mitchmcf

I have 2gal through it now.

driesbabe

Hi Mitch,
thats strange, after 2 gallons it should be run in, if I am not mistaken, thats like 10 liters. Maybe you should try leaning the motor more.
Are you flying mineral or synth oil, and at what ratio?
regards
Andreas

Newalan

Andreas is right, you will find it needs leaning at the high speed. I use synthetic oil and 40/1 mix. It is suggested that the high speed needle should be leaned out 5 degrees at a time, mine was rotated a good 20 -30 dgrees before I started getting a decent RPM.

Leaning the the high speed needle will alter your low speed needle settings too, normally you would have to lean that too. It's a time consuming job, but worth doing.

Alan

mitchmcf

Andreas
I have leaned it out to peak rpm , I was running 32:1 mix and justed switched to 40:1 synth. oil . It runs very well nice transition and not once have I had a dead stick .

driesbabe

Hi Mitchmcf,

Have you leaned the motor after you changed the oil mix, if not, you might have to lean it again. If this dose nothing, then just give it some more time.
If it runs well, leave it and don't fiddle with anything, just enjoy it.
regards
Andreas

mitchmcf

I have it on a GP Giant Aromaster and it flys it very well for a 17# plane I am happy with it runs good and alot cheaper then most of the other 45s out there. I think it will get stronger with more time on it.

driesbabe

Enjoy the flying, and all the best with the Thor, if you have any questions don't hesitate.
Regards
Andreas

electron

My Feedback: (1)

I was out flying my PW extra 300s with the Thor 45 yesterday and did some more Tach checking and I need to make a correction I am getting 7200 RPM out of my BME 21x8.. BTW I am running 87% octane, 40to1 syn. oil.. This engine is great it pulls my 15 lb patty around great at half throttle. I think this engine is way under rated even in the stock configuration swinging a 21x8 at 7200 is close to DA stats at half of the cost.


Electron

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

The DA will be spinnng a 22-8 at that rpm.... Talk to everyone three years from now. If that engine is still going strong after working at least thre flights a week then it's a winner. Today isn't what counts. It's the number of tomorrows that make the difference.

I'm one of those that figures if I can buy something today that will last me 10 or 15 years at double the price of something that will only last me a year or so then the more expensive engine up front is a heck of a lot cheaper in the long run. You can buy your tools at Wal Mart or K Mart or you can buy them at Sears or Snap On. It's all in how long you expect them to last.

Newalan

Do you not think that unlike you or me who can probably afford a DA, Thor is an affordable way into a big Gas/Petrol Engine for many who may not be so fortunate to command a large lump of disposable cash.

I have been flying for nearly 30 years and always bought the best namely OS Max and in the old days the only Gas/Petrol engines available were the Quadra, guess what I haven't got any that I fly with and happens to be 10 - 15 years old. I suspect you haven't either.


Someone once said that the most reliable cars in the world were Rolce Royce, not anymore they are not. A Japanese Lexus is. You or anyone else for that matter do not have grounds to imply that the Thor is crap compared to any other make, come back here in 10 years and maybe you can qualify the remarks.

Do you own a Thor? No probably not, hardly qualifies you to compare it with anything.

mitchmcf

I would like to know why everyone thinks the DA are so good we have at least 5 of the at our field and all but one has had all kind of problems. Just today we had a da 100 twin that locked up in a hover at 1/2 throtel most of the ppl with DAs have spent over 2x the price of the Thor. Now the 3W's are a difernt story.

mwhar760

My Feedback: (18)

i'm curious on the twin you made do you have more pic's i'm wondering how you joined the 2 cranks or machine a new one? also how did you join the 2 cases??????

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Newalan,

Like many, when I entered this hobby I would obtain a quality engine but very rarely when I started out. I went with used and budget engines, and generally paid the piper with unreliability and short engine life spans. Ultimately repairing and replacing them, along with all the down time and frustration that was associated, cost me much more in the long run than buying quality the first time would have. That was with both glow and gas engines. Had I simply saved my money and bought when I could afford it things would have gone a lot better than they did.

I agree that the "budget" engines will get people started into gassers sooner, and cheaper, but do they really belong there if they cannot afford it? That's not an elitist outlook, but one of reality. They get the cheap engine, spend weeks or months trying to get it to work correctly, eat up everyone's time at the field trying to get it running right, and later lose the plane due to engine failure at the worst possible time, or lose the engine and don't have the necessary skills to safely recover a dead stick plane. So how much did they save? Most of the "budget" engines do little more than provide another means of instant gratification for those that don't have much open credit left on their credit cards.

I don't have anything against anybody, at any skill or financial level, getting into gassers, but there's always that caveat of "let the buyer beware". With the higher end engines that factor is reduced dramatically, and the people that service those engines are much closer at hand, with a long history of service quality.

As for that comment from another about why so many people think DA's are great, I don't believe anyone will be able to associate that statement or one like it with me. They are well made, but there are quite a few engines that run better. However, DA has damn good service and superb advertising.

Newalan

Interesting observation, there are two of us flying with the Thor at our club, there are few Glider Tug pilots who fly with Zenoah and one flies with DA50.

The guy with DA50 has had more problems than I care to mention, I would like to think that the guy operating it was not experienced, but that is not the case, because he has two Zenoahs and a MacKay 250cc radial which all perform without a fault.

So far I have had over 90 flights with the Thor each flight lasting around 12-15 min and the engine is performing very well. Now that we know what parts were causing problems and the new Thors from Western Hobby now come with improved ignition/muffler this engine has a great future.

I do not own a DA so I can't say how good or bad they are, but it would seem they may be over rated somewhat.

Tailwheel Pilot

My Feedback: (2)

Newalan,
I hate to type but I do have to make a comment.I don't think DA's are overated.
We have mostly DA's at one field I fly at and about 5 at the other field.I'v NEVER seen anyone with a problem what's so ever.One fellow I talked to a couple of Months ago who happens to fly for carden has 1500 flt's on his da150 with not one dead stick landing.The only thing he has done to it is change the plug.That's amazing.I've seen one or two dead sticks and that's because of running out of gas.My next gasser will be a DA.The only gasser I've owned is a piece of junk THOR 45.I've had nothing but grief.Right out of the box it wouldn't run above half throttle because of a bad ign.I exchanged it for a new stock ign from HP and that made it run good enough to fly it and break it in but with many dead stick landings.The motor was very erratic.Sometimes it would idle fine and other times the idle would change on it's own.It has always had a miss at wide open throttle with a 20-8 menz so I went to a 20-10 and that slowed the rpm a little and it stopped the miss but lacked in power.I did get a auto advance ign and that helped but still had a miss at full throttle and a erratic idle.Next thing my auto advance failed and it wouldn't run above half throttle with out back firing out the pipe and carb.Jim from Western Hobby's has been a big help trying to get this thing running right.He found corrision in the carb so I had him get me a differnt one that he overhauled.If it doesn't run right I'll throw it in the trash.I'm sick of it.I've never had this kind of luck with any engine in 20 years of being in the hobby.I've only seen two other thor's and they were both at my field with nothing but problems.It's just my experience but as you can imagine I'm done with it.I have 6 gals thru it with 15 or more dead sticks and not a single flight were it ran perfect.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Tailwheel,

Before you plunk $600.00 plus down on an engine do some checking with people that have a Brillelli, Taurus, Zenoah, or other engine that would also fit your needs. Ask those that have changed from the DA50 to another engine the reason why. It's not the quality of the engine, which is extremely high, but mid range issues that they have not been able to eliminate. The DA 150 is an excellent engine and the few that have had any type of real issue with them have generally found they created the issue.

tstotts

It is interesting to observe so many hobbiest that are having problems with various engines including the Thor and at the same time others seem to be raving with compliments on the same engines. Personally I think space is wasted in this forum on complaints when the objective should be to assist each other in resolving the problems we encounter instead of comparing engines. Why are we even mentioning other engines in a Thor forum?? Personally I am on a fixed income and think the Thor is a great engine for us non eletist low income folks who are able to enjoy the hobby because of these low priced gas engines. I fly a 15 lb airplane with a totally stock Thor 45 and find it to be totally reliable and have never had a dead stick landing.

focusjohn55

well said i agree 100%!!!!...My thor is first class .

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Point taken. Good luck.

Tailwheel Pilot

My Feedback: (2)

Tstotts,
I'm glad to hear your having good luck with your Thor.Mine is junk.Between postage charges,new auto ign,muffler,different plugs,different ign battery I have more in this thing than a brand new Da-50 with a muffler.So you can see why I'm a little bitter.I'm sure a lot of people have had good luck,but of the 3 I personally know of they have all had issues right out of the box.That's just my experience.I don't think there's any reason why we can't compare engines,arf's, radio's or any other part we might use.It's done all the time.

Silverfish,
I've never met anyone who got rid of there DA for another engine.I'm sure their out there I just don't know any.Of the 10 or so da-50's at my field I've never heard of mid range problems.Not to say there not out there , I just haven't seen it.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

There's actually quite a few. They got tired of trying to get rid of that mid range burbal, or the transition stumble.

driesbabe

Hi Mwhar760,

I will try and post some more pics of the build of the Motor. We joined the two cranks by pressfit and a 3mm pin. the two cases were also pressfitted and the screwed together. It's got about 2 hours on now, and so far so good.

fishdeth

My Feedback: (2)

Yes, PLEASE, more pictures !!!

Great work,

Jim

tstotts

I only have the one Thor so can not say much in general as to how problematic or reliable they are as a general rule and have heard complaints but as I said I have read complaints on every engine made right here on RCU forums and feel that we should be trying to help each other in dealing with the problems with the engine the particular forum is dedicated too. Most of the guys and gals on this forum are already Thor owners so advising them to not buy one is really not much help.
Because of the affordability of the engine most of the Thor owners are first time gas engine owners and need constructive help in dealing with their engines and I feel that should be the focus of this forum. Just my opinion for what it's worth.

electron

My Feedback: (1)

Let me get this straight you have put a new auto ign, muffler, different plugs, different ign battery and have more in it than a brand new Da-50.. I think the key here is you have been throwing parts at it, not knowing what is wrong with it.. Is that the manufactures fault, does this make it a bad engine? I would have to say no..

Believe me I know were you are coming from I have been in that trap before but have learned to ask more questions and spend less money. I messed with a MVVS 26cc petro just like you are with the Thor and after countless parts and frustration I finally took it to a friend of mine, he pulled four screws on the carb and removed a plate, cleaned that area and adjusted a little spring behind the diaphragm and that engine has ran great ever since.

I have to agree with another poster on here, this thread should be about helping others have success with the Thor 45.


Electron