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Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Old 06-17-2010, 07:23 AM
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rokit_armor
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Default Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Hello,
I have just purchased the 1/8 Earthquake 3.0 semi/black and I am doing as much research into maintenance and repair as possible before it arrives.
I have taken the time to watch all of Ali's videos, so Iam fairly confident with the break-in procedure. I plan on purchasing AFO and after-run oil and blue loc-tite tomorrow.
What screws do Ineed to loc-tite? I plan on doing the 4 engine screws, but should I do any screws holding the engine together?
Do any of you have any extra tips to help me keep the life of this nitro truck long?
Thanks!
Old 06-17-2010, 01:56 PM
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nitrofumes78
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

hey there.. i just got the same truck myself, i put locktite on every screw. if u only use blue as supposed to its only medium strength so its fairly easy to remove with a bit of force. ya alis vids are really informative. ive only had mine 5 days so im still in the set up/tinkering process although i guess that never stops lol. just keep watching alis vids and things will go smooth. the only problem was keeping the truck running first 1/4 tank till i got it all set up. just be patient and dont rush things. ur friend josh 
Old 06-22-2010, 11:58 AM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Earthquake came a few days ago, everything looks good. I haven't broken it in yet, it's for my daughter whos birthday is tomorrow. I think she needs to be involved in the break-in to better help her understand that this is a not only a toy, but a precise machine as well.
Had to paint it for her.
Here it is, pink with silver and metallic purple accents.
Lighting is a bit bright, so the pink looks white.


Old 06-22-2010, 10:49 PM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Allright, decided to break in the thing tonight.  Set the gear mesh correctly, loctited the screws, filled the tank and primed the engine.  Took me quite a few pulls, and even had to adjust both the HSN and LSN before it would fire more than a couple times before dying.  Finally got it to idle, but it would either run good for 10 seconds and then just die, or run good for a few minutes, before revving up, at which point I would adjust the idle, revs would drop down and then just die.  I tried resetting both needles and going from there, but that did no good.  It almost looked like every time an air bubble hit the carb it would die; but of course it died when I didn't see any air bubbles.  Engine was also running quite hot, and making what I would consider a 'pinging' sound like metal against metal.  Now, I think because of starting it a million times I burnt out the glowplug.  It gets warm, but not red-hot.  1.2V and 1.8A out of the ignitor so I think it didn't run out of a charge or anything.
Redcat should really include a few spare glowplugs either with the truck, or in the tool kit.
Ugh!
It's hard to tune an engine when it dies the second your screwdiver touches a needle.
Old 06-23-2010, 02:11 AM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Glow plug was good, it's the igniter that kinda sucks. charge it for 30 minutes it lasts long enough to start it twice then dead.
What are the factory settings for the carb on this? This must be a newer carb, the idle screw is recessed into the carb on the backside (between the engine block and carb) unlike the ones I have seen where they are on the front. the HSN looks the same, so I set it back 2 turns from all the way clockwise, but the LSN is different, if i set it flush, it's about 5 full turns out from counter, and it is definately WAY rich. I tried 1 turn out from counter and it was too lean. AGH! If I didn't have to wait 1/2 between tries I'd prolly be done by now... maybe...

Old 06-23-2010, 04:30 AM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

5 hours, 1 glow plug and 6 AA batteries later(I made my own plug wamer didn't feel like waiting for the rechargable one), I now have a flooded(again) engine that doesn't want to idle.  I've also noticed there's a lot of lateral play on the LSN assembly- when I did have it sorta idling, if i pushed it slightly with the screwdriver the idle would decrease.
Biggest problem- remove igniter, it dies instantly. 
I understand this is a mixture problem, but I would adjust the HSN all the way through from 5 turns out to 1 turn out and would yield no good results, i could get it to stay running, but it would rev up high and then stop.
Also still can't get rid of those mystery bubbles in the line.
Thinkin I'll take it to the RC shop 1/2 hour away tomorrow.  Hopefully they can tune it for me.
Old 06-23-2010, 05:43 PM
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lvh
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

you should charge the glow plug igniter for 6 to 8 hours.
Old 06-23-2010, 09:55 PM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

I had charged it for 6 hours prior.  I think it was just the carb settings preventing ignition.  I called this morning and spoke with Derek, he helped me out a great deal, and it will now idle and run well, although it gets vapor lock pretty bad.  I bought some mccoy 59 plugs which seem to run a lot better than the A4 that came with the motor.
It likes to 'flame out' from the vapor lock after about 8 minutes running constant 1/4 throttle (just started break-in tank #3).  If I turn the HSN any richer it will flame out during acceleration or high RPMs.  That's another thing, it seems to 'stutter' a bit when I get a bit heavier on the acceleration.
Old 06-25-2010, 05:55 AM
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catbob007
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

hows the Earthquake?
Old 06-26-2010, 10:40 AM
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nitrofumes78
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

it takes a hell of a long time to get that motor tuned right if ur new to nitro like me try not to turn the screws too much. do the pinch test for ur lsn then all u need to do is is small 1/8th turns on hsn till she purrrrs
Old 06-27-2010, 03:10 AM
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chevymanmike1010
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

My little brother just bought one with his birthday money. I have had the same problem you have. What should i do? Im an hpi guy an so are my buddies an its stumpin us and causing lots of blisters via the pull start. ( man i love rotostart) any advise will help. Heck ill even pay you to get it runnin good ha. ill send it to you. Nah, i just need the same pointers you got.
Old 06-27-2010, 08:19 AM
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billymare
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Make sure fuel is flowing into the carb.   prime my engines sometimes by taking the line off of the exhaust and blowing into it till you see fuel flow into the SH 18 takes a little longer to tune just right.  But when it's right it's a screamer!!  Good luck...
Old 06-27-2010, 11:05 AM
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Ive been priming it that way. But atleast i now know EVENTUALLY this thing will be worth driving. ill just keep at it till this thingruns like a champ. Gotta let my fingers recover. Thanks for the info man, If you can think of anything else let me know.
Old 06-28-2010, 11:28 AM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Yeah I know what you mean about the blisters :^/
Still can't get it tuned right, it'll idle great, run good, then when it warms up it will just randomly die once, i"ll start it again, and then stop any time I try to accelerate, then no longer idle... perhaps I need to let it warm up first? Would this be an indicator of it running too rich? it spits fuel and smoke out like in Ali's vids. LSNseems to be tuned right, pinch it it revs up for a few seconds then dies. HSN I think is tuned right, before it starts acting weird it'll rev up just fine.


Old 06-28-2010, 12:12 PM
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

the pointers that i use alot are alishanmao's videos off youtube they are awsome. he also does vids off redcatracing.com how to vid. i used the volcano sv and earthquake 3.5 vids to set mine up. the volcano has the same engine and the 3.5 has basacially the same parts. hope this helps....josh
Old 06-29-2010, 12:07 PM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Does anyone know of a glow plug ignitor that plugs into the wall (not a portable charging or battery powered one) or one that has a long battery life (like a car battery wired to an ignitor)?
This ignitor just doesn't seem to cut it.


update- Charger is dead, no DC output Luckly I found a nearby hobby shop (i'm on vacation) so I'll probably pick up another ignitor and charger, it'll be handy to at least have a second one charged and ready to go.

Old 07-01-2010, 01:00 PM
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foxys
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Ialways carry a spare ignighter. It's amazing how many problems are just a dead battery.
Old 07-20-2010, 05:50 PM
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice



Im gonna try to put my hpi 4.6 on my brothers redcat. we got his tuned real good, wraps up really good. I burnt the clutch up but as long as you keep it above idle it stays runnin but come to a stop an it kills the motor. clutch is ordered and hopefully my bro can finally drive his birthday present. his birthday was almost two months ago. I LOVE HPI, never had tuning an breakin issues with it.

Old 07-21-2010, 01:09 PM
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Redcat-Derek
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

If you guys are having problem with break in or tuning you can always give us a call at (602-454-6445) and even ask for me and I can help you out with your problems. Sometimes its easier to troubleshoot problems over the phone.

Thank you,
Derek
RedcatRacing
Old 07-21-2010, 08:00 PM
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Thanks Derek, will do. I think we got the tunin done though. hopefully the new clutch fixes the dyin issue when you come to a complete stop.
Old 07-27-2010, 01:49 AM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Agh this car is JUNK! I was just driving along and the steering QUIT WORKING causing me to HIT A CURB WOT flipping endos busting the body up!
j/k i've flipped this dang thing like a million times, hit way too many curbs, and have only bent the aluminum bracket that holds the lower a-arms in place. (and tore the body to shreds but whatever)
But seriously, I lost steering because the screw that holds the linkage on the.... uhm.. other linkage from the servo came undone.  I managed the find the 2 washers on the ground and the screw got stuck in the chassis, but i'm missing the brass collar that goes inside the deal.  I just hooked it  back up without the bushing deal and it works fine, a little loose on the steering but it's cool, not like it drove on rails before lol.

Stil havin tons of fun with redcat!
Old 08-27-2010, 07:30 PM
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

The truck is a ball, but I've had mine down for about a year and am now trying to get it running well again. What were the factory settings on the LSN and HSN? I need to remove them and clean the crap out of them to get it running right. I never had the problems experienced here until I went for some time without running my truck.
Old 08-27-2010, 10:24 PM
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rokit_armor
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

2.5 turns out from closed on both
Old 08-27-2010, 11:14 PM
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Default RE: Earthquake 3.0 Advice

Probably a little late to be of much help here, but if ya use a hair dryer or heat gun, and warm all 4 sides of the engine (and down into the head) for about 20 seconds per side, they'll start much MUCH easier, and not have as much initial wear on the piston/sleeve..

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