G'day

I have recently bought an Enya 45SS ring engine. I have also been running it in on a test bench.

The instructions are pretty vague but as it is an engine with a hardened steel liner, aluminium piston and a cast iron ring I have been giving it short (2 to 5 minutes) rich runs on about half throttle. This seems to be what the instructions suggest.

When it was straight out of the box, it appeared to have very little compression. It now has about 25 minutes running and the compression still seems very low.

I have been using fuel with 25% castor, 10% nitro and 65% methanol and an 11 x 6 prop. I put an Enya #4 plug in it.

It starts very easily, seems to be running happily but I am slightly surprised to find that the compression feels so soft after this period of running. I run my saitos in a similar way and by 20 minutes their compression has dramatically improved. There is clean oil all over the test stand and there does not seem to be any shiny bits or black bits in it.

Any ideas? Have I fried the ring and softened it? Or should I just put it in a trainer and fly it slightly rich. I know these engines do need a long running in. Perhaps I am expecting too much too soon.

Thanks

Mike in Oz