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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Jemo
You must admit ... some of the responses have been a little degrading. We have been called neophytes, some have been highly critical of our tuning abilities ... some have even "implied" the problem doesn't exist ... it's just us. But if you have one of these problem engines ... and have used "conventional" tuning practices, you will be very discouraged after spending hours thinking you don't know what your doing. Not to mention the anxiety of trying to fly the beast with a less than perfect running engine. I even tried running it on the ground at high throttle for about a half gallon to "break it in" ... all the while being told that gas engines don't require this. Very frustrating. My son wants to put a six gallon container on it and run it until it's gone. We really struggled last weekend trying to use DA's recommendations. I finally quit flying ... and got tired of taking the cowling off to adjust. I need to incorporate a good method of reaching the needles from outside the cowling. They are way inside. |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
JBrannon
Agreed ... their support has been good ... I sure do hope they find the problem. Other than just doing as my son said .... attaching a six gallon container to it and running at full throttle until it's gone ... I don't know what to do. But it is encouraging that they have seen the same problem and are working on it. If they get a good one and a bad one side by side ... maybe they will find something ! Thanks for your support ... and Keep us posted ! |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
ORIGINAL: MustangFan JBrannon Agreed ... their support has been good ... I sure do hope they find the problem. Other than just doing as my son said .... attaching a six gallon container to it and running at full throttle until it's gone ... I don't know what to do. Bit it is encouraging that they have seen the same problem and are working on it. If they get a good one and a bad one side by side ... maybe they will find something ! Thanks for your support ... and Keep us posted ! Wiz |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
ORIGINAL: MustangFan Jemo You must admit ... some of the responses have been a little degrading. We have been called neophytes, some have been highly critical of our tuning abilities ... some have even "implied" the problem doesn't exist ... it's just us. But if you have one of these problem engines ... and have used "conventional" tuning practices, you will be very discouraged after spending hours thinking you don't know what your doing. Not to mention the anxiety of trying to fly the beast with a less than perfect running engine. I even tried running it on the ground at high throttle for about a half gallon to "break it in" ... all the while being told that gas engines don't require this. Very frustrating. My son wants to put a six gallon container on it and run it until it's gone. We really struggled last weekend trying to use DA's recommendations. I finally quit flying ... and got tired of taking the cowling off to adjust. I need to incorporate a good method of reaching the needles from outside the cowling. They are way inside. |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
I use Chevron 87 octane and Lawnboy ashless mixed @(i think!) 32:1.
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Maybe someone who is having this problem with their engine could remove it from their plane and run it on a test stand mounted to a sawhorse or something. Then try to bump the sawhorse on the ground in an effort to duplicate the problem. Why do that? Maybe in some installations the rear mounted carb is seeing an unusual air pressure inside the cowl.....close to the firewall???
I dunno....just trying to make some sugestions. I'm still a week or so away from doing anything with my DA 50. Wiz |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
We thought about the carb/firewall clearance thing and ran the plane with the cowl and canoppy off so we could see that the carb was competely unobstructed and had 2 inches of space. If it was a fuel/oil mix thing I think DA would know what would fix it and tell us exactly what oil, what fuel, and what ratio to mix them at.
Joe |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
ORIGINAL: JBrannon We thought about the carb/firewall clearance thing and ran the plane with the cowl and canoppy off so we could see that the carb was competely unobstructed and had 2 inches of space. If it was a fuel/oil mix thing I think DA would know what would fix it and tell us exactly what oil, what fuel, and what ratio to mix them at. Joe It certainly is odd that some people are having trouble while others are not. Maybe a comparison of serial numbers of those that work to those that don't would reveal something about a particular production run. Again, just grabbing at straws.... Wiz |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
SharksTooth
Something like what I was thinking .... but I didn't think about nyrod ... thanks for the suggestion. I'm just not sure how I would mount the nyrod over that distance. I don't think I want to mount it to the cowl. But I definitely need an external access. |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
MustangFan
Jemo You must admit ... some of the responses have been a little degrading. We have been called neophytes, some have been highly critical of our tuning abilities ... some have even "implied" the problem doesn't exist ... it's just us. I know where you are coming from. I could very well see what you guys were up against. My posts were just to relay any info I could, not to rub it in or be critical.. At the time I wasn't sure if I was going to have a problem. I most certainly believe it exists and if it were a simple mixture adjustment you guys would have had it solved. I tried to duplicate the problem just to see what I might learn from it, I could not get mine to do it..............I hope it stays that way. |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Sharkstooth, I too wanted to keep my cowl clean. Well, I got tired of taking the cowl off. Here is how I solved my problem. First off, the needles are easy to see through the front cowl air intake (use a small flashlight). I drilled a 1/8" hole in the cowl right were I had a decal. Can't even see the hole unless you really look for it. A small six inch screwdriver fits perfectly. Now life is good. [8D]
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Jemo
Thanks ... and I'm glad you don't have the problem ... that means it IS fixable. I'm chilling out now. It's been real frustrating to say the least. JBrannon has explained it best ... I am in no way giving up ... just knowing it WILL go away is comforting. I also have too much invested ... $677.00 with engine and DA Pitts muffler. Knowing that others have experienced this, and DA is working on it, also helps. Everone stay on top of this until it's solved ! |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Well guy's i just want to keep an eye on this thread. i just put a DA 50 on my patty and will be takin it up here in the next couple of week's.
Hoping not to have the same problem. I'll keep ya posted:D |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
I just took a NIB DA50 apart...The reed cage is square, doesn't look like any place for fuel to puddle, except for 2 small holes in the nylon reed holder..I tapped both holes for 6-32 setscrews and filled up the holes..There's no reason for this to work, but maybe when the engine is in a plane we can see if it does...Upright and inverted engines show the same relationship to the reed.....The carb is originally from an Echo and has a pulse fitting in the back cover, with no way for the pulse to leak....The pulse hole in the carb insulator block is below the reeds, so there's no obstruction there....I guess it's one of those things that can't happen, but does...:D
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Hi every one! I was following this thread from the beginning. I'm wondering, because some of you guy's have absolutelly no problems and then the rest have the problems. Could it be a bad run (manufacturing) of defective reed valves. Not so much as physical or visual problems of the reed valves but a materials defect. ie. too soft, too hard, too rigid or flexible. Try replacing the reed valves from another guys DA which doesnt have this problem into the other engine which does have this problem and see if the problem goes away.
Just my thought / suggestion. Try it and let everyone know. Gunny |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Nobody has mentioned them yet; but i would be interested in what your needle settings are and where you are in the breakin process. I have about 4-5 gallons through mine the needles are: Low- slightly less than 1 turn; High- about 2.5. thanks
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
BHunn3
Does your engine exhibit the problems noted ?? DA set my needles at low 1 1/4 high 1 5/8 .... didn't work. I'm guessing if I do as I did last year my needles will be low 1.0 or less .... high 2.0+. Almost 4 gallons of gas used. After I adjusted the low needle very lean ( would quit if opened very quickly ... eliminated by using throttle delay ) the engine idled better and quit LESS. I also set up high/low idle's to help with flying vs landing ( it quit on landing). |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
A few facts about needles..
Needles are tapered shafts screwed into holes in a carb.. Modern machining methods are very precise, however----A carb body is a casting, and not exactly the same every time. The needle is threaded, and there is no guarantee the threads will start, relative to the taper , on every needle... The little hole that the taper fits into is drilled into the casting at the end of a threaded hole ..There is no way to start the threads exactly the same on each carb casting... There is no exact way to determine the position of the needle, your 1/8 turn may not be the same as my 1/8 turn..THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY TO TELL THAT 1 TURN OPEN IS THE CORRECT SETTING..LEARN TO ADJUST YOUR OWN CARB NEEDLES, DON'T RELY ON THE "FACTORY" SETTING, IT CAN NOT POSSIBLY PREDICT HOW YOUR ENGINE WILL BE USED..[8D] |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
RCIGN1
Agreed ! However my "Factory Setting" was actually set when I sent my engine back for them to evaluate ( because it quit running and would not start). They ran the engine and set the needles, after replacing ignition module, bearings and crankshaft, then called and informed me of the results. I think we are just trying to get an idea where everyone is ... I hope everyone knows that fuel, atmospheric conditions, oil content and tolerances will vary settings from engine to engine. However, the guys at my field using other gas engines say once set ... they are not adjusting very often if at all. I for one am not worring about 1/8 turns ... just ball park. Remember, DA told me my setting were "Way Out" ... however last weekend proved my settings worked better than what they instructed me to do. Arizona vs Michigan ????? Everyone is just trying to help ! |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Yes, I'm aware of all the variables, just think it would be nice to know if one guy is flying at 2 and someone else at 1. And yes, I did have the problem until just recently It has gone away as I got to about 4 gallons and leaner settings. I can't remember what my start settings were; but my low end is in a 1/2 turn or more from were it started.
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
BHunn3
Great !!! There is hope for all of us. As you know I have almost 4 gallons thru mine now ... but most of the running has been at 1/2 throttle ... maybe that has delayed my "Break-In". I think (hope) that I soon will have a good running engine. I do believe I'm close! Some of my delay is the fact that I had two electronic modules go bad ... the second one I believe degraded slowly until it eventually quit ... causing me to send the entire engine back to DA for a look see ( end of season). |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
Just curious, if you have this problem what exhaust are you using.
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
For the guys that are having problem with you DA engines, when where they bought? I know this may seem like a weird question but as you all know this engine does not site on anybody RC shelf for very long. May'be if we can track down the time you guys all bought the engine may'be we can come up with why only certain DA 50 exhibit this characteristics:)
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RE: Does your DA50 do this?
newshound;
You may have hit on something. My first gallon or so was on the standard DA muffler. When I put it on the CE I switched over to a slimline pitts and thats when my problem started. When I had the problem I started over and turned the needles out 1 1/2 turns each and started over. The low speed is just a hair over 1 turn out and the hi speed is about 1 5/8th now. For rgreen24, I have #72. First run. |
RE: Does your DA50 do this?
:DMine is #132 I don't think the number has anything to do with this problem. If you will look at the post's of the people that have HAD this problem they all have ran at least 5-6 gallons and have switched to synthetic oil and have leaned the engine out. the probable cause that DA reports of fuel pooling in the reed block area is the most probable explanation of the problem. how many engines have you had that ran the same first run to the last, they just don't! all engines benefit from BREAK-IN, and gassers are no exception, DA or not. look at the way this engine is made, it has very little case area, compared to other gassers. this will make it behave different than the ones that you are used to running. DON'T give up on this engine, mine now after almost 9 gallons runs flawlessly. Idle is nice and stable no matter how I throw it around in the air or on landings it won't quit. hope this helps somebody. Rick
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