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All Forums >> RC Cars, Buggies, Trucks, Tanks and more >> Exceed RC Support - Nitro Cars >> TECH TIPS
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TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:11:35 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		Heres some tech tips that can help you out.

-Gluing Tires Video
-Clutch Assembly Video
-Shock Rebuilding Video
http://nitrohouse.com/video_help.htm

-Engine Break In
http://nitrohouse.com/tip_engine_break_in.htm

Ill post more as I find them. These can be very helpful in doing your own repairs.

FEEL FREE TO POST YOUR TECH TIPS TO HELP OTHERS OUT!

< Message edited by tyhodge07 -- 9/24/2007 7:28:20 AM >
       Post #: 1

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:14:12 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Keeping your Fuel line attached:

The Problem:

Keeping fuel line attached to where you want it can sometimes be a problem. Nitro fuel contains oils and once the fittings get a coat on them the fuel line is more likely to get pulled or fall off under the rigors of racing. Zip ties have been used in the past but they look ratty and can cut into the line causing their own set of problems.

The Team Solution:

Cut some of your fuel tubing into small 3mm cross sections, take a section and put it over the end of some needle nose pliers. Open the needle nose enough to now slide your regular fuel line into the opened up 3mm section. Basically you have just doubled the thickness of the line around the fitting. This also increases the pressure with which it grabs the fittings.
With proper fuel line routing this will ensure that your fuel lines stay where you want them.



< Message edited by tyhodge07 -- 9/24/2007 7:24:47 AM >

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       Post #: 2

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:16:45 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Removing Glued Tires off Rims:

all right guys. So I've been doing some testing with this whole concept. I've tried Baking, Boiling, and Acetone.

Boiling yields similar characteristics to baking but with a lot more mess due to the foams inside the tire soaking up the water.

Baking is by far the fastest way. When baking the wheels only put the oven to 350 *f. Any higher will cause the rims to heat up too much and cause distortion. Leave the wheels in the oven for 15-20min, pull them out and let them cool down before playing with them. Once they have cooled down the glue becomes very brittle and the tires just peel right off with ease. there will be glue left over on the rim and all you need to do is either use some 100+ grit sand paper or a dremel with a wire wheel to get it off before gluing up fresh tire to them.

Acetone is probably the best because it breaks down the glue and turns it into a goo and doesn't seem to cause any harm to the tires. The best way to use acetone is buy a clean 1 gallon paint can with a lid from your local hardware store and a liter of acetone. Throw the wheels in seal the lid, shake and let it simmer for 24-36hrs. Open the lid and you'll notice that the acetone breaks down the glue and the tires peel right off and the glue wipes right off.

The festest way is bake the wheels, peel the tires off and thrown the wheels in acetone bin for about 12 hrs, pull them out and wipe the glue off.

Want to salvage the foams...? use the Bake and then Acetone technique.

< Message edited by tyhodge07 -- 9/24/2007 7:25:55 AM >

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       Post #: 3

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:22:06 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Selection Guide for Glow Plugs:

Glow Plug Specifications
A good guide for selecting the correct Glow Plug...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is a great selection guide for R/C Glow Plugs. Hopefully, it'll help take the mystery out of the correct plug needed by your engines!

General Glow Plug Information - Consolidated
By James McCarty, Brian Cooper, Brian Gardner, and others
Including www.flightlines.com
OS Glow Plug Information
# 8 Hot Recommended for most current O.S. (and other) 2-stroke engines
Type F Mildly Hot Special long-reach plug recommended exclusively for O.S (and other) 4-stroke engines
Type RE Hot Special long-reach plug designed exclusively for O.S. Wankel rotary engine
A5 Cold Recommended for most current O.S. (and many other) 2-stroke engines particularly for 1/10th & 1/8th scale off-road car engines
A3 Hot Dependable O.S. quality makes A3 the most durable and longest-lasting glow plug available at an economical price
R5 Very Cold Recommended for high-nitro fuel and high r.p.m. engines, particularly 1/8th track racing car engines


ENYA Glow Plug Information
# 3 Hot All Enya engines such as TV & four cycle engines
# 4 Mildly hot All Enya engines, especially those used with 10%or greater nitromethane fuel
# 5 Medium All Enya engines, especially the .40CX, .45CX and high nitro methane fuel
# 6 Cold High compression engines and high niro methane fuel used in racing.


Fox Glow Plug Information
All 1. 5 Volt Plugs are Dry Cell or Ni-Cad All 2 Volt Plugs are Lead Acid Battery

Standard Short Hot 1.5 Volt, Standard Short Hot 2 Volt
Standard Long Hot 1.5 Volt, Standard Long Hot 2 Volt
Gold STD Long Plug Hot 1.5 Volt, RC Short Mildly Hot 2 Volt
Gold RC Long Hot 1.5 Volt, RC Long Mildly Hot 2 Volt
RC Short Mildly Hot 1.5 Volt
RC Long Mildly Hot 1.5 Volt
Miracle Plug Hot 1.5 Volt
Pro 8 Short Cold 1.5 Volt
Pro 8 Long Cold 1.5 Volt


McCoy Glow Plugs with OS Equivalent
MC-8 Cold A5, R5
MC-9 Medium Hot #8
MC-50 Hot IDLE BAR - LONG
MC-55 Medium Hot A3, #8
MC-59 Hot


STD ROSSI GLOW PLUGS BI-TURBO GLOW PLUGS (without idle bar) (conical w/o washer)
Rossi Glow Plugs (cold for pattern type work / high nitro fuels, hot for sport / low nitro flying)

R1 Extra hot 0.8 to 2cc RB4 Hot
R2 Hot from 2 to 3.5cc RB5 Medium
R3 Medium from 3.5 to 6cc RB6 Cold
R4 Cold from 6 to 10cc RB7 Extra cold
R5 X-cold for nitro fuel & R/C RB8 Super cold
R6 Cold nitro 10 to 13cc
R7 Cold for nitro 13 to 15cc
R8 Cold for nitro 15 to 30cc GLOW HEAD FOR R15
G1 Hot


R/C GLOW PLUGS
G2 Medium (with idle bar)
G3 Cold nitro 15 to 30%
RC Hot for 2.5 to 6cc
G4 X-cold nitro 30 to 50%
RC Cold for 6 to 15cc
G5 Cold nitro 50% or more


Glow Plug Usage Tips
Your glow plug temperature range is too cold when:
The engine power is weak or has weakened from previous levels.
The engine slows down considerably or stops after removing the glow plug battery, despite correct adjustment of the needle valve. For example (Enya), if a # 4 plug gives you these problems in your engine, switch to a # 3 plug instead.
Your glow plug temperature range is too hot when:
The engine suffers from pre ignition and loss of power.
The overall engine running is rough
The glow plug filament is broken or collapses frequently.
These are several cures to these problems. We suggest using a fuel with less nitro methane content, using a larger size propeller or using a colder plug than the one currently in use. For example if an Enya # 3 plug gives you these problems in your engines, switch to a # 4 plug.

Model glow plug engines are extremely dependent upon the type and quality of the glow plug used. Enya glow plugs use a platinum alloy coil, which uses a thick diameter wire for long life. The thicker wire coil also eliminates the need for an "idle bar" as found on other brands of glow plugs; idle bars tend to reduce top speed slightly, to achieve a more stable idle speed. Enya's glow plug design insures both good top end speed and stable idle speed.

Enya glow plugs also have a thicker battery contact at the tip of the plug for greater heat dissipation and better electrical contact. Altech Marketing presently stocks glow plug battery cords specifically for Enya glow plugs, which are standard equipment with Enya four-cycle engines. Other glow plug cords usable with Enya glow plugs are available from several other manufacturers.

HOT GLOW PLUGS (for low nitro and FAI fuels)
Enya: # 3
Fox: Miracle, Standard, and R/C Long (2V)
Fireball: Hot (1.2-3.0V), and S-20 R/C Long
Fire Power: F 6 (warm), and F 7 (hot)
K&B: 1 L
McCoy: MC 55 R/C Long, MC 59, and MC 14 (very hot)
O.S. Engines: # 0, # 1, # 5
Rossi: R 1 (extra hot), and R 2
Sonic Tronics: Glowdevil # 300
Thunderbolt: R/C Long


MEDIUM GLOW PLUGS (for 10%-15% nitro fuels)
Enya: # 4 (medium hot), and # 5 (medium cold)
Fireball: Standard (1.2-2.0V)
Fire Power: F 5 (medium), and F 6 (warm)
Fox: R/C Long (1.2-1.5V), and Gold
Hanger 9: Sport Long
McCoy: MC 50, and MC 8
O.S. Engines: # A 3, # 8, # 9, # 7 (with idle bar)
Rossi: Medium, and R-3
Sonic Tronics: Glowdevil Standard
Tower Hobbies: Tower Power Performance plug, and Reg. (w/bar)


COLD GLOW PLUGS (for high nitro; 25% +)
Enya: #6 (cold)
Fireball: Cool (1.2-1.5V)
Fire Power: F 2 (extra cold), F 3 (cold), and F 4 (cool)
Fox: R/C (1.2V), and # 8
K&B: Long & Short high performance nitro plug
O.S. Engines: R-5
Rossi: R 4 (cold), and R 5 (extra cold)


FOUR-STROKE GLOW PLUGS (hot)
Fox: Miracle plug (often used in 2C's W/low nitro)
McCoy: MC 14 (very hot, often used in inverted 4C's)
O.S. Engines: Type F
Sonic Tronics: Glowdevil ST 301/302


IDLE BARS
Idle bar glow plugs came about because some engines were having trouble transitioning from idle to high speed. When the throttle was opened from idle, the incoming air and raw fuel would strike the glow plug's heated coil, cooling it to the point where it would no longer support the combustion process, so the engine would die. To help prevent this, the idle bar was added to the glow plug to serve as a physical shield, helping to keep the coil from cooling off too quickly.

A glow plug with an idle bar will not increase peak RPM (it may even reduce it in some cases), but it may improve the idle with some engines, since it simply helps to keep the plug hot enough to light the fuel. If your having transition problems, you might want to try using a glow plug with an idle bar. Some modelers use idle bar plugs in the winter only, since the glow plug tends to loose heat faster in the colder environment.

Naturally, all of this assumes that you have the low speed mixture adjusted correctly to begin with.

HOT PLUGS
So what is a 'hot' plug, and how does it differ from a 'cold' plug?

Naturally, a hot plug will heat up faster and stay hotter, but that's not the whole story. When discussing this aspect of glow plugs, another very important aspect must be considered, the amount methanol in the fuel. The more methanol we're using (i.e., less oil and less nitro), the hotter the plug we should use. Conversely, the more nitro and/or oil we use, the less methanol we're using, so we use a cool(er) plug. An extreme example would be when using a very high nitro content fuel in a very high RPM engine (a typical ducted fan engine, for example). Here we'd use a very cold plug. For most sport pilots using fuel with just 5-15% nitro, however, a hotter plug would probably do well.

Probably? Yes, trial and error is often the best (and sometimes 'only') way to determine the right glow plug for your application. Most 4C engines need either high nitro or hot plugs to run at their best, since they have combustion strokes only half as often as 2C engines.

RULES OF THUMB TO LIVE BY
Use a hot plug with low nitro (less than 24%), and a cold plug with high nitro (more than 25%).
If you remove the glow starter from you idling engine, and notice an immediate drop in RPM, you may need a hotter plug or more nitro.
If your engine has a tendency to backfire a lot, you may be using a glow plug that's too hot, or you may need fuel with less nitro.
Most hot plugs can take up to 2.0 volts starting power without burning up, while most cold plugs prefer 1.2 to 1.5 volts starting power.

< Message edited by tyhodge07 -- 9/24/2007 7:26:51 AM >

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       Post #: 4

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:24:08 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Five Fixes For Engine Tuning:

Sometimes, a nitro engine will play mind games with you, and that can make your nitro experience a bad one. And the more frustrated you get when your engine isn’t running properly, the worse the situation will get. You may get to the point at which you think you’ll never get that engine running, and that’s why we’re here. These 5 engine problems tweaked my noodle a few times, and after a lot of thinking and a few choice words, I solved them. Engines are relatively simple, and only a limited number of things can go wrong. With these 5 problems solved, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting your engine to run.

1. ENGINE DOESN'T START
If your engine ran fine and now doesn’t even start, chances are, your glow plug is fouled or your Ni-starter has lost its charge. I grab the Ni-starter and stick a plug that I know is good into the end of the starter to see whether it glows properly. If it doesn’t, I know I have to charge or replace the starter battery. If that plug glows, I know that the one in my engine is shot. Your engine may not start after it has been running; in this case, the engine might be too hot to ignite the fuel entering the combustion chamber because of the temporary loss of compression and the fuel vaporizing in the carb. Let the engine cool for a while before you try to restart it.

2. ENGINE IDLES ERRATICALLY
If you’ve had to adjust the low-speed needle and the idle screw a million times, you probably have an air leak. It may be in the engine or the fuel system. Check your empty fuel tank by attaching fuel tubing to the pressure fitting and to the fuel fitting and then submerging it in water. Now pinch one of the fuel lines to pressurize the tank with air, and then blow into the other line. Do you see air bubbles coming out of the tank? If you do, identify where they’re coming from and either replace the tank or seal the leak with silicone. The fuel tubing itself can leak, and finding a hole in a piece of fuel tubing can be a pain, so replace the tubing. A fuel filter may also leak air; remove the filter from your vehicle and make sure that the parts are screwed together tightly and that the O-ring is intact. Last, but not least, your air leak may be somewhere in the engine. Instead of trying to find out where the leak is, just take the engine apart and seal every joint with oxygen-safe gasket sealant. Seal the backplate, the carb and all the joints on the high-speed needle. Check all the O-rings and replace any that look worn.

3. ENGINE RUNS ON THE STARTER BOX BUT DIES WHEN THE VEHICLE HITS THE GROUND OR WHEN YOU HIT THE BRAKES
You have a problem with your clutch. Some part of it is hanging up and causing the engine to spin the cutch bell at idle when it is not making a lot of power. It has enough power to turn the wheels when they are off the ground, but as soon as you stop them from turning in any way, the engine dies. Try rotating the clutch bell while the engine is off and the brake is disengaged. If it doesn’t turn freely, you have a problem. Pull the engine out of your vehicle, disassemble it and inspect every part of the clutch assembly. As you take parts off the engine, check to make sure that they are not broken or worn. Replace parts that you think should be replaced, but if everything checks out, see whether the clutch-bell bearings rotate freely. If the clutch bell doesn’t rotate, replace the bearings. Before you reassemble the clutch, lightly scuff the clutch shoes and the clutch bell with fine sandpaper and clean them with motor spray.

4. ENGINE BOGS DURING THE TRANSITION FROM IDLE TO FULL THROTTLE
First, check the low-speed needle to see whether it’s adjusted properly. Drive the vehicle around for a few seconds to clean out the engine, and then bring the vehicle over and pinch the fuel tubing while the engine is at idle. After a second or two, engine rpm should slowly rise and the engine should shut down. If the engine dies right away, your low-speed needle is set too lean, and if it takes longer than a second or two do anything, it’s set too rich. A setting that’s too rich or too lean will make the engine bog slightly when you get on the throttle. If altering the needle setting doesn’t solve the problem, use a “hotter” glow plug. The fuel may be cooling your existing plug and making it hard for it to ignite the fuel in the combustion chamber

5. ENGINE SUDDENLY LOSES POWER
Chances are, your air filter is too dirty or your tuned pipe is clogged. If you have either of these problems, you can lean your high-speed needle all you want and your engine’s performance won’t improve because there’s a lack of air or exhaust flow through it. Clean your air filter, relube it with any air-filter lube and you’ll be good to go. If your exhaust is clogged, you’ll have to remove the exhaust pipe and clean it. If your stinger is clogged, pick out the debris while its end is facing downwards so that the debris falls out; if it’s clogged inside, try blowing the debris out with compressed air. Blow the air into the stinger so that the debris can easily flow out through the inlet side of the pipe.

< Message edited by tyhodge07 -- 9/24/2007 7:27:48 AM >

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       Post #: 5

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:36:21 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Preventing A Run Away RC without a FailSafe:

This is better than a fail-safe, cheaper than a fail-safe, GET A TRS! What is a TRS? Its a Throttle Return Spring. Why is it better than a Electric fail-safe? Main reason is that it does not require batt power to save your car/truck. What happens if you lose a batt out of your 4-cell holder or your hump-packs takes a dump on you while driving? Without a TRS, your kinda up tha creek witout a paddle. With a TRS ,your engine will go back to Idle perventing run-offs and costly repairs to your car/truck and whatever it hits, houses,cars, people. There are serval companys that make them or go to your local hardware store an make your own or search around your house for a spring loaded pen! This is not a hard upgrade but is very important to all nitro cars/trucks. You can attatch a TRS almost anywhere on your engine so long as it shuts the carb.

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       Post #: 6

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:41:04 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Storing your R/C & R/C Equipment while it sits around:


While your storing your r/c , for really any amount of time. You need to either take off the wheels , or support the car in the air with a stand , or anything that gets the chassis off the ground....which will then suspend the wheels in air. This will help keep the weight of the rc from warping/compressing your tires and foam inserts.

Also for a nitro engine you will want to squirt some extra after-run oil in the carb and in through the glow plug area. If you know your not going to run it for awhile. To help prevent corrosion since nitro fuel turns turns into water and will corrode your engine if you dont do this. People use quite a few different kinds of after run oils , both home-made blends of oils. Some half marvels mystery oil and a combo of other things.

You also want to watch out for nitro cleaners , they clean well of course , but they also take away the natural oils that need to be there to help prevent corrosion. So get some WD-40 (WD stands for water displacement) and use a q-tip and hit any rust prone areas........since you dont want to get any wd-40 on plastic since it will make it not as stiff and wont perform as well.


You also want to drain all fuel from the gas-tank , and fuel lines to also prevent that from sending any water vapors into the engine or pipe......again trying to prevent corrosion.

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       Post #: 7

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:46:12 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-IMPROVE ACCELERATION

Over time, your clutch and clutch bell can develop a glaze as the clutch slips against the clutch bell. As this glaze builds up, acceleration suffers. Remove the glaze and improve acceleration by scuffing the clutch shoes and clutch bell with fine-grit sandpaper or a steel-wool pad. When you have fully scuffed both surfaces, clean them with motor spray.

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       Post #: 8

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 7:50:30 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-MAKE YOUR MARK

There are always lots of identical tuning screwdrivers, fuel bottles, and glow-starters floating around the pits at nitro races, and it's all too easy to wind up with someone else's gear (or have them walk off with yours). Mark your territory by wrapping colored tape around your equipment, and your equipment will stay yours--or at the very least, you'll be able to track it down more easily. Colored shrink-wrap works well too.


-USE FRESH FUEL

Make sure that the cap on your nitro fuel bottle is always tight, or with time, the methanol in the fuel will evaporate. If it is stored in a damp place, fuel attracts moisture; water doesn't burn, so the more moisture there is in the fuel, the less fuel there is to burn when the mixture reaches the combustion chamber. If your fuel is old stuff that has been sitting around for a while, buy a fresh bottle.


-AVOID FRAYED PULL CORDS

I have a suggestion for anyone who has a nitro-powered sedan with a pull-start engine. I have noticed that over time, my pull-starter's cord becomes frayed from rubbing against the sharp edge of the body where the side window has been cut out. My solution? Cut two sections of fuel tubing, one the same length as the bottom edge of the window and the other the same height as the window opening. Use a hobby knife to cut the two sections of fuel tubing halfway through and glue them over the edges of the body in the window opening to protect the pull-starter's cord.


-EASY GASKET INSTALLATION

It's so annoying when a glow plug's gasket falls off whenever you try to install one in an engine. To prevent this, place a small drop of After Run or other slightly heavy oil on the gasket. The oil's viscosity will hold the gasket in place long enough to get the plug installed without having to turn the whole car upside-down.

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       Post #: 9

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 8:07:20 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Make your own shock covers

This is an old, tried and true modification, but for those of you out there who have not tried it, its well worth the time.

Ripping it up in the dirt with an RC monster is a hoot, no doubt about it. Downside is, well, the DIRT. Crud-covered shocks can be a big problem, as the dirt will start wearing out seals and scratching shafts. Before you know it, you got yourselfs some leaks going on there.

There are some excellent shock covers available from RC shops and sites, but if you want to save a penny or two, you might want to try and make your own covers. Its EASY.

First off, buy a bag of balloons. As in party-balloons. The ones you want are those long thin ones. Got em? OK then, lets get to work.





> Step 1:
Remove the spring & spring retainers from the shocks.



> Step 2:
Inflate the balloon




> Step 3:
Cut the "nozzle section" off the balloon (don't cut too much at this point)




> Step 4:
While widening the balloon opening with your fingers, drop the shock spring into the balloon




> Step 5:
Allow the spring to fully extend inside the balloon.




> Step 6:
With the spring fully extended inside the balloon, trim end of balloon, leaving about 2-3 cm beyond the end of the spring.




> Step 7:
Roll remainder of ballon "lip" inside the sping, then install the upper spring retainer.




> Step 8:
Cut small hole in end of balloon, big enough to poke the shock shaft though.




> Step 9:
Slide covered spring on to shock, install lower shock retainer.




> Step 10:
Git out there and get em dirty!


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RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 8:12:39 AM   
tyhodge07



Posts: 557
Joined: 7/29/2007
From: Franklin, IN, USA
Status: offline 		-Nitro Rc Operation and Maintnence:

http://rcvehicles.about.com/od/nitromaintenance/Nitro_RC_Operation_and_Maintenance.htm

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       Post #: 11

RE: TECH TIPS - 9/24/2007 4:19:47 PM   
{GBI}Harryball



Posts: 1232
Joined: 7/14/2006
From: lansing, MI, USA
Status: offline