Tower Hobbies .46

Tower Hobbies .46
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Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/15/2005 10:25:32 PM

KAos Flyer

Posts: 10
Joined: 7/25/2004
From: Eastern, KY, USA
Status: offline

I need some help!!! I purchased a Tower Hobbies .46 engine in November of 2004 and it has been a nightmare trying to keep it running. It is mounted on a Tower Hobbies Kaos and has a #8 glow plug in it. The engine was broken in as instructed, the fuel line is not leaking air, the fuel clunk is not stuck or kinked in any way. I have adjusted and re-adjusted the high and low speed needles as directed. I have also had other people at my flying club, who have more experience than me, adjust the needles. The engine has had about a gallon of gas through it (Hobby-Town USA 15%). What am I missing??

The main problem I am having with it is leaning out and quitting during loops, rolls, and sharp turns. I've tried running it rich, but still have the problem. When I do run it rich it does seem to perform better for about the 1st 2 minutes of flight.

I've read posts that talk about the carburator sitting higher than the fuel tank, but there are several people at my club that have the same plane with the same engine in it and they run fine(these are the same people I had check my engine out).

I recently took the engine back out and hooked some fuel tubing to the fuel inlet and blew a small amount of air into it and there was air coming from the front bearing area. I'm assuming this isn't normal and may be the problem.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Post #: 1

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/15/2005 10:42:06 PM

w8ye

Posts: 18091
Joined: 12/11/2001
From: Taylortown, OH, USA
Status: offline

This seems to be a problem with the Tower 46. This front bearing leak coupled with the very low muffler pressure creats a run away situation. There have been manny discussions about this problem. The last solution I read about was to disassemble the engine and put silicone seal in the front of the crankshaft bore between the carb mount and front bearing in the crankcase.

Do a searce for things like tower 46 or air leak.

Good luck

Jim

_____________________________

Attended the CutFinger Institute of DirtNap University for years but never did graduate....

Club Saito Member #7
Original AMA #31261

(in reply to KAos Flyer)

Post #: 2

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/16/2005 9:25:14 AM

iflyj3

Posts: 1016
Joined: 5/18/2002
From: Paris, KY, USA
Status: offline

Mike,

IIRC that engine has a 2 year warrenty. 4 years if you are a super saver member. I have several Tower engines, 40, 46 and 75. They all run and preform great.

Send this engine back to them with your explanation as you have done here. They will either fix it or replace it. I have a flying buddy that had a 75 that was the same way. They replaced it and now he is happy.

_____________________________

Dan Thompson (Long live the ACE MicroPro 8000)
Visit www.groups.yahoo.com/group/mp8k for support

(in reply to KAos Flyer)

Post #: 3

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/16/2005 1:39:35 PM

KAos Flyer

Posts: 10
Joined: 7/25/2004
From: Eastern, KY, USA
Status: offline

Thanks for the reply's!

I packaged the engine up and shipped it to Hobby Services yesterday to have them check it out. I'll post the results when they return it.

I really do like the engine, other than the fact that it stalls alot (it's given me many opportunities to practice deadstick landings

). It starts easy and has plenty of power.

Prior to my original post I looked through as many forums as I could to find out what other people were doing to fix it and I think I tried them all.

(in reply to iflyj3)

Post #: 4

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/17/2005 7:31:52 PM

bob27s

Posts: 4924
Joined: 4/9/2002
From: Cleveland, OH, USA
Status: offline

Reading the post, you did not mention what prop you were running on the engine.

Sometimes that has something to do with poor performance.

The Tower 46 with the stock muffler puts out its best power between 13,500 and 15,000 rpm (peak ground rpm). The muffler provides a slight tuning effect that works in that range.

Sometimes that tuning effect can work against you if you prop the engine outside of that power band (too big a prop in other words).

Good to see you took advantage of the warranty and the support available. That is always the first place to turn with any engine.

_____________________________

Bob Brassell
Jett Engineering - Engine Mfg Support Forum Host

(in reply to KAos Flyer)

Post #: 5

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/17/2005 8:18:50 PM

KAos Flyer

Posts: 10
Joined: 7/25/2004
From: Eastern, KY, USA
Status: offline

I've been running a 10X7 and a 10X8, Master Airscrew prop.

(in reply to bob27s)

Post #: 6

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 1/20/2005 12:28:01 AM

KAos Flyer

Posts: 10
Joined: 7/25/2004
From: Eastern, KY, USA
Status: offline

I received a brand new engine from Hobby Services today. Their service was very fast however I would have liked to know what the problem was with the old engine, or if there was a problem with it. This engine seems to have alot more compression than the old one and is very tight at the top.

We'll see what happens with this one.

Will it make any difference breaking it in in colder weather? I'd say it's going to be in the 30's for the next couple of weeks here.

(in reply to KAos Flyer)

Post #: 7

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 3/17/2005 3:41:30 PM

aerojack

Posts: 72
Joined: 12/8/2004
From: greer, SC, USA
Status: offline

I own several of these, your best to get the rpm's way up (full throttle) and run it lean right away ( but not too lean). Fully lean it and back it out a 1/8 to 1/4 a turn. Run it at full throttle for most of the 1st tank or two. This has been the best break in for me on these tower engines. Also use your heat gun to get the head VERY hot before your first start of the engine and this help the break in period a little too. Also they are known to have a air leak at the base of the carb so loosen the carb and push it down into its seat VERY hard and while pushing it down retighten it that way. That air leak is most likley what was causing your problem before you sent it back. Hope this helps.

(in reply to KAos Flyer)

Post #: 8

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 6/12/2005 2:52:39 AM

KAos Flyer

Posts: 10
Joined: 7/25/2004
From: Eastern, KY, USA
Status: offline

It's been a while since I posted back to this but after 6 months (on and off) of messing with this engine I sent it back and bought a SuperTigre.51 and couldn't be happier. Easy to tune, no deadsticks and plenty of power.

Just for the record I am not totally against the tower engines. A few people at my club have them and they run great. These are the same people that I had try to help me with mine and they were dumbfounded as well. I may have just gotten two bad engines.....if that's possible.

(in reply to aerojack)

Post #: 9

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 6/12/2005 8:05:09 AM

w8ye

Posts: 18091
Joined: 12/11/2001
From: Taylortown, OH, USA
Status: offline

Ironically, the ST 51 is made in the same plant that makes the Tower 46.

Enjoy,

Jim

_____________________________

Attended the CutFinger Institute of DirtNap University for years but never did graduate....

Club Saito Member #7
Original AMA #31261

(in reply to KAos Flyer)

Post #: 10

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 6/14/2005 12:05:23 PM

BShin

Posts: 77
Joined: 3/7/2005
From: Birmingham, AL, USA
Status: offline

Jim,

I thought GMS made the Tower .46....and that all the Super Tigre's were made in China now....if I heard right on these, then I guess we should all brush up on our Mandarin.....LOL

B

ps. Thanks for the help on that OS 52 I bought....I slept good last night knowing it will be OK....

(in reply to w8ye)

Post #: 11

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 7/19/2006 4:54:18 AM

cpki

Posts: 2
Joined: 4/30/2006
From: vail, CO, USA
Status: offline

so i bet Kaos you purchased the combo deal from tower? lol i did i have the same plane, same engine, and same engine problem... kind of funny when you think about it . so i ask of you what should i do with it? should i send it back and get repaired (as well as my plane) or should i try to fix it or should i...

(in reply to BShin)

Post #: 12

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 7/19/2006 2:46:51 PM

wcmorrison

Posts: 777
Joined: 10/2/2002
From: Weatherford, TX, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: BShin

Jim,

I thought GMS made the Tower .46....and that all the Super Tigre's were made in China now....if I heard right on these, then I guess we should all brush up on our Mandarin.....LOL

B

ps. Thanks for the help on that OS 52 I bought....I slept good last night knowing it will be OK....

I believe all three are made in the same plant in China. That does not make them the same, just assembled by the same people.

Cheers,

Chip

(in reply to BShin)

Post #: 13

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 7/19/2006 6:18:28 PM

opjose

Posts: 6166
Joined: 11/26/2005
From: Poolesville, MD, USA
Status: offline

I was wondering if anyone could answer my question about the following.

I tried breaking in and adjusting the engine as per the included documentation.

With the needle set to 3 turns and the idle mixture set to 2-3mm the engine would not start, other than an initial second of turnover because of it being primed.

After a lot of playing around I've been able to make it run fairly well, but I'm bemused by how far off I am on this engine from what the documentation states.

To get it to run properly and to be able to break it in, I had to;

- First adjust the idle mixture (low speed screw) until there was almost NO gap visible between the pin and the receptacle. I know that fuel flows around the mixture "pin" so this does not cut it off, but this is a far cry from the 2-3mm stated in the manual.

Is this too far in?

It does idle properly this way. It seems to pinch test fine.

- Until I adjusted the idle mixture to the above, I could not find a point where the engine ran properly at high throttle. Once the idle was set I finally kept backing out the high speed mixture knob until it began to run and then started the pinch testing.

It now runs but I have the knob almost FIVE turns out instead of the factory 1 1/2, or the 3 turn "rich" setting the manual suggests.

Pinch testing sounds fine.

There are no fuel flow problems that I can find, and with this configuration the engine does run with a "but"...

And that is, that as the throttle is reduced slowly there is a point where you can hear the engine decrease in speed in a non linear manner. As if there is a "bump" along the way... so to speak.

The engine does NOT die out going from high to low many times, or vice versa...

So do I merely accept these settings or should I suspect that something is amiss?

Thanks for any and all replies.

_____________________________

-
Build em'', fly em'', crash em'' and build more.

(in reply to wcmorrison)

Post #: 14

RE: Tower Hobbies .46 - 7/19/2006 7:21:59 PM

iflyj3

Posts: 1016
Joined: 5/18/2002
From: Paris, KY, USA
Status: offline

I have two Tower 46's and three 75's and they all run well.

I adjust the top end so it is on the rich side of lean and then adjust the idle screw for the idle and mid range. The idle screw affects the running from idle to about 2/3 to 3/4 throttle. Adjust the idle screw only about 1/8 turn at a time. It is real sensitive.

The manual values are suggestions only in my view.

_____________________________

Dan Thompson (Long live the ACE MicroPro 8000)
Visit www.groups.yahoo.com/group/mp8k for support

(in reply to opjose)

Post #: 15