Santacruz

Ive got no money left and i need to tune my new engine but i cant afford a temp gun ... is there anyway to do it without one ?

twomanytoys

You REALLY need a temp gun. Thats the most important thing to break in process. All they are is about $20. If you cant afford $20 then you are in the wrong hobby.

If you have a new motor the company sets the carb settings for break in on the rich side. You can run the motor and do the break in process with the water drop test. What you do is when you run the car for break in perodicly drop some drops of water in the head by the plug. If its too hot it will sizzle. A drop of water should evaporate within about 3-5 seconds. Any more and its too cold any less or sizzle its too hot. Water starts to evaporate at about 190-200 degrees. They actually call it the spit test because guys like to use spit. Maybe you can go to an autoparts store and rent one for the day but you should be able to find one for no more than $20. I would highly recommend one to do the proper break in.

You can find them all over ebay. Here is one for $15.00 Item number (330156633518)

jatoracing33

no...you dont need a temp guage...tune by smoke and performance. i used a temp gun, and it was off by over 50 degrees and i burnt up 5 glow plugs. what you want is a healthy stream of smoke out of the exhaust.

sheograth

I disagree about needing a temp gun, I have one but I frequently tune and break in engines without it. You just have to get an intuitive sense of the smoke, performance, and sound.

twomanytoys

It is true that on an ABC motor temperatures have no effect on break in except running too cold or too hot. If it is run too cold the pinch will not expand to the running operating temperatures that you would normally run and if its too hot the pinch will increase too much and cause a lean bog. If you dont have a temp gun for break in you wont know if you are above the too cool temps (below 190) or too hot temps. Some motors run real cool during break in and you have to pre heat or wrap the head to get it above 200 degrees. How do you know if you are above or below the temps that you need to be at durring break in. I agree that you dont need a temp guage for normal running but I can bet that if you watch your temps durring break in your motor will run better and longer. After that you can tune for performance.

REDisFASTER

For breaking in, just use the water-drop on the head technique to make sure you're in the right temp range.

For after-break in tuning, tune by performance and smoke, not by temperature. If you tune to a certain temperature, you'll only get 85% of your engine's potential. Remember, no engine is the same. One will run good at temp x while the other will run great at temp x. Sometimes, an engine will run poorly at temp y while another runs incredibly at temp y.

No engine is the same, and by tuning to temperature, you're closing the door to your engine's potential.

The_Shark

ive never ran a temp gun and no engine probs here.... i run by sound, smoke and feel. i like to shoot for the blubbery sound, i like to see a good visible trail of smoke and i want to be able to put my finger on the head without getting burnt. i ran a engine through 3 gallons and never had problem, when i sold it, it still ran perfect.
i also broke in two engines and they ran perfect.

jatoracing33

+1


same thing here...basicly 4 of the 5 senses: hear- bogging sounds and such
see- hesitations when you hit the throttle and the amount of smoke
feel- feel the engine, you shuld be able to keep your hand on it for a few secs
smell- im not sure bout this, but maybe you can smell if its running rich or not?

twomanytoys

santacruz,

Is this your first nitro rc? What motor did you have, what one do you have now and why did you get a new one?

Santacruz

I bought my storm 2nd had ... since ive got it ive spent around £150 in spare parts to get it going again ... Then i crashed and smashed my upper deck and steering ... another £50 and since then my engine won't work! Ive dismantelled it and cleaned it .... the ppl at my lhs say the pinch on it is fine, so i've ordered a new engine (Another g3.0 Nitro Star) Which is the same i had before

And yes this is my first Nitro RC car but i've been playing around with my mates one for years

The_Shark

you can smell if its rich or too hot, you will get a strong smell if its very rich, you can also smell the engine when its hot, it smells like fuel but it has a metal and plastic smell.

you spent more than 350 on that truck??? thats like $600 to me for a used truck.

Santacruz

yeah but i basically have 2 cars if u count all the spare parts i have

Oliver_Klozov

Just buy the temp gun its so worth it if you cant afford the 20 bucks for it maybe this hobby is a little too pricey concidering the fuel costs alot more and if you don't buy a temp gun and screw your engine up your out over $100 or more.

jatoracing33

i bought a temp gun and burnt up 5 glow plugs in 3 weeks...theres too much room for error with those cheap temp guns. just go by what i said above and youll be fine...and with temp guns you might get the urge to lean it just a bit more and then bye bye engine

Oliver_Klozov

if you burn up 5 glow plugs sounds like your using the wrong plugs or running it too lean its not the temp guns fault.

Santacruz

Also should i do the normal break in method >? 1 Idle tank 2 Tanks half throttle in circle or is there a better way like the heat cycle i think i heard ?

jatoracing33

i was using traxxas glow plug #3232X (the recommended plug) in my 3.3 and the guage read 240...so i put the guage away and tuned by smoke, which i kinda ignored while i was using the temp guage. i ended up richening it 1/4 turn and for the hell of it i got the guage out and it read 220......tuning by smoke and performance is the best way to tune i dont care how good of a temp gun they make they arent perfect

neilt6

Heat cycle it while driving it! Idling destroys ABC engines because they don't heat up properly and the pinch wears off!

46u

My Feedback: (3)

You do not tune to any certain temperature you tune for performance then check it with a heat gun to make sure you are with in range. I do not use a temperature gun I just push a button on my radio and tells me what it is.

jatoracing33

hmmm...wat radio u use?

REDisFASTER

One of those Nomadio (sp?) ones I bet

46u

My Feedback: (3)

Yep Nomadio React.
http://www.nomadio.net/?pg=hobby.html&sub=react.html

clubracergt1

I have a Nomadio Sensor, and monitor my temps the same way. Just have the temp lead in the first cooling fin on the head (same height as the glow plug). Personally, I tune by sound and performance-the temp readings are just used to make sure I don't blow anything up. I don't even rely on the temp display on the radio, I just set the alarm to 280 and hope it never vobrates. I used to tune by smoke, which worked great when I was using Traxxas fuel on the stock motor in my RC10. That doesn't seem to work anymore with my current combo. The Werks race-blend 20% doesn't smoke much unless the engine is unbelievably rich, with the O.S.

Just my $.02-
Shaun

neilt6

He's either got a Nomadio Sensor or the Spektrum telemetry kit on his spektrum gear.