0tter

My Feedback: (39)

Do you have a horizontal piece going back to the cyl heads? Cant really tell from this pic. The CF looks nice.

rmh

Now you should have nice hot mufflers --

Jim Flannigan

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Crash90

My Feedback: (17)

I just got off the phone with keith at BME. Turns out they sell a machined plate that fits over the vent to solve this very problem. 19.95. Also comes with blue mounting screws. I will post a pic when it arrives.

I was hoping thet Kris would jump in. I enjoy when him and JohnVH get at it. Only kidding. Thanks for the help.

My only other concern would be airflow over the carb intake. I will test fly first. I really dont care for the big piece of CF plate covering 1/2 the opening.

gravityrulz

My Feedback: (2)

and if all this fails, buy a DA

loser

My Feedback: (37)

"K.I.S.S." diaphram vent blocker. I was having the typical gurgling on my 3w-85 that is apparently so common to 3W's. Rather than solder on a tube to the vent hole of the dia. cover, I simply covered the hole with a square of 1/8" ply using two strips of double sided foam tape. There is enough space between the tape strips to form two small "channels" to the vent hole. I flew about ten flights this weeknd and it is still securely attached. Engine ran MUCH better - almost perfect.

0tter

My Feedback: (39)

Yah, been there. I looked at it this way.

3w 106 w/muff; $1250
cheap plastic snorkel thing; $50
shipping and bench time to "evaluate" continuing problems; $150
feeling of "runs first time and every time" with a DA; PRICELESS

loser

My Feedback: (37)

I agree Otter.......next time I will go DA. If I could sell my two 3W twins without "losing my butt" i would make the switch right now. Oh well....live and learn.........

rcdart

If anyone is still reading this thread, I have had all the same problems out here in Aust, but now its fixed, this motor has been back to dealer, with no improvements, large fix it bills etc. How did I fix it? with help from our local DA dealer. No I did not buy a DA, but I did buy A carb off him that bolted straight on, an at the DA factory setting only needed a minute tweek leaner on the low needle and it is great. I will buy a DA next time if nothing more than for the support.

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

I have heard of some others putting DA's carb on them with decent results too.. And retarding the timing a bit to keep from breaking their fingers

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

This may seem insane but here goes. There is no magic in a "DA" carb, or engine, or anything else. It's in the operator. Learn about pop off pressures and what your particular engine and set up wants and needs. Our glow and gas engines need three things, fuel, air and fire - period. Learn about your carbs like it took you years to do with your glow engines and just go fly. These gas and glow engines today are engineering marvles for the most part. Yes, there are some anomolies, but stop worrying about your engine and go fly. It's not the engine, it's you. Admit it and move on. I think it's BME that has a webpage on carb mods if you need them.
These carbs are for weed wackers and chain saws for gods sake[X(]
DA carbs are Walbro if I'm not mistaken. They work, and so do Tillotson. Figure them out and all is well.
It is so painful to see how many people want to bash this or that. 3W is a performance engine and not for everyone. Go to the glow forum and take a look at how many fliers can't deal with a YS? You know why, because it's high performance. You just don't turn the key and it glows For petes sake man, take some responsiblilty for your $5000 airplane and learn what it takes to get it up and down and still have fun...

RTK

My Feedback: (1)

I think you might have something there Bob.

0tter

My Feedback: (39)

Well Bob. I do agree. There is no magic in a carb, or engine for that matter. Learning how to tune them is HUGE in getting a gasser (or any engine for that matter) to run properly. I have been into gas for only a bit over two years and have learned so much about tuning. I still have a l o n g way to go. I also agree that a high performance engine can be more difficult to tune. I have gone through a similar learning curve during my muscle car days. Differences in design, specifications and ratings are different from one set up to another.

As you said, it is not unusual to find that some designs have differences in its running attributes as well. I have found some. I will say that I do take responsibility for my airplane. I am also not too proud to seek help from fellow flyers, professionals and manufacturers when I have problems. I also learn from my experiences. I have found a manufacturer that makes and services an engine for me. They too take pride and responsibility in their equipment. I have also found a manufacturer that makes an engine for some one else. For me personally, it was a hard (and expensive) lesson to learn.

RCPilot100

My Feedback: (4)

Bob has it nailed correctly. After reading this thread last fall, I kicked myself in the butt for thinking there must be something magical about these engines - what I do at work is considered magical - these two strokes with Walbro or Tillotson are really simple devices. All I had to do is get back to basics like the stuff I worked on 30 years ago. Cover the basics and these engines really put out some horsepower. I have three 3Ws - two were causing me problems - they now put out bunches of consistent horsepower. Gonna fire up a new DA in several weeks - I expect the same - can't wait to find a plane to park my 110 Extreme in and see what I can get out of it. The only issue I have had is in tweaking my 3W-100 this past weekend - made a 1/16 turn adjustment and it got worse - tried to back it off 1/16 and it got worse again. Scratched my head for a few seconds then checked the gas tank - and found it empty. Yeah, sort of a dumb thing to do - go through a full 40 oz tank and not know it - but this was the first time this engine ran continuously to run out a full tank.

Dan

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

I had the same problem twice last month with my 3W Dan. I forgot to fuel up after previous flights and the stupid thing almost flamed out[] Ran like crap and leaned out when the tank was almost empty.
Oh well, time to get rid of it
Have fun_bob

0tter

My Feedback: (39)

I just read a post regarding one area often overlooked. I have experienced this problem myself; it is intermittent or poor contact at the plug between the switch and the spark box. The plugs that many manufacturers are using (big Red and Black) can be a bit less than reliable some times.

I had poor contact with the plug/jack on a 150 that was producing weak spark, in turn the engine would appear to misfire when under a load (hovering, vertical etc.) At times, the engine would not fire or run badly. It sent me replacing fuel lines, chasing needles etc… Unfortunately, the wiring was the last thing I looked into. It was not a broken wire (as was the case on the recent post I read) but just plain old poor metal to metal connection. I replaced the plug/jack with one used in RC cars to connect the battery to the harness. They work real well. Most have a “safety catch” to reduce possibility of disconnecting. I have also heard that they should remain “floating” and not tie wrapped or attached to the airframe to reduce vibration.

While it may not be the number one problem point, it’s worth looking into while troubleshooting.

rcdart

It's been a while, but for what its worth, the DA carb only fixed part of the problem, it helped the engine run long enough to get a decent lenght of flight, then this engine really showed that it can play up, missing bacfire overheating etc. so I sold it to a guy that thuoght like so many others that you need to understand these so called high performance motors. I bought a DA, goes great. Be warned, the guy I sold the motor to has stripped it down, its apeice of crap, the surfaces where the crank bearings sit in the crankcase on one side have not been machined, the gap between the bearing suface just bogged up with Loctite. The two halfs of the crankcase dont match each other and the list goes on. Just goes to show that sometimes we do know how to operate equipment, BUT, if the equipment is crap even the best operator is up the well known creek in a barbed wire canoe using a tennis racket for a paddle.

Bottom line if you are still having problems look a lot deeper than the ignition and fuel systems.

Mick

OscarPilot

My Feedback: (7)

Good information!

Every manufacturer has their day.... 3-W had theirs. I guess that's what happens when you sit on your laurels. Maybe some day they will return as the premier engine but it will take a lot of investment and work on their part.

Right now I think it's safe to say DA and BME take the medals for premier product.

bob_nj

My Feedback: (62)

There are good and bad engines in every lot of every brand. Maybe a "ganging of tolerances" as they say in the machining world. As far as 3W or anyone else having their day, maybe so, but I don't think that way. There are automotive recalls all day long because we work with humans and we work with machines, and that's the way it goes. Recalls are because something went wrong. Either in assembly, or machining, but something went wrong. Come on now, you've heard of the "Monday morning" widget, or the "Friday afternoon" thing a ma jig, haven't you...
Lest we forget the EDSEL[X(]

rcdart

Just a shame that this particular engine had come back from the 3W agent here with a $600 odd bill saying that it was good and all fixed, come on let's have some imagination, either he did not look at it or it was just another sham, I leave it to you to make up your own mind, if you cant rely on the company agent I suggest you find another compay. or the company find another agent!!!!

Mick

2.6mrod

reply rc dart we spend a lot of dollars for these engines and after sales service is what it is all about, sadly the engine you speak of had come back from our dealer who stripped it and put new bearings in it ?? under warranty i suppose he thought locktite would fix it instead of a replacement engine, now there are 3 people who have been burned by this engine and had their taste of this brand and after sales service.

conan64

My Feedback: (1)

In reference to the 3W 106 being discussed I have a great deal of knowledge of this engine too. After some 30 years in this hobby and 10 with giant scale petrols I take some offence to the treatment by the agent related to this engine. To be treated as a fool and to not have thew engine fixed has made me change brands completly. This engine lost me heaps of money and the reliability I had experienced in the past for petrol engines. I have owned numerous 3w engines but due to the lack of service by this person he has turned me to D.A. as their service is outstanding. These engines seem to have major problems for most I have seen so my advice would be to go with an inteligent reliable company that has service and backup not ridiculous suggestions and rough engineering!!!!!