Calling all Copperhead engine (Venom 30, Venom 40) owners. Are these engine reliable? Are they good?
I like the price of these engines and considering a pitts style muffler is included makes it even better.

I received the 30cc and installed it on a CMP Giles. When hooking up throttle lingage the belcrank broke in two places. You would probabaly need 4 inch standoffs to make the muffler fit without hitting the motor box. Had the engine ever started I am sure the spark plug connector would have fallen off. I tried to start the engine for at least two hours, and I am not unfamiliar with gas engines, the best I ever got was an occassional pop. This is the second Chinese engine I have tried ( you would think I learned my lesson with the first). If you are going to spend 3-4 hundred dollars on a engine go with proven performeres, Zenoah, DA etc. I have a Zenoah 20cc on a Funtana 90 and it is just flip and fly, NEVER A DEAD STICK, SUPER LOW IDLE, Just a pleasure to fly. I would say the Venom engines from Copperhead Aviation need about 98 more points to rated as junk!!!!!!!!. They say you get what you pay for, WRONG I paid for junk and did not even get that.......What is cheap scrap metal worth???????

I almost forgot, I accidently dropped the muffler and both exhaust pipes seperated from the body. Pretty much tin foil. JUNK, JUNK
JUNK, WHAT MORE CAN I say. Be warned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BBOwen.

I have been sent the 46cc for evaluation. Have not got a chance to run it as yet due to very wet weather out here. Spoke to Tim from Venom engine about the it. The original muffler that you see on the website is not used anymore. It was too thin and did not withstand the vibration and came apart in the air when they were testing them. The one that I have is similar to the standard pitts style. Am looking forward to run the engine and see what it does on a stand. Hopefully it is not as ddotson says. I will post on RCU with what i find. Tim would like honest feedback about it, good or bad.

Azhar

Just one more thing(starting to sound like Columbo)!! There is a loud clacking sound when engine is turned over by hand. Appears there is play in the rod bearing.

I posted this in the Aeromaster thread but it looks to belong here to.

I have spoke to Tim on the phone many times and have bought his Yak and Extra stiffys from him along with the required gear.

In my opinion the planes are top notch. I can tell from talking to him that he is an honest and upstanding person. I believe he is dedicated to supplying great products and not simply looking to make a buck.

I also think he is trying to offer an engine of quality at a low price but when an outside company is doing the manufacturing there will be quality issues that need to be worked out. I am sure Tim is doing everything he can to address all issues to get a nice engine to his customers.

I returned engine over a week ago and have not heard a word, as expected. No problem, it just means when I purchase a quality engine for my Giles it is going to have a $310.00 surcharge (what I paid for this crappy piece of junk). Still no problem, I have been ripped off before. If you are considering one of these engines I would STRONGLY suggest you look elsewhere if you value your aircraft. Anyway you guys at Copperhead consider the $310.00 a Christmas gift. I doubt you will pay it forward!!!

I won't defend a company I know very little about, but I do have a couple comments. You talked about play in the rod bearings. If you do a search for a Brison rattle, you will find that the rattle is common in some engines. As I understand it, there is room left for expansion, as the engine warms up. My Brison 3.2 has it, but once running, above idel speed, there is no sign of a problem from it. I still say there is a connection between Brison and Venom Engines. I could be wrong though.

I am also aware that you tried another engine manufacturer before this one, and you shot its reputation full of holes. I own one of those engines and love it, and know there are a lot of others running those engines with incredible success. You may be right, the Venom engine may be junk, or just an engine where what was manufactured was not the quality that was ordered. I have a friend that is a design engineer. The company that he was with stopped ordering parts from China, do to the common practice of China making samples that were approved by the U.S. company, but then mass produced parts did not meet the metalurgical requirements that the samples met. Tim may be as shocked a dissappointed as you are.

My main concern here is that the owner of this company has not stepped up in these forums and offered any reassurance to you.

Please be assured I mean you no disrespect, and wish you the best of luck!!!

Andy

Andy,

I have one of the 46cc engine sent to me by Tim from Venom engines for evaluation. Rest assured that there is no play in the rod bearings. The engine looks nicely built but I have yet to run the engine due to the record setting wet weather here in the NW. I am hoping to get things going next weekend if weather holds but most likely the following weekend.

Tim did mention that he had QC issues with the company in China and is working hard to resolve that at the moment. One of his partners has moved there for in a semi-permanent basis to assure the QC process. He does wamt me to give feedback, god or bad, and post it for some constructive criticism. Youj cannot ask for more for a company that is trying to gain a reputation in a very competitive market.

As far as I know, the 30cc has never been shipped.

Just passing on what I know.

Azhar

The other company referred to here was BCMA and Adam is a standup guy. He replaced the BCMA engine with a Zenoah G20 which runs flawlessly. He insured customer satisfaction and I am in the process of purchasing another engine from him (MVVS used) on his word that it runs well. As to the apparent loose rod bearing, I have never seen an engine with that much play. You can rock the shaft a good 1/8 inch and not move the piston. Now perhaps this is"normal", I just have never wittnessed it. Now the engine I recieved was suppossedly test run for at least 30 minutes before it was shipped and it appeared to have been run. I can imagine their test setup uses the same ignition module for testing all engines and perhaps the module I recieved wasn't tested, I don't know. What I do know is the engine never even attempted to run even for a few seconds, just an occassional pop. The ignition module appeared somewhat flimsy. I think the Brilleli boys replace the China module with a CH unit, probably for good reason. Seems to me a new "tested" engine should at least attempt to run. I hope the guy testing the 45 gets the opportunity soon as I am interested in the results.

Just shooting from the hip here, but is there any kind of clamp on the plug cap??? Reason I am asking, is that last weekend I was flying my BCMA 40, when it suddenly started to misfire. When I brought the plane down, I found the cap and spark wire had rotated up against the cowl. The vibration of the cowl against the cap was causing misfires. I rotated the cap and wire away from the cowl and enjoyed the remainder of the day. I plan to add the hose clamp recommended by many. Just a thought, and again, good luck!!! I am glad to hear that Adam took good care of you, and look forward to hearing that Tim did the same!

Azhar, I am looking forward to your review!!![sm=thumbup.gif]

Andy

ddotson:

I just reread your post, and realize now that you didn't get the engine to run at all. Forget my clamp idea! Looking forward to hearing more from you on this.

Andy

I am looking forward to run this engine too. Will use this thread to update everybody. Patience as i am waiting for the Puget Sound to thaw and dry up. I have hardly seen the sun for almost a month. I feel like I am growing gills.

Just an update. Copperhead has not replied to emails and only get answering machine. Wonder if they are just a flash in the pan outfit????

I wouldn't think so, because of their reputation with electric planes, but it concerns me that they do not use these forums to endeer themselves to their customers, like BCMA and Brillelli do. It also concerns me that their engine block and head look just like the CRRC Pro engines that have a bad reputation. They say they are different, but I can't see the difference, until you get to the timing advance concept, which is a near carbon copy of the Brison engines. I have a Brison, and like that timing setup very much, thus my interest in following these two engines. I am still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that is easy to say, since they don't have any of my money. I sure wish other Venom engine owners would jump in here, so we could get their experiences! Their absence is deaffening!

Andy

Maybe I was the only person foolish enough to buy one!!!

I think Tim and his team are in China trying to sort out the QC issues. That was what hewas planning to do when I last spoke to him a couple weeks back.

But you are right, the engine does look similar to the CRRC stuff except that it has a single bolt prop hub.

Went to troy built models and looked at the crrc engine. I can tell you without much doubt the ignition module is the same. Most likely built in the same factory as Venom engines.

The carb is different. The ignition module looks different. And prop hub is different. but you may be right that they could have come from the same factory. Just like most ARFs.

They have internet in China. I would think they would be monitoring this, to protect their reputation.

You would think. We'll see...

Let me just say that I am in no way shape or form associated with Copperhead other then I do know the guys there an used to work with William when he lived in FL.

I have personally had 2 of the 45 Venoms an both ran well. Even the proto I had from a cpl years ago was terrific even though I was there were upgrades to the newer ones.

I dont think you can fault engine quality as I know Tim has spent countless hours running them in to make sure QC was what it should be in China.

They did make a trip to China an only have very sporadic net access.

Not defending or making excuses, if they screw up Ill be the first to fry them but do give them an honest chance.

Agreed. I am in no way associated with nor do i financially gain anything. Tim was open to criticism (constructive) and is working hard to make this product successful.

No one wants to see anything unfortunate happen here. Unfortunately, we are in an era when information moves very fast. When we don't get quick answers, we assume something is wrong. I am as guilty of this as anyone. I am interested in this topic, because I want these engines to succeed. I want to see quality gas engines at a reasonable price. I know of two companies already, and I want to see more. I drive my friends crazy, because I am a "biggest bang for the buck" kind of person. I don't believe quality gassers have to be out of reach for the guy that really wants to try them.

I to look for bargins but price was not the deciding factor in purchasing this engine. I figured a 26 cc would not be quite enough for the plane and 40 cc was overkill. Thought 30 cc would do the trick. That was the main consideration in the purchase. I admit I was very skeptical about this engine and was hoping it would run well. My doubts proved to be correct.

Never heard of a business where one had to scurry over to China to insure QC and leave their business unattended. Must be having some real problems.

The one fellow here said "had" two Venom engines, what happened to them? He said he got one two years ago, did'nt know they were on the market then.

Anyway, time to leave the spilled milk where it puddles and move on. Have not decided yet on brand or size. It is going on a CMP giles 202 140. Any thoughts??? What ever it is, it will be one expensive engine, when I factor in the $310.00 loss, for a cheap( but nice) plane.