I plan on putting one of my Zenoah G45 engines in long storage, and would like it to be usable when I take it out in a couple months time. What special measures should I take prior to storage. Thanks.

A very Merry Christmas to you all when it comes.

Karol

I have a G45 powered Weeks Special that I fly once or twice a year. In between flights I hang it in my shed in Arizona. It gets hot in there.
When I take it out to fly I just cycle the batteries and go fly. I never do anything to the engine other than gas it up. I have been doing this for five years.
Sometimes I have had trouble with the servos. I had to clean the connector contacts.
Lately the engine does not seem to want to transition well. I may have to put in a carb rebuild kit.

I had asked the same question a few months ago. I had been just running the fuel out of the engine and wondered if there was more to it. One person said that he disassmbled the carberator and sprayed the parts with silicone. I haven't done that as of yet but might next winter for storage. I do disconnect the batteries to try and avoid the "black wire desease". For winter I remove the batteries and store them in the refridgerater in a sandwich bag (not the freezer). These are Nicads and Nimhs. I do not know about Lipos. I don't know if it helps or not but I also pull the spark plug and give it a little shot of oil and then flip it over several times with the cylinder in the upright position so that some of the oil will go into the crankcase. I can't resist flipping all of my engines over once in a while to see if they are getting hard to turn. I haven't had a problem so far with storage but I keep my planes in the basement in the winter so they are not subjected to extreme heat or cold. When taking them out of storage I cycle the batteries and check them out. If I even suspect a battery is going bad it's history. You may get a lot of differant responses to question and I will be watching to see if I can pick up any additional information. Bill

I've heard that not using an engine for long periods can cause the carb's diaphram to lose it's flexability and go bad, and that unburnt fuel left in the carb can over time gum up and block the small fuel passages there.

I'm hoping that some precautionary measures can be taken and wondered if using a stabilizer in the fuel would offer some protection against this happening while the engine is out of use.

Karol

The one person that said he takes his carburator apart is probably trying to protect the diaphram and passages. Like I said in the last message......I might try that next winter. I know when gas used to have lead and some other additives the carbs would get gummed up when not in use. I had seen it many times because I worked in a lawnmower shop many years ago. It was not uncomman to see several carburators gummed up in the beginning of the year. I have not had a problem with gas now in several years. My lawn mower and snow blower and tiller and weed wacker and chain saw all get the same treatment which is none and they are stored in the out building with no heat or a/c. My generator is in the garage but has had no special treatment and still runs great. In the days of leaded fuel I tried gasoline stabilizer and it seamed to make matters worse. Of course, maybe I'm just lucky not doing anything special. I do make sure the gas used for my planes is reasonably fresh. If someone has something to add or take away from what I just said I will listen. I don't claim to be a know-it-all and am always open to more thoughts and ideas. Bill

Do the same thing you do with your weed eater and blower every winter, nothing.

Todd

i dont think i would be so overly concerned with the carb, other than, just running it dry then prime the fuel bulb till, it is dry as well. The thing that i DO believe would be wise, and that will not hurt is to remove the spark plug and put a teaspoon of good 2 cycle or marvel mystery oil in the cylinder and rotate the engine with out the plug a few times to get the oil all around. replace the spark plug and youre done. The next time you run it it will smoke a lot at first but, you will know all has been well protected while in storage.

That's what I did: nothing. Until a few weeks ago I repaired a leafblower engine, about 8 jears in use. It had gum particles in the carb located between fuel pump and regulating needle, so that could be cleaned out well. After that, and re-tuning the needles, the engine ran like a dream again.
Now I am not so sure any more that doing nothing is best.

I ran my DA50 out of fuel let it sit for a few months and when I tried to start the plane it would not draw fuel. I had to take the diaphragm plate off and push on the needle to free it up. The engine drew fuel and started right up after doing that. Then after flying that day I didn't run the engine out of fuel. I just use the throttle cut on the tx. I started it yesterday without the stuck diaphragm needle issue. So I'm starting to think that it's better to just leave a little fuel in the carb that to run it out. It doesn't dry out as easy.

Just go to your local airport, and get a couple gallons of AVGAS, and run it through the engine on its last flight or four and that will keep everything superb, the aAVGAS has anti aging supplements and it keeps the seals, "diagphrms" soft and pliable, at our private airport out here I think our cost on it its around 2.93 a gallon,,,

Yah... I don't think storing an engine for just a few months is going to really hurt anything. Sometimes some of my engines are not run for a couple of months or even longer without doing anything special to them. My weed eater and other engines don't get the gas filtered twice before the carburator like my rc engines do. I have been using the Marvel Mystery Oil in my rc engines for storage for several years like mymerc68. I have an old Quadra that I fired up this last summer after sitting for at least 2 years and after getting fuel to the carburator it fired right up. So far I haven't had trouble with the needles or the diaphram like JoeAirPort although I had given thought to the diaphram possible drying out and cracking. That's probably why the one email I had recieved mentioned the disassemble of the card and spraying with silicone. I know after storage drawing fuel up to the carb takes longer at first but after that prime they seem to be okay. In any case so far the worst would be a reasonably easy fix. I think as long as the bearings don't freeze up or the cylinder rust up we are in pretty good shape. Rebuliding the carb could not be the worse thing that could happen although I'm sure no one would look forward to it. In any case my rc engines get far better treatment than my other engines. One other thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the all the tygon fuel tubing should be checked including inside the tank to make sure it is still clamped properly and the tubing is still flexible especially inside the fuel tank to the clunk after storage. Bill

I just remembered after reading your posting about the AVGAS. Doesn't that gas have lead in it so the valves won't get eaten up in aircraft?? I'm not sure...I'm just asking. That's what I used to use in my generator for long storage but I got away from that and just fire it up about every 6 months. Of course I try to sort of rotate the older gasoline and the older stuff goes into my wifes car (don't tell her that though). At least if her car stalls it won't fall out of the sky. Bill

I also think it doesn't hurt to rotate the prop back and forth while it's in storage. The pressure pulses move the fuel around a little and keeps things from gumming up. Just a theory but I may try it this winter.

I agree. I had mentioned earlier that I flip the prop once in a while. It moves the Marvel Mystery Oil around and If the bearings or cylinder are gumming or rusting it should show up then. Besides flipping the engine over is my way of saying "hi - how are you" to the engine. I don't want them to feel ignored. Bill

Hey JoeAirport.....Where do you fly in Milwaukee. I go to Peeble Creek for their airshows. I fly at Bong and Russell Road. Bill

Pulling the plug and putting a few squirts of oil in the upper cylinder and giving the crank a couple of turns is what I plan on doing. I never gave the engine much thought as the carb was the only thing that came to mind.