evolution .46 glo plug ?
 

i have a evolution .46 whats a good replacement glo plug ? i use 10% FUEL

It depends on your nitro content, compression ratio, altitude etc etc, A good place to start is a hot plug like the Merlin 2003HD, or a medium like the Merlin 2002. If the medium will work for you it will allow you to use less fuel than the hot and potentially make more power .

The Evolutions need a hot plug. The 46 needs a plug no cooler than the OS A3 to run right and get the most power out of the fuel. Otherwise you end up with an engine that likes to stumble and just won't turn the rpms. It will always start sounding too wet and will try to die on you the first time you ease the throttle up after removing the glow igniter. Sure sign of too cool glow plugs on these engines. It is a very good engine that puts out a lot of power compared to other 46's. I've not used a Merlin plug, but the older Tower plugs were hot enough. The newer Tower plugs didn't work as well and I stopped using them. Saito SS and OS F plugs are too cold. The Evo 46 should take a low speed needle tuning where it can idle for 30 seconds and take the throttle shoved wide open with barely a stumble or hesitation. It should just start screaming. I've only run 15% in them.

In swapping out TT and 46FX engines with the Evo 46, the Evolution was the strongest by a long shot. Also, I tried Zingers, MA's, and APCS and the APC 11x7 seemed the best by a large margin. The APC 12.25x3.75 is a stump pulling prop if you have a 46 sized model for hovering.

The old A3 is called a #6 now. Merlin is my number 1 brand, they are made in Chicago. :cool: I have no first hand experience with Evolutions but my friend Bruce seems pleased with them. I did help him run one last week and it seemed to run well.

I've bought 8 or 9 new Evolution 46s and ran them. I have a 45 and 36 too. I've fooled around with the 40 Alpha and 52.

I still call the #6 an A3 because they were still packaged as A3s a year after the name change. I guess OS got around to changing the labels.

I picked up an Evolution 46 today, needs new bearings, I went to install the new rear and I messed up the bearing retainer, Doh !!!
So I have to wait for Boca Bearings to ship me one. I do like the chrome liner which looks good despite the obvious heavy use this engine has had, and total lack of preventive maintenance telling by all the rust. So in a couple of days I should have some first hand experience with a typical Evolution glow engine.

If it will idle good and low, it still has plenty of life left in it. Long live the chromed liners.

It came to me in a big plastic bag so I cant comment on how good the compression is. :rolleyes:

The compression is a side thought. What I was hinting at is high time ABC engines' liners tend to get bell mouthed on the bottom and this leads to crappy idle quality. If the engine will idle decent, it has reasonable life left in it. Though new parts are likely still available for your engine for a reasonable price so it should be a good deal either way. Rescuing a beat up abused engine can be rewarding though.

Free is free baby,,,,,, well kinda free, long story. Felt sorry for him and gifted him a half built plane that somebody gave me would have sat in my garage till my dad destroyed it with a ladder or the mice ate it something. He crashed his.

The Evolution branded bearings are dirt cheap too. I got mine from Advantage Hobby.

All of the 46s I've seen came with a lot of pinch out of the box. My first one has a lot of time on it.

All mine come from Boca , for obvious reasons. :cool:

Update.
Installed the new BOCA bearing , did it right this time. Reassembled it and fired it up using some SIG 15% Champion and an idle bar plug.
Nice engine, got it to idle down to 2000/1900 easy peezy good transition and good power. Then switched to an OS #7 plug just for giggles and still got a good steady idle and 12,000 rpm with an 11X6 MA 3 series running plenty rich. Seems like a decent engine , I rate it higher than the typical Magnum that I have tested (but understanding that this is just one example of an Evolution so my sampling rate is much smaller than my Magnum rate) but I would not buy it over a similar Thunder Tiger based on my experience. Although it does have the cool fin design.

The Evo ABC is a better liner than the ABN TT. Don't get me wrong, TT makes fine engines. But I would opt for the true ABC engine which is actually stronger than the TT generally. That's just me though. Nonetheless, a cheap/freebie engine that runs is a good engine.

Personally I like TT cabs a little better, they seem a little more refined. I use them on other off brand engines to make them run good.

I concur, TT does have good 2-needle carbs no doubt.

I think the 46NT has more power over the TT or 46FX because I tried all 3 in a model. The Evo feels more like a 55 compared to the other two. Again, you have to use a hot plug to burn all of the fuel air mixture effectively. About half the people who talk about Evolution engines don't believe this. I picked up a $20 46NT last year from an owner who gave up. Guess what plug was in it when I opened the box. An 8.

I don't know if I got one to idle that low. To be honest, I never checked these past 7 or 8 years. I really don't idle my 4 strokes below 2000 even though they will, but while sounding neat they will quit from time to time such as on long approaches. What the Evo carb will do is idle for 30 seconds and then take WOT opened as fast as possible. That is something I can use when flying. I don't fool with pinch tests or holding the nose up. I just use my watch and idle for half a minute and listen to what it does when shoved wide open. The Evo carbs are good enough to tune off of that test and then go fly without ever worrying about power or deadsticks.

I got a lucky in being able to compare 6 of these engines when the boss at my part time job had me buy 6 46NTs.

Jeffie, what are the obvious reasons for Boca bearings? I'm missing out on what you mean.

blw I am a sponsored Team member with BOCA. :D
I find myself flying with idle speeds around 2300 to 2400 for the most part regardless of 2 or 4 stroke. I find if I idle lower my planes want to stall too fast on final.

My tach readings show my Evo to be average for all the good brands I have tested, there is really only so much that can be done and still have a tractable engine. The engine companies have it pretty well sorted out these days.
For some reason the local experts at my club are sold on the #8 plug and think its the only plug worth using in everything. In fact a friend gave(traded) me an engine he couldn't get to idle and transition which the "experts" at the field were helping him with.
I took it home, took out the #8 plug, installed a hot plug and it runs perfect.
I told him what I did and he looked either pissed or as if he didn't believe me, not sure which.

I was comparing flying power. In the air performance. The guy who built the often-crashed model gave it to me, so I would let him hover it when I swapped engines. Pull out power is a fair test. Overall, the Evo pulled the model around far with more power and authority in the air. I also had the engine on another model and it was obvious on the takeoff roll. I hardly ever tach the top end. Maybe on the bench when breaking in. Otherwise, it's all about top end in the air.

Yeah, that is pretty obvious, huh? Duh. Boca sponsored. Buy Boca for obvious reasons. I get it now.

I would have to say that for the most part when it comes to 2 stroke engines I have been running either an OS# 8 or Enya # 3. I did look at Merlin plugs but oddly enough I only have 4 strokes in the hangar these days.

The OS 8 is not as hot as the Enya 3, and I believe it is 1-2 threads shorter than the Enya plug. I think the McCoy MC55 is the hottest plug I've used, but the 59's are more readily available and are long reach (as are most McCoy plugs) I use the 59's in most of my engines that take a long plug and have very few troubles with them. I've given a few away to guys that use OS plugs (#6 and 8's) that had troubles getting their engines to run right. The 59 perked them right up. I use the Enya 3's in my Enya's, specifically the 4-strokes. If the Merlin plugs were cheaper, I'd consider using them. I usually pay 5-6$ apiece for the Enya 3's or McCoy mc59's.

QWK, you just jogged my memory. For our racing series we have to be able to idle down below 4,000. For the first heat I would use the Enya 3 as that is the only time the idle was verified. Then I would switch to the OS 8 to gain a little more top end. If it got hotter then 90 that day I would switch to an MC59. Obviously in regards to this post it was overkill.

While it is true that colder plugs give better top end performance, the idle quality is not as stable by comparison to a hot plug. In the models I run, idle quality is far more important than top end performance. Some engines don't transition well if idled too fast (or conversely too slow). When I finally get flying, my thoughts may change some.

When coming in on final and you decide to abort a bad landing for some reason you need to be able to throttle up without stalling. It is horrible when you are at low altitude with no airspeed no engine power a bad approach and no options. Hot plugs and idle bars can be a big help.
That is why I champion the most reliable engines possible for beginners even if they have to give up a little horsepower.

That is the trouble Evolutions have with OS 8 range plugs, they load up quickly and have a hard time burning off the fuel. They can be very hard to throttle up after cranking. I had to nurse the throttle up, ease off, nudge it up some more, etc until it finally would run. You can tune a lot of that out with a meticulously set low speed needle, which you need to do anyway. But, it still needs a hotter plug. I'm going to try a MC 59 the next time I see one. I'm slowly getting away from 2 strokes.