mattnew

My Feedback: (2)

Is there any "clear" tubing recommended for this engine? I'm finding it can be a bit tough to see air bubbles and debugging if the engine is getting fuel with the black tubing :-)

Pete Bergstrom

You can use tygon between the tank and carb but you have to be careful at each of the tygon joints as it tends to swell without using wire keepers to hold the tubing to any fittings and each of these joints can cause its own air leak. Don't use tygon at the muffler because it will melt the tubing within a very short time.

Pete

rhd-RCU

My Feedback: (36)

Sullivan also makes a clear crap trap fuel filter.

smsinfo

the pope

Man that is one sorry looking engine , not much of that worth keeping . Someone didnt empty your oil container and fill it up with coffee did they ? How can the crank pin end up like that other than it wasnt hardened properly especially seeing its got the bearing on the conrod other than a lack of oil , too lean , too hot or the bearing seized . Cheers the pope

erieqc

Take a look at this for fuel tubing they say its good. K&S stay-flex (gas line). It's part number LXYE85 from Tower.

Franco2fly

smsinfo,
I have no perfect answer as to cause of your engine failure. I bought one at about the same time, and have had no problems with the performance.

HOWEVER, I did not use SYNTHETIC oil during the break in process. Instead I used 97 octane at the 20 to 1 rate and I used non-synthetic chain saw oil from Stihl. Since I use Telemetry, I watched the temperature closely. I suspect that your engine did not have the correct 20 to 1 mixture, and also was leaned out too much. I only ran an 11x6 prop for a single tank of fuel. Then I switched to 12x6 and kept the RPM below 11,000. temperatures never exceeded 120 degrees F.

The muffler design is not good because the seals between the bright center piece are TOO thin. They need to be replaced with thicker gasket materiel purchased at an auto parts store. Also, I coated each seal with Permatex before assembling. Next, tighten the front screw as best you can and coat the threads with Red Thread lock. Be careful when you apply the locking nut. This should also have a coat of thread lock, but DO NOT tighten it much because what happens is the whole long threaded screw starts to back out loosening the long bolt.

I will start to use synthetic oil after another gallon of gas has been run through the motor, but will be careful to keep the mixture at 20:1 and watch for any temperature variations.

KKKKFL

smsinfo

rcrobby82

My Feedback: (14)

do NOT use that inside the tank though. I purchsed some and it gets hard and brittlefast. I only use it on vent lines or fill lines as I don't trust it on a feed line. Tygon is a much better solution than the K&S stuff and you can still see the bubbles.

Franco2fly

I broke mine in and temps were 0 centigrade but it still got hot. If not temp then must be lack of lubrication

AA5BY

The coloring of the piston shows it overheated. The cause is too lean, inadequate lubrication or engine parts too tight (ie not coming up to adequate running temperature). The instructions clearly note the 10GX to be an ABC engine and the necessity of coming up to operating temperature to avoid excessive wear.

Given the description of the cold environment, it would be tempting to simply blame the piston problem on running the engine too cold. I'm not sure however the crank pin can be attributed to that as it is more likely inadequate lubrication. I was thinking the instructions said not to use a synthetic oil but my memory isn't very good anymore. I'm thinking the cause of the problems is a combination of cold environment and inadequate lubrication.

I've more than three liters of fuel through mine and would be surprised if it looks like the engine above and think it is running much too well to be in that condition.

The wear on the crank pin indicates the piston must have required great force to push it to top of cylinder. Probably too much force for the roller bearings to turn freely.

chandley43231

My Feedback: (2)

Guys can't stress hard enough READ The instructions it's all there on how this motor works

smsinfo

AA5BY 

AA5BY

Yes, I would be quite surprised if my engine looked like the one above. As noted, it is running much to well to think it has similar issues. I've noted above in the edit portion of my post that the engine above must have required great force to extend the piston to top of cylinder and hence the inability of roller bearings to function under so much pressure.

It seems very likely that the cause of the failure is that the engine did not operate at a high enough temperature required of an ABC engine to expand the parts the necessary amount for proper clearances while breaking in.

josephcraig

always best to check factory needle settings,cause they are on production and have been known to be set wrong......all brands....you can tell if its rich when you fire it off..if it don't sit there and load up a little,you know your lean.....

Franco2fly

As I recall, I did completely close both High Speed and Low end needles, and then back out to the settings as listed in the manual (page 11 says  2 & 1/4 for high  5 &3/8  out for low speed).  As for oils, page 9 says DO NOT USE AMSOIL synthetic in any form.  Since it said in any form I took it that I should avoid synthetic oil.  I use STIHL Non-synthetic oil at present. 

Once it started, I watched the temp come up using an IR temp sensor placed right above the muffler and next to the blue of the head.  I only allowed it to run for 2 minutes once the temp was over 120 degrees.  I did this inside my garage, but the temp was pretty close to freezing, one of the reasons I only ran it for 2 minutes.  The next day, it was a little warmer out, but again, I only ran it for 3 or 4 minutes after the operating temp was reached.  Both these runs were done with the 11x6 and the RPM was never over 11,000.   After these runs I could hear it loosen up, and I switched to the 12x6 to keep the RPMs down.  With the 12x6, I would lean to get 10,500 believing that it would un-load in the air.  On the first flight, with no needle changes, Telemetry showed that it did un-load to 12,100 for a very brief time.

Today, I lean it at the high side to show 11,900 on the ground, but it un-loads in dives to 12,300.  Most flights are done in the 9000 to 10,000 range which is about 3/4 throttle.

I'm very satisfied with the performance and feel it should last for a very long time so long as I keep the lubrication up to specs.  My other gas engines call for 32:1 so I have to add oil for each flight since the 5 gallon tank is as the 32:1 mixture.  Since the tank is only 6 ounces I start putting the 32:1 in then put the fuel lead into the STIHL container and withdraw about a 1/4 ounce of oil.  This is provides a little heavy oil mixture, since I only require .1 oz and I'm injecting .25 oz.

Would be interested in hearing how others tackle the mixture problem.


KKKKFL

KKKKFL

josephcraig

to me the longer i run the engine the better it gets...mine has little over one gallon air time...but it really is a sweet engine...at first i used to worry about settings,but right now its pretty much on the money far as low side and high side may be 1 3/4 to 1 7/8..with this setting right now it does really well during 12 minute flights..it may be a little rich,but when it burns off a little it gets better during flight like a glow,but it never miss fires during whole flight from start to finish..muffler is still problem at times wanting to spin at times on the end..never had a problem coming loose from engine since i bolted straight up without gaskets..

AA5BY

I handle the gas mix by using different containers. As I fly my larger gas planes at 40:1 and use more of it, a two gallon jug is used, which receives 6.4 oz oil per two gal of gas. I use the same measure of oil in a one gal jug for the 20:1 mix.

A one gal jug provides more than thirty flights with the 10GX and it simplifies using only one measuring cup for all my gas mix needs. My measure cup is in milliliters and 6.4 oz is very close to 200 ml.

Pete Bergstrom

smsinfo,

Thanks for sharing these photos with us. Out of all the engines in the field I have only seen the crankpin damage on one other engine. We believe the reason is that these two pins somehow were not hardened enough and we have already addressed this at the manufacturing level. We don't think this is any kind of a wide spread problem. We will definitely stand behind our product and take care of the engine for you. I am sending you a PM.

Pete

Franco2fly

I purchased gasket materiel from the local auto store.  I got the thickest piece I could find.  Its pretty easy to cut using a new X-acto blade.  It just takes patience.  You'll know its gonna work if you can detect the gasket materiel squishing.  The other tip to keep in mind is the "Lock nut" at the back.  I was using a small socket wrench to really tighten, and wasn't paying attention to the fact that the whole screw was turning and loosening up.  The engine is still a bit more messy that the other gas engines, but now more oil burns off in the muffler.  I think it will be even better when I switch to synthetic oil.

KKKKFL

josephcraig

Pete,

no matter who builds the engines.your gonna have issues with a couple of them...i think yall have done a good job with them....

rcrobby82

My Feedback: (14)

Pete,

Since we are on the subject of breaking in I have a few questions;

1: what temprature should we be looking for and what time duration should we hold this temp for heat cycles while breaking in? (ex. 120f for 5 mins for 10 cycles)

2. Do you feel it is better to run a NON synthetic oil at first? how long would you reccomend before switching to Synthetic?

3. Do you reccomend any RPM limits for specific sizes during break-in?

jspauld2

rcrobby,

You can refer to your engine manual for more detail, but maybe Ican briefly answer your questions here.

1. We discuss flying your model for break-in, but many have decided to break-in the engine on the ground. On the heating cycle, make sure the engine gets above 170°F and stays below 330°F. I would suggest pulling the engine back into a cooling cycle around 250°F while on the ground. The exact length of time that you run it at full throttle doesn't matter too much, but make sure that the engine gets above 170 and that's when it is "loosened" up. It may only be 30 seconds, but do this for the first tank of fuel at least.

2. In the manual we suggest using a synthetic, but our wording may have confused some people. Use a high-quality oil, whichever you choose (conventional or synthetic) and be sure to mix it at the recommended 20:1 ratio.

3. We have posted previously an RPM chart for different prop sizes that we have tested. This should only be used as a guideline, not a minimum. Rather than hunting for a number, Iwould suggest reading the manual section on tuning the high speed needle and just be sure that the engine is tuned properly for break-in. What's important here isn't limiting the RPM, but rather making sure the engine gets to operating temperature during break-in so that the piston and liner can grow into a proper fit.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Franco2fly

Is it possible that my mixture contains TOO much oil since I rarely see the temp get to 170 degrees.  I am using an automotive IR sensor that purports to be very accurate.  Admittedly, the ambient temp in my garage has been between 30 and 40, and I usually don't let the engine run wide open throttle for more than a minute or two, then idling back and pointing at various spots on the engine.  I usually see readings between 130 and 140.   Mine is running like a top on a 12x6 but I am having trouble getting the idle to be reliable below 2700 RPM.  In the air, the engine unloads and runs reliably at 12,300 although most of the flight regime is between 8500 and 9500 RPM.  I have been using the STIHL (orange can) non-synthetic oil but plan on going to fully synthetic(silver container) in the near future.

Thanks
KKKKFL

rcrobby82

My Feedback: (14)

Thank You Jimmy, That is exactly what I was looking for as I will be doing the first tank or 2 on the ground so I can switch to a larger prop better suited to my plane.