AeroFinn

BJ64

...and... after a litre or two of Finlandia... you don't really care what anything smells like anyways... LoL

Say... do you ever get to meet the Ringebu boys??

What an absolute HOOT that bunch is

BJ

AeroFinn

BJ,
Do you refer to "Rinkeby" suburb & the associated subculture in Stockholm, Sweden?

I'm a afraid I'm not in that good physical health I could make it to meet the locals & go out with them

Besides, we Finns have a reputation of trouble makers in Rinkeby..

BJ64

No no... I mean "rcgutt" on YouTube.

Ringebu, Norway: https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=ri...&ved=0CIsBELYD

Sorry to hear that your health isn't all that flash - hope you get well soon, mate

BJ

Carosel43

Don't look at me, I have plenty on my plate as it is! that said I think there is room on the 400 pistons for another ring. it probably wouldn't be hard to do. But anyway I have enough going on right now with 3 prototypes in hand and 3 on the drawing board.

Not to mention a maintenance list for my models that's as long as my arm, and a list of half finished models as long as my leg!

I do however like BJ's idea of fuelling the engines with high % hooch. that way if its all gone wrong you can just drink the fuel and forget all about it!

BJ64

Well - I picked my 'spanners' up today.

Actually, they're not all that bad. They look like chrome-plated drop-forged jobbies and not those really weak flat steel ones, so they should be ok. The 'ring spanner' ends look a bit suss - just have to go carefully with them to see if they're the "round the corners off the nut" type. Or the "break the spanner" type [X(]

And they're rather unusually paired in sizes. Like a 4.5 mm ring end on a 5mm spanner end, and a 5mm ring end on a 4.5mm spanner end. I thought "yeh... that'd be right... silly Chinese engineering here". But then I thought about it - it's quite ingenious after all. Each spanner in the range has the ring end +/- 0.5mm to the jaw end. That way, you always have a ring and jaw on separate spanners so that you can hold with one, and tighten with the other.

Clevah lil buggers

I still might see if I can get a set of Sears ones - bloke can't have too many tools And they look a bit more solid than my ones. Shall have to see what the postage is like.

But, for now, I've got what I need to do my valve clearances now. Happy happy happy.

Darn, 0.1mm sure is a small gap - can't imagine how fine 0.04mm must be to adjust...

BJ

PS - ok... checked out the Sears spanners. Now that I have seen the close-up pic, they're the same spanners as the ones I bought today - just with different branding. My price was AUD$17.90 for the 10pc set. Sears price - AUD$23.30. Postage (wait for it) AUD$37.10. Are they kidding me? The kit is smaller than a 20 pack of cigarettes, and weighs less than a mobile phone. *eeeeeeesh*

retransit

My Feedback: (18)

If you thought your postage is bad, I ordered a Sears belt sander drive belt and the postage for that item was 50% of the cost of the belt, and I live three miles from a large Sears store.

Bob

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

It may seem unrealistic, but it is the genuine specification.

Carosel43

My 400 is now safely back in one piece and back in the model. all in all things have gone well, although my fool proof system of little pots has failed me and I have misplaced one of the intake tube bolts. bit annoying but im sure I can find a replacement. other than that the only drama was two rounded off rocker adjusting nuts (I think they were made of the stuff they use for making those stress ball things) which means cyl 3 has less than perfect valve clearances. to be fair the other 4 pots are not great, I got tired of chasing the clearances and so left them all at an 'about right' setting.

If the rain stops for the weekend I will certainly run it up and try to fly. I will also get photos of the new lubrication holes and post them for you guys to see.

Heli-NuBee

I am making more progress on my ASP 400 radial engine powered CMP Zero. It is nearing completion and should be ready for first engine runs in the near future. I completed installing the radio componets and the batteries today, adjusted the control throws and also checked the retracts before I glued the retract inserts into place. My luck continues to follow me though, because one of the retracts quit operating as soon as the inserts were glued into place. Oh well, I just have to have a few challenges in every build I do.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

kahloq

Nice

BJ64

Finally doing the 'valve clearance' thing.

Bit of luck, she'll be bolted back up on the test-bench tomorrow and I can cough and splutter on some engine fumes...

BJ

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

We want video!

Heli-NuBee

My ASP 400 radial engine powered CMP Zero is now ready for engine break-in runs. I pre-oiled the engine well. First I removed the valve rocker covers on all five cylinders and oiled the valve train well. I also placed oil in the crankcase vent and hung the engine nose down. Oil was seeping from the front prop bearing and the valve push rod tubes. I rotated the engine frequently to insure that oil was distributed through out the engine. I sure hope that the engine is now well lubed and I don't have any premature faliures due to lack of lubrication. I noticed that the valve train was quite dry so I'm sure it was wise to do the pre-lube. I still have a problem with one of the ESM electric retracts though. The motor runs continously and nothing happens. There does not appear to be any way to disassemble the retract so I guess I will have to return it to TBM.

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

BJ64

Well... I got it all back together again, lubed each top-end with an eyedropper full of motor oil (I would have used Castor if I had any), shot a good dose of WD40 in through my new nose-cone oiler port, and flicked the starter.

Va va voom!

She fired nice and easy and I ran a small tank of fuel through it, reving every now and then, before the light started to fade.

I'll do a bit of an inspectoin on it in the light of day tomorrow.

For now, all's sweet

I'm still running mega-rich - 3 full turns on the needle.

I think I may have asked this before, but how do you know how lean to run it for max performance without running it too lean?

BJ

Carosel43

BJ you just have to judge it. when leaning out it will pick up but eventually will start sounding hard. It drops off quite a bit when you go too lean. if its holding good rpm then you are more than likely safe, especially as your lean runs will only be for 15 seconds max for the first gallon of fuel. And even then how often do you fly at full beans? Also 3 turns is not mega rich on this engine. I have had mine out to 4 easy in the past, I forget my flying setting...I will check it later

Anyway my engine is all back together and the glow battery is on charge. My next post should be telling you how excellent my days flying was....either that, or it will tell you how many spares I need this time!

BJ64

Thx Caro.

...and I'm sure we're gonna here good things.. no... 'brilliant' things from your days flying with your ASP

BJ

Carosel43

ITDIDNTEXPLODE all the wiggly bits are still connected and seem to be happy. I have no idea how long the Loctite will hold on to the bearings but for the moment all seems well. Below is a pic of the new oil nipple and oil hole in the front housing (blanked off with am m3 grub screw)



When running a fair amount of oil comes out of the new nipple so I will add a pipe to keep it off the model. I also found (when oiling the engine at idle) that there is in fact quite a bit of pressure from that nipple. As such I have changed my recommendation regarding the drain nipple in the bottom. If you mod your engine like myself and BJ then close it, if you don't mod it then it should probably be open. I think my current setup is how the original OS was when the instructions were written.

Anyway, just to prove it did work, heres a video sorry it cuts out, memory card was full

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sfTT...ature=youtu.be

BJ64

Schweet, Caro - toldya she'd be a winner

I didn't end up doing the extra nipple between cyls 1 & 5 - just the nose-cone one.

No idea yet how well it worked out - will have to pull the nose off eventually to find out. But I'm more than convinced that sucker has a bellyfull of the good stuff. Might even try a fuel hose off the front and blocking the standard nipple under the back of the motor just to see if anything comes out of it - like "flow through" ventilation.

Annnyhoo... I did a couple of post-run checks, and I noticed the when I turn it over by hand now, only 3 cylinders really jolt over... the next two are rather namby-pamby. One of them gives a half-arsed flick, the other barely complains at all. i.e. the compression on these two cylinders seems to be a lot less than the other 3. Haven't been able to identify exactly which 2 cyls it is yet, but it's quite noticeable - and I can repeat it every time by where the prop is.

Wonder if there's some sort of issue?

I plan to run another couple of small tanks of juice through it, then check a few things again - like the valve clearances. I set everything up at 0.1mm (0.004") as a starting point - and that wasn't all that easy to do. e.g. it would be a tight-ish fit... and I'd move the rocker arm along its shaft (pretty sloppy and loose as a dick in a shirtsleeve on some of them), and the clearance changed from tight to loose.

I think another couple of gentle runs might help to bed thngs in before I go around the valve clearances again...

BJ

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Excellent news BJ! Congrats on it starting and running!

Jon, as always your engine sounds great in the air. Pisser the video cut out.

Although I keep my engine shining like the crown jewels, I have to admire the look of your engine. It looks 'real'. A real radial in service is always a bit oily and grungy looking. So yours looks very good.

SrTelemaster150

I recently got an e-mail from Adrian (CH Ignitions)

He will soon have sngle module, single hall sensor CDI for 5 & 7 cylinder radials. Similar to the sytem used on the new Saito FG84 3 cylinder radial gas engine, but W/an easier to set up/adjust set screw applied trigger magnet ring.

Get 5% or more additional HP while using 20% less fuel.

Easier starting, lower reliable idle RPM & all around better user friendliness. No more dropped cylinders & the system is not any bulkier or much more in price than a quality on board glow sytem W/vastly improved relibility.

Nitro can be eliminated completely W/O affectig user friendlyness.

Carosel43

BJ you and are in the same boat with the rockers. its why I gave up with mine and left them ina more or less ok state. you are not alone in having differing compression on your pots though, mine has 2 gooduns, 1 is pretty good, 1 is 'meh' and one is...well I assume its there but if it is I cant find it! some extra rpm will help bash the valves into the seats and bed in the rings.

Tom, my engine looks like a dog, I mean honestly its a right state. what you are admiring there is laziness of the highest calibre! But, in flight she was sounding pretty happy and the performance was good.After the camera gave upIeven let my young 14yr old student/camera man(bloody brilliant pilot considering his experience) have a crack at it and he was very surprised by the range of throttle required to keep the rpm constant and the general weight of the model through maneuvers. It was a shock to him that I manage to make the model do what it does!

If the weather is kind tomorrow I may take her out again.

oh and by the way, oiling through the new nipple with the engine running at idleworks well as you can tell the oil is getting around by the smoke/smell from pots 3 and 4. when they start puffing white smoke you can call it lubed and shut it down!

Heli-NuBee

Hey Carosel43, thanks for sharing the video of your engine run and flight. I had the good fortune of running my ASP 400 five cylinder radial engine for the first time today. The engine started easy and ran quite well. I managed to get a full hour of run time today. The engine is running pretty well and I am not sure how much more break-in time will be necessary before beginning to fly the CMP Zero. Here is a short video on one of the latter engine runs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u06n...ature=youtu.be

Best wishes and good safe flying.

Heli-NuBee (AKA Roger the radial rabbit)

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Nice!!

tim750r

BJ, I'd use a tacho - tune for peak rpm, then back it off richer 100-200 rpm. In my experience, 2 strokes are easy to tune by ear, but by the time most people hear a 4 stroke glow going 'hard', its well past the optimum point and in the danger zone. Oh, and adjust a little bit at a time, then pause to see what changes.

Hope that helps.