spaceworm

Nice neat installation. Sorry about your muffler. I would suggest your replacing your spinner with an all aluminum one or at least one with an aluminum backplate. Many have said all plastic is not a good idea with gas engines.

Sincerely, Richard

a1pcfixer

My Feedback: (7)

sandyjain,

Most of it looks very good. Just a few areas of concern though.

The photo of the (bent) muffler;

1) First off remove the eng idle stop screw and let your tx control the idle. Can't kill the eng with a throttle kill if the idle screw is blocking the throttle from fully closing. That should be your first means of killing the gas eng, then the ign kill next.

2) That Hall Sensor pickup wire is gonna end up rubbing itself bare (dead eng). Drill a hole through the alumn eng mount and zip tie the wire down, AFTER wrapping the wire. Your eng came with some semi clear spiral wrap, good place to use such.

3) What dented the muffler?

I too, agree with spaceworm about the spinner.

sandyjain

@spaceworm: Richard The AL spinner is already on its way to me. Thanks for pointing out.
@a1pcfixer: Will remove the idle screw. I have not removed it but it is not doing anything as it is very loose. I can kill the engine by the throttle trim.
The hall sensor wire will be tied asap. Thanx for pointing out.

This DLE20 was in an extra 260 - i have posted earler in this thread - that crashed due to a faulty elevator servo that got stuck in up position on takeoff !! The muffler got dented there but still works... I am looking for a spare DLE20 muffler :-)

a1pcfixer

My Feedback: (7)

You're doing good!

Next, range check it with eng off, then with eng running,
then go fly the daylights out of your new toy!!!

Cherokee Flyer

Has anybody run a Graupner 14x7 - 3 Blade Prop on their DLE-20? More importantly, have you flown it and on what?

Thanks

L.

sandyjain

Already done Sir.... Flys well. The CG is at 115 and the model seemed a tad tail heavy But after the cowl and the spinner I guess should be OK.
I am using the FrSky Module on my Futaba 10C and the 8 Ch Rx. This will my 4th model with the set up narry a problem.....

Thanx for the tips....

w1nd6urfa

My Feedback: (4)

Guys I need some expert help here:

I got my DLE 20 as 1st gasser about 1 month ago and is still being broken in, done about 1/2 gallon 1:32 mix. Measured 9.300 on a 16x8 wooden prop, mounted on a Funtana 125 performed really well.

Today it wouldn't start which has never happened before, normally it would fire after 5-6 flips with choke on and would start after another 5-6 flips with choke off.
I haven't touched the needles, but noticed that the carb was getting flooded and dripped fuel with throttle at idle and choke off. I disconnected the fuel line from the carb and used an electric starter, and sure enough it started for a couple of seconds burning all the fuel from the carb. Reconnected the fuel line and same again, fuel dripping from carb and it wouldn't start.

Is the carb faulty? I tried blowing air through a fuel line to the carb fuel inlet with throttle closed and I could hear air hissing through somewhere ... is that normal?

Any help appreciated

Nick

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

No it is not normal

There is a piece of trash holding the metering valve needle and seat open or there is something about the the metering diaphragm (Steel cover) that is pushing it down and holding the needle open.

w1nd6urfa

My Feedback: (4)

Yep, there were some specs of aluminum on the metering lever, now it moves freely and closes OK.

Hope that was it, goin out to test it

Thanks w8ye

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

w1nd6urfa - do you have a fuel filter installed? I forgot to install one initially and had carb trouble - turns out there was lots of gunk in the two filter-screens inside the carb.

w1nd6urfa

My Feedback: (4)

Problem solved, started immediately and had a good flight

microdon, I use a felt clunk filter - didn't find any gunk in the carb apart from the alum scapes that must have been left over from the machining of the carb?

WindGap

My Feedback: (3)

Paired a new DLE 20 w/a sig four star 120. Built the 120 over the winter from a kit. After much work and prep, I was ready to maiden the plane and break in the DLE 20, fingers crossed, since both weren't previously tested.

mesaflyer

WindGap,
I have a Four Star 120 with a CRRC 26. Too bad we are so far apart. Would love to do a side by side comparison. Would be interesting to see if after the DLE is broke in, it would out perform the CRRC. My guess is that the DLE would be a little stronger. Mine will pull straight up for awhile, but not unlimited.

Did you have to cut the front cheeks off? I did, because of the side carb and exhaust. Didn't really care though, I built this for my intro into gassers, and wanted an open cowl, Sunday flyer.

I also have the DLE 20 in a GP Extra 300, and it has about 3/4 gallon of gas through it. Seems to be getting stronger every flight. Nice engine.

ghoffman

My Feedback: (3)

I got some time on the DLE-20 Velox today. What a blast, if there is a better plane/engine combo, please let me know. I was using a Vess 17-8 prop and on the 8 pound plane it was alot of fun!

Teachu2

My Feedback: (133)

Mesaflyer, I have a 4*120 ARF that started out with a SPE 26cc that had similar performance to yours. I switched out the SPE and installed a MLD 28cc - about 1k more rpm on the same prop and now have unlimited vertical (well, at least as far as I can see it!).

jsallade

This little motor is very interesting in that I don't know how to correlate what has been reported here versus the manufacturer recommendations.

In both the larger gassers and small glows I have experience with... you don't want them reving to high (running a lower load prop than recommended) as that path tends to lead to early end of life... and similarly if you run a prop larger in load (load ~equal dia raised to the 4th x pitch) than those recommended you get quickly beyond the power band and the engine lugs and gets hot and very bad things occur.

I have to believe this is true here as well yet several folks are reporting running 18x6 and 17x8 props and quite happy with them... both well above the range of recommended props for this engine. On the other hand I have never seen a "do not exceed" RPM rating nor any sort of power/torque curve so not sure what to shoot for in this case...

None of this interferes with my enjoyment of my DLE-20 lugging around my 10+ lb RV-4 ... just curious if anyone else is thinking on these same lines. Clearly "we" collectively have decided that the manufacturer is being too conservative with their recommendations... or we are missing the boat in that the engine should be propped to spin 9.5-10k plus rather than 8-8.5k that most of us are using/seeing. Maybe it would be even better up there???

Just thinking out loud... Another reason to love this hobby... tinkering with such things and coming up with even better "performance"... whatever that means to you!

alex_scratch_built

Hi,

ghealey

I have found the DLE20 to be a ripper!! From the fist start it has run really well. Minimul vibration and heaps of power on a 16x8 Turnigy wood prop. I built a model to test it out. 6' span based very loosely on the Stirling Gazariator. Weighs around 6lb and any thoughts about not enough power were way off the mark. It uses very little fuel and in Australia it comes with a kill switch / isolation module so the model has only 1 battery. I reckon if gas engines like this continue to come along I can retire some glow engines!!

Antique

My Feedback: (4)

No such thing as glazing, the finish should be mirror smooth...A rough cylinder will wear out the ring/s in short order...These are not cast iron cylinder engines where the cylinders start out honed and wear smooth, the cylinders start out smooth and the rings wear in...
We have been through this many times...There is no such thing as honing chrome or nikasil cylinders to get the rings to seat...
Forget all you ever knew about honing cylinders, model airplane gassers are a completely different animal....
Flame suit on [>:]
Google "careful with that hone, Eugene" You can disagree with him too

afjetmech

Well here is what Ihave with only a gallon into mine. Started it this past Saturday at a flyin and she idles rough for about 20 seconds, then bang, just quit. Prop spun around freely so Iknew something broke. Figured it was the crank pin as Ididn't here anything rattling around when turning the crankshaft. Just got around to tearing it apart tonight. Pretty sure this is a clear case of warranty coverage.

ghoffman

My Feedback: (3)

What oil and ratio was this?

afjetmech

30:1 just like the manual says. Main needle has never been leaner than 1 and 1/2 turns from closed. Piston still looks new as it should. Was running pretty good up to this point. Iwas getting ready to try to lean it just a little more as Iseemed to be getting some carbon buildup on the plug. Low needle was 1 and 1/4 turns out. Had to be a faulty pin.

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

afjetmech - I had the same thing happen to my DLE20 - the crank shaft broke in mid flight, at the exact spot that yours did - the aft-end of the crank shaft, that inserts into the "Needle Bearing for the Connecting Rod". I thought the break might have been caused by a nose-in crash I had a month before, so I didn't send it to Tower for warranty coverage - instead I sent mine to Jody at Vally View RC to be fixed. After inspection Jody told me that this break was not caused by my crash, and that it would have been covered under warranty. So it looks like the DLE20 might have a systemic flaw on this part. Just wondering how many others are having this problem.

afjetmech

Sending mine in tomorrow. This has never been crashed. Never even scraped the prop while running.

microdon2

My Feedback: (47)

Just found this thread on the same problem, but with the DLE 111, back in early 2010. The suspicion in this thread was that DLE had a problem or bad batch of needle bearings.

http://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/a...p/t-50341.html