I have a black widow engine that is difficult to start and I would like some advice.

This engine is 15 years old. It used to run fine the first year. It was not used until a month ago. I have not changed the glow plug or cleaned it in any way. I do have fresh fuel - just opened it a month ago. It is powermaster 1/2A racing fuel so it should be pretty high nitro content.

When I tried to start it a month ago, I filled the tank, primed it (with the piston down), applied glow power and flicked it. It fired up and immediately died. I played around with the needle setting but never got it to catch.

So, the next step was to try a starter and using it, we got it running. For the next four or five attempts, I would open the needle by half a turn, get it going and then close it back to keep it running well.

Today, I spent 20 minutes with the starter, trying to get it going. Because it was hotter today (than a month ago), it turned out that the previous needle setting was too rich by a quarter of a turn and this caused it to not catch. It would burp.

As you can imagine, this is very frustrating and any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not looking for more power from the engine, I just want reliable starting - preferably hand flick.

Thanks,
Harjit