I have 2 freinds that have the DA50. They are the only people I know that have the DA50 and they are both having the same problem. One engine was one of the first out and has about 2 gallons thru it. The other is new with about 10 minutes run time.

Here is what happens, they start thier engines normally and start to taxi to the runway, as the plane is rolling at idle they stop it abruptly and it dies, every time. It also will die at idle if they lift the tail to move it from a restraining device after starting.

At toledo one of my friends went to the DA booth and explained the problem, they guy said he never heard of it so it cant be a problem. Several people behind my freind spoke up and said thier engines also do the same thing. The DA rep rolled his eyes and walked away.

The friend with the new DA50 called DA Friday and explained the problem, the person on the DA end said "we have heard of that" and are sending him a new carb.

The 1 year old engine has been tweaked alot. It has a new ignition, has had the needles tweaked lean until transition is poor and had the needles tweaked rich until it burbled a lot. Nothin seems to fix it.

Test your engine, let it roll at a walk at idle and stop it by putting you foot in front of the stab and letting the plane roll into your calf. See if your engine dies also.

Joe

Have a similar problem, The engine always quites on landing. Its not an ignition problem been checked and double checked. Any kind of slight bounce causes the engine to quite. You can pick the plane up by the wing and drop it an inch with the engine idling, it will quite. Spoke to DA at Toledo, they said the idle was to lean, its just not the case. My engine did what yours is doing at first. The engine runs great in the air no problems.

First I've heard of that...odd...

Mine did something like that until around 4 gallons. I had problems getting a good idle even with tweeking the low end until the 4th gallon. I had that problem at first with the sudden stop and it would die thing. All I know is it seemed to go away. Too bad the plane crashed last friday!~(. The engine was fine it seems and I ran it for 10 minutes here at home and was really good. Seems weird that DA would not want to have the engine sent in for a checkup. ???

Joe

Have an 80, SAME THING ! Went through it all, new gas lines, tanks, stoppers, rerouted lines, changed service stations,(gas), oil, moved ig. module, richen it up. I mean there was nothing I/we did not do, I was ready to put it in the lake.
Then after EVERYONE said it was not the ignition, My Hobby Shop Guru, and master of all, said, lets' just try a net ignition. PROBLEM SOLVED !!! The ignition box had a bad solder joint, when the plane bumped something it jarred the wire on the cirucuit board, engine stopped.
Been flying it for three months now with no problems.

DA-80?

DA80 and then Wayne.S woke up

The solder fatigue was likely induced by vibration. Was the ignition box padded with foam to isolate the vibration ? Could the circuit wiring be improved to make it more vibration proof ?

I have the problem with my DA-50 also.
We have a slight downgrade to the runway from the pit area ... it will also quit on this "ramp".
I thought it might be my ignition module ... I'm on my third module with only 4 gallons of gas used.

Did anyone else experience rude people in the DA booth at Toledo.
The people I have spoken to when calling their plant have been nice and polite.
The people at their booth were snobs ... couldn't even get their attention, and when I did ... they were short and rude.

Just purchased another da50 will try the new ignition from it on problem engine. When the engine quits on landing it looses its prime and will not restart without priming. If you shut the engine off with ignition from idle it restarts first flip.

Didn't find the guys in the booth rude just very busy. With people coming at you from all directions it can be a very hard job. They have always been helpful over phone, but don't seem to have a solution for my problem.

I've had that same problem when lifting the tail on a few occasions. It didn't happen every time, but enough to cause some concern. I can't recall it happening since I switched exhaust systems (not that I thought that was the problem). If anyone finds the solution, please post it!

Ben

Has anyone tried a carb trumpet? I've had this problem on some engines and it was because no matter what the needle setting the reverse pressure pulse spits fuel out at idle without a trumpet.

I had the same problem with my DA-50! About 2 gals thru it. The plane was idling fast and walking so when I went to grab the tail to stop it, it would quit.
I went back to the beginning and turned both needles out 1 1/2 turns and readjusted. It does it very seldon now and usually only the first run when its cold.

I wish I knew if mine has this problem.....so far I can't get it started []

blkbird68;
See the other thread! Some DA-50's do this. They have a problem with the very first prime. I even tried ether to no avail. Sent the motor back to DA and they finally got it started. I sent it monday and had it back friday. Call them! They may tell you a little trick or two.

[>:]YES! I have found after messing with this for hours that the mixture is rich on the low end. when it dies it dies rich and takes a few flips to restart, if it was ignition it would quit in the air from vibration. I found that the low on mine is about 1 3/4 turns and the high is about almost 2 turns, this is after 7 gallons of fuel and the last 3 are Amsoil 100:1, make sure you are NOT mixing this at anything more than 100:1, make sure that you look at the plug after changing the mixture and adjust the engine to get a light brown to a chocolate brown color. not a light tan! too lean. I think you guy's will find your plugs are really dark chocolate color, or almost black. remember that the low will affect the high mixture but not the other way around. these needles will also move under full throttle, I know this after watching it move during testing, a little spot of blue locktite solved that problem also be sparing on the locktite! I found that the low needle was over 3 turns out from vibration and it still ran just fine in the air and did not sound rich. good luck and hope you can get yous dialed in. Rick

WRONG, I'm still asleep But note I did not state I had a DA 80. Just an 80. Heck is it even an 80 I have ? shoot I don't care, it runs on car gas, and weedeater oil, just know I had a prob with it. Ignition Module.
Yes, module was packed in foam, manf. made it good, said it was not common, but was not an uncommen problem they were having at the time. [sm=confused.gif]
Whatever.
HAY MOM, WHERE'S my MEDICATION ???

My son has a DA-50 and after much of the same described here, he sent the engine back to DA. They said some of the engines had a bad reed and that the proper voltage on his 50 was 6.0V not 4.8V. Thought I would pass it along...

quint

Thanks, we were wondering if it could be a reed, and I think the engines I have first hand experience with are running 4.8 volts on the ignition.

Joe

DA told me 4.8 or 6.0 on the ignition was fine.
They also told me the ignition module had room at the bottom and top .... a wider range than stated in their "manual".

I used 4.8 last summer ... but two modules failed ... the first one was DOA !
I may change to 6.0 this year.

Any others have more input ???

I'm running Duralite 5.6v reg on mine. After it would quit from me grabbing the tail(quick stopping makes it quit!) It would start right back up. Landings are noneventful but I usually kill the motor as soon as the wheels touch anyway!.

The 2 I have delt with also restart on the first flip. So it has got to be a carb or reed valve problem.

Joe

Because this problem changes and goes away like it did for me, could it be the reed is stiff or something and then breaks in or softens after time? At about 6 gallons my engine really does not exibit this behavior at all, but did. Hmmm. I run an old 4cell sanyo pack with no reg.

JOe !~)

Well I sure am glad I stumbled on to this thread. I have two DA 50s, motor # 15 and # 877. Both will die if stopped abrubtly. They are rock solid while taxing and in the air. But if I turn a little fast at the end of runway to avoid going off the end, and the tail swings around or she side hops once or twice on the main gear, your gonna take a hike. The older of the two has over 4 gallons while the other is just finishing gallon number one. I thought it was just me really chranking back on the throttle and getting a little extra travel on the low end of the servo.

Nice to know this is a common problem which means sooner or later someone will figure it out. Has anyone tried a velocity stack??