ORIGINAL: opjose
Actually KNOWING the engine head temp at WOT ( after a 45 second WOT run ) is a good idea.
I had all sorts of problems on a pusher prop plane that at first I could not figure out the cause of.
A friend walked up and used a laser temp proble to read the temperature at the base of the glow plug.
It pegged 480 degrees which given postings by ''DOWNUNDER'' ( a very knowledgeable forum member here on all things glow engine related... ) I knew this was far too hot.
I then richened the engine out until I was getting WOT temperature readings of around 280-300 degrees.
Though this sounded too rich to me on the ground, it was perfect in the air. All the problems disappeared!
I've often seen people sieze their engines because of too much heat, so now I walk up and perform the same test and fix which typically fixes their problems.
I am almost sorry I asked this question. There are definately alot of very strong opinions on the subject.
Being fairly new to tuning RC two cycle engines, i am looking for any tool that will help me tune. Having raced two cycle go carts [many years ago] temp was a key element in tuning. From what i read above, if i keep the WOT temp around 280 degrees F and 300F [on the bench] I should be safe.
Thanks Gary