What would be the best plugs to use for 2 strokes? long, short, medium, hot. Why would you pick? Just trying to get some info on this.

thanks
larry

Should say in the manual. If not the company might have it on there website

I use OS type F plugs in everything......2 and 4 stroke....OS, Saito, Super Tigre.....all kinds of sizes

Here's a primer for glow plugs: [link=http://www.osengines.com/accys/glowplugs.html]glow plugs[/link] .

Happy Landings

The best advice I can give is use a plug your engine likes and runs well on. Take the advice you'll get from the guys here and run with it. Try different plugs until you find one that fits your engine/prop/fuel combo and your flying style.

All that being said, I LOVE the McCoy plugs. Either the RC9 or 59 are great!
One is for high nitro and one is for low nitro and I never can remamber which it is without looking. []

Dr.1

basically in a glow engine there is no timing to adjust like in the old v-8 to eliminate engine knok,back then if you haf engine knock you used premiom gas or retatrded the ignition a feww degrees to eliminate the knock.glow engines have detonation which is about the same thing.it can be controlled by compression,nitro content and plug.usually with the no nitro fuels you use a hot plug and with high nitro fuel a cold plug.in between can be a hot or medium plug.

I've been having good luck with the OS A3 in my GMS engines (.32, .40 and a .76)

Dave

The length of the plug is dictated by the engine. Nowadays, all but the small ones like .15s and under take regular length.

Actually, you choose the plug heat range to match the amount of nitro you plan to use. THEN you test fly to decide if that's working for you.
Only the very high nitro events usually use special plugs and then it a cool one. (not what you thought, right)

The insider info on plugs is that there really aren't any magic ones.

Some people suggest using a 4cycle in 2cycle engines. If you think that $8 plug does better than a $4 one the mfg suggests, have at it. If you think something is helping you, it actually is. Even if it isn't helping.

MC59 is for low nitro, MC9 is for high. I go through LOTS of MC9 plugs on boat race weekends.

MC59 is for low nitro, MC9 is for high.

Thanks Chuck. Either seems to work well in my engines running 15%.

Dr.1

Glow plug tip; before you thread the plug into a plane, check the setting to get the proper glow. I have recently found a huge difference in the settings needed on the same plug type, even by the same man. !!! It explains why some of my plugs have "burned out" in short order by having too high a setting on my glow driver. I found I can't just set the needle in the "green" any more. That setting is way too high for some plugs and they will burn out in short order!! [>:]

I use the O.S. A3, there 7 bucks a pieace but i have found they work great on all my motors

BIGDADDY89,

OS #8 will make it run smooth as a kitten. Don't use a 4-stroke plug in a 2-stroke and visa versa. Just plain bad idea.

Gibbs

I beg to differ!

Many newer 2 stokers use exactly the same longer length plugs as the four strokers.

Case in point Tower Hobbies, GMS, Evolution, SuperTigre etc.

On another thread I posted pictures of the plugs included in the boxes with all of these engines in sizes from .45 up.

They made the same assertion as you, to which I responded with the picture.

After discovering this I've switched to using "Fox Miracle Plugs" ( intended for four strokers ) on all of my 2 stroke engines and I've have had MUCH better luck with them this way.

Of course I wouldn't stick a longer plug in a 2 stroker without first checking the clearances and comparing the original included plugs...

Let me tell you all something that we/I brought up last year, The Tower plug is an A-3 and cheap.

I bought a couple Thunder Tiger brand plugs saturday. What I've never noticed before, is the classic California health warning on the packaging
So what is the deadly chemical menace in glow plugs[]
Idea for the new California license plate, "Everything will kill you here"
'

.

The plug also effects compression. Longer plugs take up more area in the head and therefore increase compression - which can be good or bad. With the fuels we use the compression is what fires the mixture, and a higher than designed compression can cause pre-ignition or "pinging" and reduce efficiency. Tossing an F plug in "just because" is not helping anything if the engine is not designed to handle it. Using a long plug with an idle bar in some engines can also allow the piston head to strike the plug - not good for plug, piston or piston sleeve if pieces break loose.

Does anyone use idlebar plugs anymore? I've flown an OS-#8 plug in my Thunder Tiger .46 Pro for well over a season and been happy with it. I know an idlebar will cost you a few hundred RPM on the top range but is supposed to offer a more reliable idle.

I've solved a couple of other guy's engine problems with them, but haven't needed to use them myself in the last few years. Got back into flying after a long layoff and have a supply that just may never be needed.

I've never experienced them costing RPM. Never heard that they would, and am guessing the idea came from sometime when one didn't suit the fuel/engine. That happens with all plugs. Seems that the Fox idlebars ran just like the Fox regulars, and K&B did the same.

Most of the newer engines do indeed come with "longer" 4 stroker glow plugs and run optimally with them.

Putting in the shorter standard plugs cause problems.

This is true of the engines I listed.