captinjohn

The more I read about all the problems with a lot of all these engines of various brands, I think it would be better to get a good conversion RC engine from one of the guys that know this stuff in the first place. They know by experience what goes wrong & rebuild/convert them to be more trouble free.

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

captinjohn, did you just learn to copy and paste?

Joystick TX

Jim, sounds good, as long as it has spark, I can map it. Should be interesting to see what the curve looks like.

Joystick TX

I'm not sure what you mean by a conversion RC engine. If you mean one that was designed for a weed-eater and converted to RC use, I don't know of any of them that are "trouble free." They don't produce the power that "purpose built" engines have and they usually weigh more which also decreases the aircraft performance. The carbs and ignitions are only made by a few companies, so there are not many options there. Carbs and ignitions account for the majority of the engine failures. RC aircraft use puts a lot of stress on the engine that weed-eaters and chainsaws don't get. Two things that come to mind are cooling and the loads on the bearings that are imposed by a prop during quick maneuvers. The gyroscopic loads are horrendous on the 3-D engines. I have had the same weed-eater for over five years and I have only run about 10 gallons of fuel through it. I run a half-gallon a week in one of my gas engines. A lot of weeks, during the summer flying season, I run a gallon or more a week.

captinjohn

Read about conversion engines...look for postings made by av8tor. He has done many!

Joystick TX

Read about conversion engines...look for postings made by av8tor. He has done many!
[/quote]
I'm still not sure what you mean by "conversion engines." There are many different types, I have been following many of them since 1948. I have even converted a few myself. I found that the "law of diminishing returns won out every time", the cost and time involved was not worth the effort and I never had any great performance gains. I used to spend hours on an engine working on polishing and porting, I did get some minor gains from that when I was flying in competition. Glow to Gas? Weed-eater to RC? I need more input. I looked at the last 50 posts from av8tor, his primary interest seems to be electric right now. He is close to me and I may even know him, I flew at the T-bird field for several years before they moved it.It would help if you give me a specific example of a "conversion engine" that does not use a CH OR RCEXL ignition AND a Walbro carb AND will give trouble-free performance for 500 to 1000 hours.

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

I have a SYSSA engine in a Rascal 110 swinging a VESS 18.5X5.5 prop. The engine has less than 20 flights and I've always had issues with it running correctly. A couple days ago I was out flying just to get the engine tweaked out so I can start flying and not have dead sticks all the time. I get about 3 min into the flight and the engine shuts down. I'm sure it's getting hot but a lot of the cylinder is exposed so I know its a tuning issue but can't seem to get it figured out. On the last dead stick I was unable to get it started again and it didn't seem to have much compression. I thought maybe it was hot so I called it a day and went home. With the engine cooled down I can turn the engine over by hand. This is without a prop on. I can grab the crank and turn it over by hand. Something is not right. Anyone hand an issue like this with their SYSSA engine?

Joystick TX

Zippi, I hate to say this, but it sounds like your engine has been running too lean. That may be the reason for all the dead sticks. No amount of cooling will make up for not enough oil getting to the engine. No compression is usually caused by worn out rings, due to long term wear or a few lean runs. It could also be a broken ring, that is usually a "sudden" event, like everything is okay and then it is not running okay due to no compression. Broken rings are not all that common with engines today. If your engine is still under warranty, you could send it back to Syssa. Not sure what response you will get from them right now.

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

I agree. My last needle settings were L: 1.5 & H: 2.5. I kept opening up the high end trying to cool the engine down with no luck.

Jim Henley

Zippi, Your situation sounds like mine with the exception I did not suffer any damage to the engine. My engine would run hot, run for a short amount of time and die, then once on the ground start right back up. The best we could figure is the module failed in the retarded mode. Based on the needle settings it seems to me that you were not overly lean at 2 1/2 turns open on the high side.
Steve, I have not forgotten you, the module is sitting on the desk waiting for me to get it in the mail. I'll PM you when it goes out.

Joystick TX

Zippi, looks like your air intake is plenty large enough, your air exhaust needs to be about 3X that area for best cooling. A large air intake with a small exhaust area can cause your engine to run hot due to the lack of air movement past the cooling fins.Seems like your needle settings wound up to be rich enough to prevent damage due to being lean. What settings did you start with?@Jim, can't wait to see what your module looks like, it should be interesting.

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

Have you looked at your fuel line connections lately? Is it possible the pick up line has fallen off? Don't be put off by the simplicity of this possibility, it happens all the time! Fuel lines soften and fall off, guys don't use barbs or tie wraps to secure fittings, etc.

The fact your engine is running at 2.5 turns is a red flag here. It's likely open that far due to air in the line?

Zippi

My Feedback: (10)

The entire bottom of the cowl is open. It's not a fuel issue when I can turn the engine over by hand without a prop. Something has gone wrong. I guess I'll drop Syssa an email telling Todd Ill be sending it in.

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

You're probably right. You're working on where you are now. I was working on how you got there?

kerwin50

are you using a felt clunk? sounds like your using a normal clunk and fuel foaming is getting you

Deandome

My Feedback: (1)

stop....heee hheee....no, stop....heee....I mean it

"...drop Syssa an email"? BWAAAAHAAAHAAA.

seriously, I'm in tears here. The laughing is starting to hurt...PLEASE stop with the comedy.

Jim Henley

Well guys I just got back from a very frustrating after noon at the field. When I arrived, I assembled the plane etc. the engine fired right up and I started flying. I was getting a "surge" at mid throttle which I was able to remove by richening the high speed needle ever so slightly. I am thinking I am home free, then the engine began to sag then died. I landed, refueled (just in case) the engine started right up, then died, and "pop". I tried to restart and it did, I took off and got just enough altitude to safely land after it died again. End of flying today. I can not believe I have fried another module. Could this be a problem with the Hall sensor? I probably did not run more than two tankfulls of fuel through the engine before I encountered issues. Any ideas suggestions? Could we be dealing with a batch of bad modules?
Thanks

ahicks

My Feedback: (2)

Wow....
I seriously doubt you cooked another module. Replacing the Hall sensor not a bad plan. Never hurts to have an extra one of those around. I might start looking at the power supply to the module as well? Maybe bypass the opti switch temporarily, maybe try a different battery (no matter how that one checks out)? -Al

JohnB96041

I have taken a chance with Todd by ordering 3 items via his web site. I am wondering if anyone else has placed any orders and how long before they got their ordered items? Paid by PayPal and got confirmation that payment was sent. Web site for SYSSA does not show anything except that I have placed an order.

JohnB96041

Has anyone heard from or had any kind of contact with Todd or Syssa Aircraft Performance? Sure would like an update from anyone.

Joystick TX

I just thought of something, have you cleaned the carb screen? Don't just look at it, make sure you can shoot carb or other cleaner through it, they get an almost invisible wax that restricts the fuel flow, I think it is something to do with a winter fuel additive. Also, in case the carb screen and Hall sensor are okay, my engine acted exactly like that when I put in new batteries. I found that one of them had a bad cell and almost zero capacity. It would only run for 3 or 4 min. and the voltage would drop too low for the ignition module to work.

Joystick TX

I tried several times to order items recently and could not get the site to accept my inputs. I finally gave up.Have not had any reponse from Todd from quite a while, gave up on that too. A lot of us long time supporters have given up on Syssa ever being a serious engine manufacturer due to poor communications and customer support.

planeguy52

My Feedback: (2)

I also have a syssa 30 in a 110 Rascal. You need to force feed air into the top of the cowl. I used a pair of scoops similar to the type on a Cub. Your carb is pulling hot air right over the muffler and into the engine causing vapor lock. You need to feed it some nice cool air. I bet it will run great without the cowl, mine did.

pgmeyer

Contact for customer service - I sent my well used engine back due to a carb problem, it was returned within 2 weeks and has run perfectly ever since. It has a Tilotson carb now, the new muffler, and new bearings. I added a choke servo to my Pilot RC 25% Extra and now start the motor in the conventional way with closed choke and wide open throttle when cold. Runs great, just like it always has.

My experience only, I know people are having trouble with customer service and responsiveness in general. It is a shame, there is such great potential for a small displacement engine built here.

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Paul

kfla

JohnB96041 I ordered/paid for an engine and ass. in Oct. 2012, and have heard and got nothing. I tried calling for ever, left messages NOTHING in return. Once March 7 2013 I got a hold of todd and he told me a couple weeks. Still NOTHING [] I'm just hoping someday it'll be in the mail