Mr_Dove

I'm still an electric guy and I've never run nitro before. I've heard mention before that tweaks need to be made in order to run properly in cold weather. I live in Denver but I definitely want to do a little bashing in cold weather. What types of tweaks are needed in cold weather?

Mclovin350z

It's good to put a small sock, duct tape, or masking tape over the head to keep the engine warm. You also have to richen the high speed needle to compensate for the extra oxygen in the air. You might have to richen the lsn a wee bit too.
I personally do not recommend running in the winter. Temperatures can fluctuate rapidly and cause your engine to wear out quicker. I will run my crappy engines once in a while but this year they're all pretty much all new. If you're pretty good at tuning and have a temp gun you should be alright. Just watch it carefully, you can easily ruin your engine.
Chances are good that your engine will be ok, but the rest of your rig will suffer if youdrive it in thesnow too much.

HerrSavage

IMO you can run as long as your fingers can stand it... Yeah, just richen the needles a bit, and put the sock on the head til the temps get up to 200 or so..

Devils-Reject

My Feedback: (8)

i always run mine in winter, its so much fun.

bigdogkanicsar

winter runs are fine, you just have to richen the needles a bit and for ease of cleaning should you choose to put something around the head to keep heat in ,use a sock or foil, but don't use tape of any sort.
i'm sure you can imagine what the adhesive will do when heated up sticking to the beautiful cooling head.lol

dustin7837

My Feedback: (1)

Summer I use bodies that have the cooling head exposed and winter I use bodies that have the engine covered. Also, be sure to waterproof you electronics very well as the snow will pack up in parts of your unit then melt from engine heat.

A slightly richer tune is often necessary as well due to the intake air density. At cold temps (I'd say 0*F and lower) you will find that a lot of plastic (and even some aluminum) parts become much more brittle, so be cautious of this.

Mclovin350z

Masking tape works fine, and for more heat use duct tape over it.

bigdogkanicsar

oh, do you mean over the sock?

Mclovin350z

A sock is fine too, and yes some tape would help keep it from getting wet. I just use masking tape though. It may leave a small bit of adhesive, but I can't see it. It's easy to rip off in a hurry and won't hold moisture. If it's not warm enough I put duct tape over the masking tape.

rc awesome

Tuning/ breaking in a nitro in the winter can be more diffucult. Nitro for summer, electric for winter.

steed2-inactive

i enjoy winter running, baby socks fit perfect, the wife gets angry though when she finds good socks cut in half...lol

378

My Feedback: (4)

What I did when I ran in the winter is simply putt around for a bit and make sure the mixture isn't too lean. If it was, fatten it up. Once I was happy with the mixture I let it rip. Lots of WOT, lots of donuts, lots of shenanigans that would overheat the motor in the summer.


Suffice it to say I never needed to mask off cooling fins...