Reverend

My Feedback: (3)

LOL, every time someone writes something about glow drivers I count the hours till SrTelemaster150 tells us how mich better ignitions are. is this some kind of autoresponder?

SrTelemaster150

It's a "reflexive action".

I have the CH Ignitions 3-cylinder system for my FA512R3 HC CDI BBC project. Just waiting to get off the crutches & get motivated to do the build.

I have in hand 3 different 180 bore pistons. FA180, FG57 & FG84R3, each is a bit different but all use the FA180 rings.

BJ64

Funny you should say that - I remember putting my hand up to be part of a trial for some new-breed CDI ignitions. Even posted the dude direct - but never got a reply...

BJ

SrTelemaster150

Here's another one!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/glow...ts-needed.html

Carosel43

Hi Guys

Its getting a little quiet around here, I can only assume all the engines are working well....no that cant be right Anyway one engine that is working again is mine! I flew it today and had 4 uneventful flights. Its still down on power vs the old days and its still a heap of...something, but it did at least work and made a great noise while doing it. As a result it has been granted a stay of execution until my seafury (currently on the work bench) is complete and I need the hangar space. Even then I might play musical engines and find it another home within my fleet. The jayracer is the most likely as its my flying test bench anyway and I used to fly the 400 on it so it will bolt straight back on.

Now, its been a long day out in the cold so its time for some food!

SrTelemaster150

See the post above. A new member of the malfunctioning ASP 400R5 club.

BJ64

I don't see a lot of positives in comming into a dedicated thread - particularly a repair thread - and bagging the sh*t out of that particular product...

BJ

Dad_Roman

Likewise...Ive been following this thread for a long time. Have a Fleet Bipe that got doinked and was thinking about repairing it for this season and hanging a 400 on it. Now Im having second thoughts. Thinking about just picking up a 7-70 and hanging a huge prop on it

SrTelemaster150

Given Carousels43's post I think it was appropriate.

BJ64

No - his comment was tongue in cheek.

You just bag them. Period.

BJ

Carosel43

My comment was sarcastic, hence my pokey tongue but, if my engine was representative of the current state of the 400 production line then no one should buy one as its utter rubbish. But, my engine is very old and the quality has improved a lot. Also following a large mechanical failure early in its life (ie stopping dead at 6500rpm due to mechanical obstruction) it is entirely possible my crank pin is bent (causing it to eat bearings) and there could be other mechanical drama's in there. And while it has been a labour of love and so frustrating at times I have enjoyed flying the engine, it makes a great sound and attracts a lot of comments at the field. Given the current price on hobby king and the continued issues with QC I personally would not buy one unless I was prepared to do some remedial work (which I am not and so have not bought another).

Now, if you go for the evolution instead you are not avoiding any problems. The pushrods fall out the moment you touch it or look at it the wrong way, the running in procedure is a total nightmare, they also suffer from questionable QC (to a lesser degree than asp) as they originate in india and there are other issues reported with overheating and a general lack of power as its not a performance engine. its also much more expensive (in the uk anyway). So, whats left?? OS?? sure its a nice engine, but you will need to start selling body parts to pay for it. Saito?? again yes but its a smaller capacity and still 3 times the price of the ASP. The upshot of all this is that if you buy a budget engine you get a budget engine. You don't get what you don't pay for and while I think the sc/asp/magnum range are a good cheap intro into model 4 strokes and run well they do have serious limitations. Now if you are prepared to accept that then great, buy the 400 radial and never look back as it is (when its working) a great engine which is a lot of fun and you will not get another radial for the money. If you are not prepared to (or cannot afford to) spend out on an OS/Saito but do not want the hassle that is potentially connected to the ASP then you need to take your 800usd and buy another engine from somewhere else.

To me the above comments represent the facts of the matter. If you answer those questions yourself you will quickly come up with an answer about if buying one is a good idea or not. For me personally i am 51% against buying one due to the unknown potential issues and because i can get a much higher quality, lighter and more powerful V twin engine (that still sounds great) for similar money. and the last thing i need is to be ditching a model or just not fully enjoying flying it due to reliability fears. However the other 'half' of me says 'BUY IT NOW!!!' because....well its a radial.

You guys will have to pays your money and takes your choice

Dad_Roman

You pays your money and you takes your chances.........


......its true the world over

BJ64

A quick Q for you, Caro - is your's an ASP, or a 'Magnum' or some other brand before ASP 'cloned' from them?

Off-topic - my ears have just *****ed up when you mentioned 'a much higher quality, lighter and more powerful V twin engine (that still sounds great) for similar money'

Would that 'V' be a 4-stroker?

I need something to stick in my giant-size ME 109, which is slightly smaller than the ESM Corsair/TF FW 190. Been seriously thinking of going Electric for this one, but a WarBird needs a 'warbird' (I/C) sound.

A mate has a Jug slightly larger than 1/2 the size of my 109, and he's running on an OS (I think) single cylinder 4 stroke on it and it sounds amazing.

I'd love to shove a 3 cly 4-stroke Kolm in the Schmitty, but I think the smallest 3cyl is around 150cc - which is probably waaaay too big for the ME. Not to mention Kolm ain't real cheap either.

Something 4 stroke around 50-60cc would probably be more suited. Needs to have a good sound

...and a Radial wont suit/fit the 109.

BJ

Carosel43

Hi Bj

My radial is an SC from around 1996. The quality and parts fit is very poor and I have had to glue the bearings in so that they don't fall out of their housings. The newer engines are much better but do still have issues.

As for the V twins I am lucky enough to work for a company that make Model aero engines. We have V twin 4 strokes of 26, 30, 40, 50 and 60cc which run on normal glow fuel (low nitro with low oil). I will send you some details over PM

BJ64

Ahhh... so it's not an actual 'ASP' - but a pre-cursor to it, by the sound of the date of manuf.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these "400's" all clones of the original OS 'Magnum' ?

If so, then it's reasonable to expect a few QC issues from ASP/HobbyKing - they don't have the best reputation. Or at least, didn't not so long ago.

And I know what SrTele is talking about re some of the hassles that can be had dealing with HK after a purchase has been made. I've been pretty lucky to date (touching all the wood I can get my hands on LoL), but I've heard some real horror stories.

But I've heard similar things from 'big brands' too - so HK don't exactly have the market cornered when it comes to certain Customer Service issues.

Look - we all know that HK & ASP aren't the best in the business. But they are built down to a price and not up to a standard - which opens the door for a lot of ppl to have a go at things that have been way out of their price-range for decades.

Now, the question is - are they willing to put up with some dud things that may cost a few bob to fix down the line? If it can be fixed with not too much $ outlay and is within the general "RC mechanic's" list of doable, then it's a reasonable compromise.

I would never have bought a radial if it wasn't for the emergence of the ASP 400.

Would I buy another one? Debatable - I might be tempted to save a bit more and get something a tad 'upmarket' from here on in. But that's no guarantee that I don't get burnt after shelling out 2, 3, 4+ times the money.

As I said, it's been an entry level compromise for me. And I'm glad I did it. No, seriously, I am.

Mine starts like a lil champ. How well it flies in an airframe I'm still to find out. But for the $ so far, it's taught me a lot and I've had a lot of enjoyment out of firing it up.

What I find rather interesting is that if these things are a 'carbon copy' of something else, there's serious design flaws in the original. Running the supplied inlet manifold results in questionable lubrication up front.

The one thing that really ticked me off was the lack of any pre-lube to anything forward of the 'spider crank'. Mine was unbelievably dry up in the nose, which is what I think caused the cam gears to let go. Maybe there was a bur or something there like Rescueagsd has reported over on his thread http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/glow...ts-needed.html , but I'm convinced my failure was due to a totally dry front end (coupled with a pretty poor in-flight lube system to start with).

That's not an ASP thing - that's an initial design thing.

Our French friend (Oscar?) has created and built a modified inlet manifold with front-end-lube in mind. A novel idea, but still a bit out of my price range at the moment. The work-around of drilling and tapping a 'lube hole' up on the nose-cone will have to suffice for now.

I've ordered a Keleo for it, but it will be a couple of months before it will be made/shipped/arrive. In the mean time, I'm thinking of duffing up a 1" copper tube ring collector just to see how that sound on the test-bed. Prolly be too heavy for real flight - but then again, I hear that ppl are having to put a lot of lead up the nose of the TF FW 190 to get the CG right. So maybe a daggy old heavy homemade exhaust system may still have some benefits

Tele - don't take it to heart that I criticise your posts. It's just that I get a bit sick of people bagging a product in it's own dedicated thread. Start a "I hate ASP 400's" thread by all means. Go to town and tell the whole World how crappy you think they are.

But please respect the rest of us who have purchased and run this engine.

BJ

Carosel43

ASP/SC/Magnum are all the same and come from the same factory. My understanding was that the best parts went to make magnums, then ASP and then the scrap box went to make SC. I could be wrong but that's my understanding. The engine is a copy of the OS Sirrius 5 cylinder with larger bores.

But you are right, without this engine radials would be out of range of most people but equally the QC issues mean they are not for a mechanical novice.

Also Bj the issues with your engine I suspect are down to faulty materials or an error in the hardening of the parts. Clearly the lack of oil was less than ideal and shows a lack of understanding by the people building the engines, but it should not have caused the cam gear teeth to break. I do also have reservations about the effectiveness of the intake mod from the point of view of improving lubrication. In any event I agree with your comments to telemaster. Unless you have actually operated one of these things its a bit unfair to criticise. Especially when the number of faults reported here will be high as this is a dedicated repair thread

Bj did you get the pm btw?

BJ64

Oh - yeh - now that you mention it, I did get your PM.

Thanks 4 that

I used to get pop-up notifications when a new PM came in, but something has changed ??

Had you not mentioned it, I would never have known you sent it.

Ta again

BJ

Carosel43

yea I was looking for a popup to tell me you replied but its gone. kinda annoying as it was handy!

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

The troll in here is just that, a troll.

Let's put this into perspective, shall we? Sanye has mfg'd thousands of these engines. They are routinely on back order, why? Because people are buying them and flying them. And the stock dries up until more are made and shipped.

Of all the users worldwide of the FS400, how many are here on RCU complaining about a failed engine? Probably less than 1%.

I imagine the great majority of owners of the FS400 are just using it and enjoying it. Carosel has a very old, well used beater engine that keeps on flying his model airplane. He builds Laser's for a living so he has a skewed perspective. But he admits it keeps on ticking.

The FS400 faithful will continue to "Keep Calm and Carry On"

Carosel43

Spot on Tom. If you want a radial but cant afford to sell a kidney to finance an OS the ASP is the only option and when its working it works very well. And as you quite rightly point out, despite all the issues mine refuses to die!

Anyway, did you get that flybaby of yours flying in the end???

BJ64

Off-topic - but what's the widest point on one of those Laser 300 V-twins, Caro?

I've only got about 120mm to play with...

BJ

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Jon, the Flybaby project got put on hold but I intend to resurrect it later this year.

Carosel43

Hi Bj, I have PM you some links but due to the narrow nose of the 109 I don't think a twin will go in. Also as I said in my earlier message the cmpro 109 didn't need so much power and our 155 single would be more than man enough I am sure. In any case check out the links and let me know.

Tom, great to hear you plan to get the project moving again. I am sure it will be sweet once In the air

BJ64

Yah - ta Caro.

I guess there's plenty of single 2S and 4S that will fit and do the job... it's just that I'm after a bit of a cooler sound, IYGMD.

When is someone going to bring out a "Mechano" type kit where you can get a crank and bottom-end/cam setup that utilizes common overhead rocker/pushrod cylinders etc?

BJ

EQ1

Yep BJ, this was my idea based upon the ASP 52 sketched several posts ago. Currently the design of the "lower" part for a 7 cyl. is completed and ready to be manufactured. Unfortunately, this will cost in the range of 900$ for a prototype or small volumes, so it is no option with respect to costs compared to the FS400 or the Evolution radials. This requires large volumes and appropriate financial resources, i.e. it requires a company to do so, no job for hobbyists. But I will do this one, just to have a prove of concept. The 52s are already laying around and are waiting to be disassembled :-)

Concerning the FS400 I agree with Tom. Although I only have around 5L run through it, I had no problems at all, even no corrosion or rust. Of course, I read this thread before and pre-lubed the front case thoroughly before the first flight. And I always let it run dry after flying at high RPM in order to avoid any water within the engine. So far, after standing for months during the winter season in my workshop it still feels smooth when turning it over. No afterrun oil whatsoever. Sure, for the next season I will add some castor to my fuel in order to build up some kind of coating on the inner parts.