JRgraham

My Feedback: (1)

@TOM; you are one cool hombre Ithank you sir, for your straight forward descriptions to the welth of knowlege you share here!!


Gota DLA112 as well. Iread all there is out there beforehand, (took about an hour ...) so Iknew what Imay get into..

First start, It fired up like its been runnin for years.. I have really been easy on the thing, no power throttleing.. Only have had peek rpm's in soft bursts of maybe 5-8 second periods, and back to 1/3 - 1/2 throttle or idle ranges, 2-5 minute cycles on the ground. 3 short short flights, making about 5-6 gentle circle passes around field, and back down to cool down... again, about 2-5 minute cycles.

All in all, Ihave about.. 60ish ounces total burned.

went to get some more time on it today.... Igot a pop off the choke and that was it. Fuel is dripping pretty good out the carb, and it actually kinda backfired slightly a couple times. Id guess Igave it around 40 flips in all before giving up. Ithink Iremember a drip or so in the few days prior, but not like this. It was dripping pretty good with every flip of the prop.

Ihave torn the reed block down and honed the surface's down to 600 grit and put it back together. Iwas only able to get in about 10 flips in the driveway, and it started raining.. but it really seemed as if it was not much better, got a little sputter/backfire again and a few drips still.. so I am not certain it cured the issue.

Any suggestions there?

Iam planning to order some rings from Frank, and maybe a Walbro carb to replace this one. Can anyone recommend the right Walbro for this DLA112cc twin?

Thanks guys

closetguy

My Feedback: (13)

WJ71 walbro fits the DA100.i had carb problems on a DLA56 also,replace it with a carb off a DLE55,you might be able to get a better carb price from a DLE111.

K-Bob

My Feedback: (1)

No sense putting another Chinese clone carb on. Get the Walbro WJ71-1. You'll be very pleased.

cropduster48

Most likely you can just clean the carburator and that will be the end of your problems. Had the same thing hapen to a brand new DLE 170. I didn`t find any thing in the carburator, but it has never hapened again. You are using a inline filter I hope. Sense you engine was running befor, my bet is it won`t start just becaus it is flooding its self to death.

JRgraham

My Feedback: (1)

Well, for anyone thinking of buying a DLA engine, DO NOT!

I got the same results with the Walbro carb, gushing fuel, responding from the posts above..

Well, bearing grease had exploded out the front prop shaft within about 30 ounces of fuel, I thought it was the front bearing.
I found that AMain Hobbies does not have a service department, and my only option is to contact DLA. They are in China, and I am not going to send the thing over seas and back again. However, A Main Hobbies was nice enough to send me out a new set of bearings at no cost. Thank you, that was very decent of you.
I cracked the thing open, and found the woodruf key locking the prop shaft in place is shifting around due to the soft aluminum. There are aluminum filings around the front of the front bearing. After I opened the case, I realized that the front bearing was decent looking, so moved on to the second (middle) bearing, and found that the rubber seal holding the grease in had poped off. So somehow the grease from the center bearing had blown out past the front bearing, and covered the exterior of the motor case while running.

Bottom line here is, these motors are made of some very soft low grade aluminum. My fingernail scratches the stuff. In my opinion, the DLA company is falsely advertising the grade of material's they use for the motors.

I only blame myself. I will only buy from Desert Aircraft from now on.. only problem is, I cant afford it now. Maybe next year... But I do have a nice shiny ocean fishing weight I guess.
Another year going to pass by without a plane to compete with, I guess.

FWIW, I have been in the hobby for roughly 30 years, have broke in many engines. I am not ignorant, or a fool.

Guys, do yourself a favor, Quit buying China ****. Besides the quality and all that, we really need to support our country. BUY a DA!

K-Bob

My Feedback: (1)

Too bad you had to learn it the hard way. Sell the dang thing to one o the Chinese product chearleaders that frequent this site and put the money towards a DA.

Never look back.

cropduster48

It would be nice if a rep from DA would jump on here with us. I`me pretty sure the engine crankcase is the only thing that is actualy made here in the USA. DA does assemble all the parts, and put the engine together here. The realy great thing about DA is a company that will stand behind there product that they sell. You have a problem with a DA, you will get honest help. I have had all the magor engines apart. The 3-W engines are truly heads above all the rest, as far as design. How does this play out in the field. They have just as many problems as the rest of the little motors. At least when you buy a new DA, or 3-W engine, the ignition timing will be set where it is susposed to be set. I havent worked on a single china built engine that was set right from the factory. 25 to 28 deg advance, and these engines run pretty good. The crankshafts in all these engines are made out of pretty good stuff. They are all press fit crankshafts. How well they are presses fit is where the china engines fall a little short. All the two cylinder engines can slip there crankshaft center pin in a good prop strike, but the china engines seem more prone to it.
I personaly would like to see some one like Honda or Yamaha produce some engines. That most likely will never hapen, or they would have already done it.

K-Bob

My Feedback: (1)

More than just the crankcase is made here. Much more, in fact practically all of it, except the ignition in made in Australia.

They are leaps and bounds better than the clone engines not only because the service is excellent and domestic, but in parts quality, metallurgy, engineering, you name it.

Feel free to strap what ever low quality junk on the front of your airframe as you would like. You will get exactly what you paid for.

JRgraham

My Feedback: (1)

Well Icouldnt agree more. Idont blame anyone but myself for the chance Itook on the DLA. Iread the issues people have had, Iread the 'fixing' that people did to overcome the issues, and decided to take the chance. Ireally couldnt afford the extra $450 for the DA 100, mainly because Iam too darn impatient to hold off, and save a little longer. My own fault.. that said, Iwill force myself to learn patience for ordering from here on out.

Here's something funny, Igot 550 credit points from AMain hobbies after the purchase, which worked out to a $10 credit to my account... what did that $10 go towards? parts for the very motor Ibought that gave me the credit! hah

Guys, Ijust want to say that initially Iwas extremley upset having waisted the money on the DLA and only getting about 10 minutes of run time, and 5 minutes in air before the problems hit.. So yeah, some of what Isaid before was out of frustration, but Istick to what Ihave said. If asked, Iwould not advise anyone to buy a DLA engine.Iam just fortunate that the motor ran decent in the air for those few minutes, because had Idestroyed my QQ Yak...

BTW, anyone want to buy a DLA 112??

cropduster48

Shoot a price out there. I might be interested.

bjor

This is all rather interesting - but a bit moot to compare DLE, DLA and DA. I have an original DL50 (before it became a DLE) that has NEVER given me an issue. I aslo have a DA100 (original - not the L version), a DL100, a DLA112 and a new DLE170.
I remember years ago when DL first came to the market it was seen as a much inferior "chinese" DA copy, but here we are some years later and some of you guys us the DLE as a bench mark for a good engine.
The DA100 has given me its fair share of problems, but with DA just down the road here in Brisbane (Australia) - their service is absolutly second to none. The DL100 still has its original carb (zama from memory) and runs like clockwork as well. The DLA112 I have is still in its break in phase, but too date has not shown any problems (fingers crossed) and produces an insane amout of power. My new (3 flight old) DLE-170 has already had its carb pulled apart for inspection when no top or bottom end adjustments cold be made - but we found a blockage that could NOT be attributed to DLE. Before bashing one brand over another, I think its fair to say that all brands have their strengths and failings. All of us have budgets and limitations and that what somebody may be able to afford - somebody else may not. Before throwing stone in glass houses, show me a gas engine that has NEVER had an issue with either the product, service or company.

cropduster48

Very well stated. I own a Da 50. Turnigy 50cc hp. Dle 170, Dla 112. ZDZ super 80rv. I have had to work on all of them, I consider all to be well designed engines. Never had a inflight failure with any of them. The ZDZ and the Turnigy are rotary valve motors, and require a little diferent starting method. The ZDZ ignition has been changed to a RCEXL, and so has the Turnigy engine. I have modified the Turnigy 50cc hp into a pylon racing engine. This engine has a aluminum conecting rod, and after removing .120" off bottom of cylinder, raising the transfer ports, reshaping the combustion chamber, and recutting the rotary valve, this motor is turning a 18X16 Zinger prop to 12000 RPM. It is making use of a tuned expansion chamber. Still running stock main bearings, and have not been able to distroy this thing yet. The ZDZ is my smoothest running engine. It has a Tileston carburator on it. This was only acheived after installing the RCEXL igniton. The Da 50 sucked a reed valve. The DLA 112 had to have a new crankshaft after a realy bad prop strike. The DLE 170 is in its second year, and except for the initial carburator flooding, has given me very good service. I consider all the magor two stroke oils to be very good these days. I use BelRay H1R Synthetic Ester oil. at 32 to 1. The only thing I do special is make ductwork to make all the incoming air go over and around the cylinders.
Thats my story and I`me sticking to it.
Have a good one guys.
Cropduster48

kipuetz

I purchased 2 DLA 112 from HK ,both had to be returned because they would not start at all.
It took nearly 12 month to get the matter resolved,countless emails ,all unanswered!!!!
The engines were found faulty and fullrefund was given back to me.
Do yourself a favour,do not buyDLA engines from HK.
Karl-Heinz.

cropduster48

Were you able to determan what the problem was with the engines?

kipuetz

No,no explanation at all!
I have since bought a SE 112 from ,SE Model Products in Aventura FL.
It is also made by DLA in china, but with enhanced features, like better bearings and other improvements.
Mr.Saraga test runs the engines he sells, films the engine running and sends the linkso you canwatch your engine running on youtube!
Brilliant service!!! He also sells all the spares you would ever need.
He told me, he once received an order of 112's wich could not be hand-started,they could only be started with a 24 volt elec. starter.
My two engines must have come from the same series.
Check out his website; WWW.semodelproducts.com
I could not be happier with his engine,insanely powerfull,runs like a swiss watch!
Karl Puetz.

Hawk21

My Feedback: (7)

Does anyone know where to find a carb kit for the DLA 112?
I have look everywhere and you can by the whole carb but not the gaskets.

kipuetz

Try SE in Fl, I bought a whole new carb there for stand by and spares, It's cheap enough, somewhere around $ 50.00 ..Karl-Heinz.