I was measuring while you were typing I think. The Bowman ring I have seems to be a tad bit larger in diameter (I was squeezing just tell the ends touched, so this may be off a little), but MUCH thinner in width, and a tad thinner in thickness. It feels very weak compared to the stock one.

Jody, thanks for the reply. I just measured the cylinder and piston and they're extremely close to what you quoted. I think the issue is the ring. Like I said, I'll put the stock back in and see if that changes anything.

The Bowman ring is the wrong one

Email sent to Frank, we'll see what he says...

Did you measure the end gap when installed in the cylinder? All of my Bowman rings were 2 to 3 thou. My stock rings were around 10 thou. Your ring width does sound wrong....

I re-measured everything and the cylinder bore, depending on where I measure it, gives me 1.692 - 1.693"
The piston, just barely below the ring grove, measures 1.687"
Above the ring grove, top of piston, it measures 1.684" (which makes sense, it needs room to expand when hot)
The piston skirt. 1.690". So 0.002 - 0.003" clearance at the skirt.
With the Bowman ring in the grove, I can get a 0.0015" gauge in, but it's snug and I may be forcing it in.

Frank will most likely want you to send him the cylinder and piston so he can make you one?

Get the right ring From Frank. The cyl is fine I bet. The reason why you exhaust bolts stripped is because you did not add a brace to the far end of the Jteck muffler. It is not good at all to support a exhaust with just 2 bolts.On a stock exhaust....the weight is so lite you can get away with only 2 exhaust bolts. Good Luck.....Capt,n

The click is probably there because the ring is to narrow in ring grove. Every time the piston changes directions....the ring bangs on the ring land....which is where the ring seats. Capt,n

It was the ring.

I took out the FB ring and installed the old one into the new cylinder. It fired right up with all kinds of compression and not a single nastly clicking sound to be heard of!

Here's the video of me firing it up from having it completely torn apart tonight - cold start, first try. Sorry the video is dark, it was dark outsite but you get the point.

Frank is a good guy, he said he'd send me another ring to try.
(these videos are not public btw, you can only view them if you have a link like this one)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6F5QFUjqLk[/youtube]

Sounds good

If you was to buy a new piston to go with the new cylinder you bought....just place the new ring that you get from Frank in....ta da....all new top end! Capt,n</p>

I have a new DLE55 that's going into an Aeroworks Ultimate. I have very limited experience with gas, but several years with glow. The stock muffler I was going to toss as the few I've seen do very little muffling. A bisson wraparound pitts would probably work OK but I'm really looking for the quietest way to effectively muffle the engine, even if it costs some bucks. The Bisson, JTec and Slimline mufflers I've used for glow were a little on the loud side and I expect the same for gas. Does anyone have any suggestions for where to go and what to get?

About the most common way to truly make it quiet will be by using a canister. Another way is by using a couple of snufflers from Jtec. you can get them welded on the a pitts wrap around to replace the down pipes. One of the guys up here had one set up like that on a ZDZ 80 and it had a very nice tone to it. They will restrict the power some what. Give Al or Kevin a call at Jtec and discuss it with them and see what they say.

You will love the 55. I mean really fall in love with the ease, cost and power of dealing with the newer gas engines. So easy to start and tune makes your days at the field troulbl free, and paying roughly 4 dollars per gallon (includes oil) to fly your 55 almost 10-12 flights makes seem like a trainer.

Hi. I have a DL-50 in an Extra 330L that as of today has 21 flights on it. From day one, the engine has emitted a fine black mist on the cowl, LG and wing LE just downwind of the stock muffler. It runs fine to me, but it is my first gasser. A couple swipes of the towel with Windex, and it is gone, so I have not given it too much concern. Any tips on what the cause is...do I need to adjust the engine or is it just normal? Thanks. Jon

That's fairly normal at that stage, but it should start clearing up a lot after that many more flights, after perhaps 3 gallons total fuel run through it. May need to lean the needles a bit.

What oil and what ratio?

Using the Pennzoil 2 stroke at 32:1. Jon

You're good to go. Like Bob said, it will clear up over time. If you are using the stock muffler, it will take longer to clear up... My latest setup DL55/KS 86 canister, the black specks cleared up quicker than my 55/Stock muffler setup.

Thanks guys! I might try to lean the needles a smidge, but it sure runs fine and sounds great. Just glad I don't have to agonize over it. Jon

If this is your first gasser, just keep in mind that needle adjustments are VERY small compared to glow - especially those Saito's . One small screwdriver blade width is a good increment for adjustments, especially since it's running well and is already very close to ideal.

Maybe just leave it alone for now and reassess after it's got 3 gallons through it.

Hello Dl People.. ha.
I have just started running me dl50 after about 5 months sleep in the hanger. the eng has about 5 or 6 gals through it running a 23x8 xora. Carb needed cleaning so i reset needles and i'm in the process of re-tunning. My tuning method is peak rpms with high needle. Then drop rpms and adjust low needle until 4 stroking is eliminated. on the ground idle and transition is ok but in flight there is a bit of sputtering through out transition, even when i hold her at full throttle in flight she seems like shes not running in a true 2 stroke, still sputtering.... Any thoughts??

thanks Vincent

Sounds like you have some cowl effect causing the carb to go rich in flight. Try rotating the plate on the back of the carb with the little hole in it to a different position or put a vent line on it. Also try and improving the airflow in the cowl so the air exits better.

I'm having a really hard time getting my DL to run properly. I set the carb to factory settings and tune H to peak 6700. By turning it ccw. Then turn L cw to stop curgling. Nice transition smooth idle. When eng cuts off she won't start back up so I set back to factory settings and crank and crank. She fires briefly but doesn't start. Choke on - fire- choke off and she fires a couple times but doesn't start. Thinking the temp is to hot I check and it's 365 f. I have taken the carb to peaces and blown it with air hose. I'm so confused.. Can anyone help???????

Your engine is way too hot. what prop are you running and after the engine cool will it start then. Also have you checked the timing. Is your engine cowl alowing enough air flow in and out.

I'm running a 23x8 prop.. No cowl. What temp is to hot??? I have about 6 or 7 gals through this eng on this same plane. It has sat up for about 8 months and I had to clean the carb and reset needles. I was flying her last week but with alot of burbbling in the higher part of midrange. So i brought eng to hanger and decided to clean carb and read forums to see how others have set carb up. So here I am unable to get where I was