1BADHD

It was a awsome weekend so I took out the AirForce and stretched her legs! Anyway, after about 8-9 tanks of fuel this weekend, I decided to pull the glo plug and check it out. It was wet and oily! I looked down into the engine and it was the same way. Is it suppose to be like that? The boat acts like its running great. I have the needle out about 2.25 turns. If I turn it in to about 2 to 1.75 turns, it sounds lean. You can here the RPM's going up and down going across the water. Any ideas? Thanks.

Mr Cajun Gator

That does sound a little rich. Your needle will need to be changed as the day goes on(different temps and humidity) As you lean from 2.25 rounds, you want to just move it enough so that you can see it move. Like from 2.25 to 2.20. This way your not passing up the best running position. If it has high rpm's then fast R's then richen it it just a tad.

canadianjosh

I usually don't touch my engines needles after setting them, however, since we are running on water, the humidity will be greater than on the test bench at home. So, set them at the lake, pond, ocean, whatever you run on. Open the needle to about 3 turns, this will be over rich, but should still run with no glow ignitor, and open up to full throttle slowly, then close the needle and listen to the exhaust, it will get higher pitched, as soon as you hear the rpm's decrease, this is the max rpm setting, back off the needle about 20-40 degrees the rpm's will be slightly lower than the max but will provide a rich enough setting so that you don't kill your engines. Once set, leave them, you might have to adjust them for winter or summer, but that is about it.

pro27

That may be true in most respects, but........ to maintain top performance, the needle valve will need to be adjusted several times over the course of the day you are running, as well as each day you take it out.

Main reasons are air temp and humidity. If at 9am, you go run your boat, you set your engine to run at its optimum settings. You then stop to have lunch and bs with some passer by's. It is now 2pm and the temperature has risen from a nice 68 degrees to a sweaty 89 degrees. The engine will sense these changes and will want a better needle setting to run as wellas it did earlier in the morning. With a rise of 21 degrees in air temp as well as an increse in humidity, the fuel mixture will have to be changed to run properly.

When I used to compete in CL combat, racing and speed events, most guys fought over the availablitiy to put up their flights in the cooler, dry morning air. The engines simply performed better under these conditions. As the temps went up during the day and the humidity increased, it became harder to tune the engine for peak performance, and resulted in more unsatisfactory flights. Changing the fuel mixture was more finicky with these high performance mills, but in general, if you wanted top performance, you had to adjust the mixture.

TERBObob

My Feedback: (21)

3rd channel radios my man .... 3rd channel radios ....

pro27

Naaa..........that's too easy.
Try using a single servo, linking both the throttle and rudder together. Straight is full throttle, turning left or right goes to half throttle. Kinda like the old GG and R/O radio systems. If ya know what I mean

1BADHD

WOW......that is way over my head!

TERBObob

My Feedback: (21)

Hey 1BADHD,

PRO is just showing off his age again ...
Actually PRO , those were about as much of a b@tch as a 3rd channel , imo ...
I have a hard enough time remembering just TWO controls ...

Kinda like those kiddie toys ....

With that said ... I gotta bring this question up though ... ( to everyone )
Who , here , actually runs ALL day long ? I know I sure as heck don't have that kind of time ... I'd be lucky to get a couple ( meaning two ) hours in ....

pro27

The chances I most am able to get out and run my boats is mid-morning (9;30 -10am). The small lake I run on is usually mirror calm when I get there and a low haze over the water. By the time noon comes around,the temp has risen at least 15 degrees and the haze is gone and a breeze has started. These changing conditions require a needle change with every run during that time.
Sometimes I am out there mid-afternoon. The settings I would have used before noon, would have to be tweeked again to get top performance.

These are the conditions I generally encounter when I run my boats. I'm sure others don't have to deal with this. But just something to consider if you do.

1BADHD

Man......how old are you guys? Retired? [X(]

TERBObob

My Feedback: (21)

No ... not retired ....
But ... DEFINATELY old enough WHEN to know better ....
And FTR - I think I am older than PRO ( but NOT by much .... )

Hey Mark ,
Aren't you guys getting the NICE days there yet ???? We are ... [8D]
Problem is .... have LOTS of other things that I gotta get done also .[&o]

pro27

No...not retired either

Got about another 20 years or so before that happens[X(]

Terbo...I think you have a few more life experiences than I do, even though I make myself sound old[8D]

I do consider myself semi-retired though. I drive school bus for fun [X(]

The wife and I have worked in our home for the past 10 years, even though my wife still works out of the home at a real part time job. She is our church's secretary as well as in the summer months she works at a soil lab just down the road. (we live in the heart of the wisconsin potato belt).

Yea, I tend to have time on my hands when the kids are in school.
The weather is getting better with temps geting up to the lower 60's now, but the winds around here this time of year tend to hamper water fun a bit. Also trying to get the yard work done sooner this year so I can get out and get my fixes at the lake.

pro27

Not my age as much as what I had to play with when I first started out. Super Tigre .15s and Kilsdonk Rossi .15's were the rage in scale goodyeay CL racing when I really took interest. The GG's were pretty much history but the R/O units could still be gotten to play with in the early to mid '70's. I like to think it shows my experience more than anything. These days, people getting into a RC hobby have it made in the shade.You don't evenhave to built things anymore. What a shame []

1BADHD

I was just picken on both of you. You two guys as well as others on RCU (dadaddyro) have been very, very helpful!!!! [8D]