engine. I have an HPI Hellfire.

Whats wrong?


Thanks.


PD: Sorry for my english.

hpi apollo

if the clutch is spinning while the engine is dying then it means something in your clutch is dragging, your bearings might be catching or a spring could be broken

ogranadino

My clutch shoes and springs are ok. When the engine is off the clutch bell could spinn freely without dragging.
My clutch shoes are from teflon, do I need heavier ones because I change from engine .28 to .30?

Thanks

s5lin

Hi all,

I actually ordered two STS 30 engines, and one had bad o-rings out of the box on the low end and the other carb had a major airleak. I will contact the guy I bought the engine from and see how we will go about the warranty issue.

I like the way the engines are built. The machining looks great, but it seems the carbs for me, I had bad luck. If anyone else that represents STS would like to PM me about the carbs, please go ahead and do so. I want to make the engines, work, but it seems the carbs are the major problem for me.

Thanks.

NITRO FUMES RULE

Thanks for the info guys! I am going to pull the carb and remove the both the
high and low speed needles when I get my engine this week. I heard that
an engine can sit around in a warehouse after manufacturing for quite a while
and the o-rings in the carb can dry out causing them to tear. A trick I
learned some years ago on that o-ring problem is to carefully remove the
high & low speed needles to expose the o-rings on each, and take a "small"
amount of Associated's green slime used for lubing the seals on shocks and
apply it to these o-rings. Don't over do it with the grease as a little goes a long
ways. I am also as an added percaution going to remove the head and backplate
as long as I am at it, and flush out the combustion chamber and crankcase with
fuel and coat everything with after run oil. Lastly I will use some oxygen safe
silicone sealer and use a small amount on the banjo fitting on the carb, around
the base of the carb, and the backplate to eliminate any possible air leaks that
create a lean run condition. This may seem not necessary or overkill to some
hobbists but it does not take much time and effort to perform these procedures.
It should insure your new engine is ready for a proper break-in, and that you have
eliminated as many possible problems as you can!

If you are not smelling nitro fumes and listening to the sweet song your not LIVING!!

supertib

okay how do you know it had an airleak ????

and how do you know it has bad O-Rings ???

sorry but i am very skeptical of your problems.

I would bet you any money your motors are A-ok and that the problems are not nearly as severe as you may think.... I have handled alot of motors and 99% of the time the problems people encounter are their own mistakes and lack of knowledge...

So anyways I feel confident both your motors are fine, and I will try to help you get em dialed in.

okay what tuned pipe are you trying to run ?

what temp gun are you trying to use ?

How do you feel the O-rings are damaged

how many head shims are in the motor ?

what makes you say it has an airleak ?

tomfn

Hello.

I have just ordered a new STS 30 and i see that you recomend the STS pipe.

I have the Fantom racing pipe and the Werks big block pipe has annyone tried them?

supertib

likely other pipes will work...but the STS pipes work the best..... your choice, but IMO its worth getting the matching pipes.

livthemoment

Question: on the .21 STS engines what glow plugs are you running

SAVAGEJIM

I now had my D28M for nearly 9months now maybe more, I lost count). I remember taking it apart and ceaning it for winter storage. The carb is prestine on it, even after nealy abusing bashing during the summer. Not one scratch on it and all the prts function without any hitches. When things warm up again, I'm going to take the D28M back out, reassemble and RTV seal it, and I bet it will still run just as good as it did last summer. I personally never had any problems with the carb.

Now, I can tell you, my neighbor and I both have D28Ms and never ever experienced any air leaks or carb problems with them at all. We did have problems by putting on long plugs in them. Neither of our engines liked the long plugs since the compression ratios in them were increased greatly. The D28Ms would over rev and exhibit the same symptoms as an air leak, but the culprit were the long plugs; the D28Ms prefered short plugs and when we used those, these engines ran at thie peaks.

s5lin

Sorry for the late reply supertib, I haven't checked this thread in awhile. I can assure you that I have an idea as to what I was doing. The truck I installed the STS 30 engine in had just previously ran an OS 30VG.


I usually try to avoid long winded posts, but since it seems supertib thinks that I am lying I will go into the story of what happened.

I am positive that it had an air leak due to an erratic idle due to the fact that as soon I started the engine let it idle to heat cycle it, the temps were jumping from 180-260. This is at IDLE and within a few minutes!!! The rpms kept picking up though the throttle was still closed to neutral. So I backed out the needles half a turn, restarted the engine and even backing out the needles more again, the engine still wanted to overheat. Took the low speed needle apart, one of the o-rings was slit. The high speed needle looked ok, but I wasn't confident of the carb. Had another carb, a Vertex 26 one, which has the same throat diameter and threw it on the STS and it ran alright.

The same OS 30 I had in the car before temped 235-245 consistently on the same temp gun that I used to temp the STS, so I would not say it is a temp gun error, and the OS 30 ran well after I took the STS motor out and put the OS back in, which tells me the fuel tank is good, and the fuel lines are as well.


Supertib, I have seen your portwork on engines and you do a good job, but you can't say that just because I got a bad carb, I don't know what I am doing. My buddies have gone to Taiwan and met Dino, who represents the STS company. If you don't believe me that it's Dino who most US distrubutors deal with, you can check it out with Ryan from Racernine. I think the STS products are good, but at the price you pay, there will be some slip ups. And the slip up I have seen with STS is in the assembly of the carb.

Pipe: STS
Plug: OS A3
SHIMS: Stock
Fuel: 20% Byrons
Tempgun: Duratrax with emissivity adjusted to 75, as per instructions to compensate for RC Car heatsinks.


Please note that I had said it was likely a warranty issue. I never bashed the engine... Just stated the fact of what happened to me. Will this one bad carb make me hate STS Engines? No, but that means the other STS I have, a Dadders modded one, I will disassemble the carb on that one as well. But usually Dadders (Walt) takes apart the engines and checks everything, so I am not really worried about that one.

I've owned Nova 528XRs, OS, Piccos, and now a Radical/OPS 628. As of right now, the best budget engines I have found are still SH based mills. The quality is about the best bargain you can get for your money. For example, I picked up an LRP Z28 Spec 3 (The SH 8 port) truggy for only 155 with 2 day shipping. Plus the engine runs good with the SH pipe that was included with my kit. Theres no need for me to shell out another $45 on top of the $120 for the engine just for another pipe to run on my truck. The cost of the STS pipe would negate the cost saving of the engine price. Though to be fair, the STS pipe is not absolutely necessary to run, but if you want the most out of the engine everyone is saying you have to have it.


The same OS 30 I had in the truck before temped 235-250 consistently on the same temp gun that I used to temp the STS, and it ran fine which tells me the fuel tank is good, and the fuel lines are as well.

supertib

okay with your STS 30 did you remove the 3 extra break in shims ? if not the motor will run extremely hot.... STS put in a pile of extra shims to aid break in but neglected to tell people

as for O-rings, yes I have seen many torn o-rings on amny brands of engines, i usualy just replace the o-rings if needed, as well as a safety precaution i usualy use teflon tape on all my needle threads....

as well the Duratraxx guns are extremely unreliable.. mine is set to 55E to read acurately.. I calibrated my guns using my home oven, and a spare block, plus an oven thermometer to ensure accurate settings.... we have calibrated a few more of these Duratrax guns and each one seems to read differently, by as much as 100 degrees...

Sorry if I was calling you a newb, as I have no idea who I am talking too, but I am sure if I was around when you wer having issues I could have straightened them out for you with a few very simple fixes.

I agree I like SH mills alot, I have years of experience running them, but they dont have the power or build quality of the STS mills, not even close in the power department... But you have to have a properly operating STS to see this... I will aslo concede I have seen quite a few STS mills with a very loose LSN fit, and subsequent air leak from this point, as well as a needle that will vibrate all over the place...but a little teflon tape fixes this problem right up, the other fix is to use an o-ring from a HPI S-25 carb rebuild kit....

I wish I was here when you were having issues, as I can guarantee the problems were extremely simple and easy to fix...

tomfn

Recieved a new STS 30 today. I have removed cylinder, mounted the flywheel (too hold the crank), and trying to remove the piston (with the piston at TDC), using a zip tie under the conrod. It is so hard to pull off that i am afraid too destroy it.
Anny tips???

supertib

rotate the engine between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock as you rotate the engine

tomfn

Thank you.

Changed the bearing to Boca high speed/high heat. The front bearing has metallic retainers on a high rpm engine???

Pictures of the original bearing compared to the Boca bearings.

Front bearing, the original too the left:

Rear bearing, the original too the left:

lachy1

there seems to be alot of sts guys that no what they are doing in this thread so perhaps you can help, Im getting a STS 21e in 5 days and i want to know the best break in method for this engine. Will the engine come with an instruction guide with the best break in method ?

thanks, i would normally just do a 1-2 tanks at idle, 2 at half speed , 2 at 3/4 ect but apparently they have to be broken in perfectly.