kingkiley

Today(Saturday) I found out that the fuel tank had a crack in it, richt along where the tubes go throug.

This was before my crash, the reason I khow this is becase when I first fueled up the tank and tipped the plane forward fuel ran out. Being new to this I did'nt think of it.

Now however, I found out that the fuel had soaked the foam around the reciever and the reciver itself.

I cleaned up the excess fuel as best as I cuuld and let the reciever and battery pack dry off.
But when I turned on the transmitter and then the airplane the servos went all jittery on me. I had let the system charge up for 24 hours so that can't be the problem.
My question is, I think the fuel fried out the reciever and/or the servos.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

When servos jitter, try stepping back a few feet with the antenna collapsed.

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

Yes, hopefully your Tx is just to close to the Rx and is 'swamping' it. If you stand back a few feet and it still happens, I'd do a full range test outdoors to determine if it's shot.
Dennis-

kingkiley

Yeah, I'm going to try the step back a couple of feet from the plane test



If the receiver does in fact turn out to be shot. I hope that since I just bought the plane I can have them replace them for free.

I have a j line quatro radio and associated servos that came with it. If I have to replace the reciever and three servos myself, is it something that would be somewhat inexspensive?

Can I order a reciever that would have the same freq as my transmitter(might be a stupid question but what the heck).

One last thing, I installed a new fuel tank myself and when I put in the brass fuel lines that it came with. I made the top hole for the fuel intake, the one that has the klunker attached to it. The lower hole is for the vent tube. Does this make a difference?

Kiley

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

If stepping back doesn't help, I would be inclined to... (now don't do this yet until we hear from a few reciever experts) open the reciever, and rinse it off with alcohol, let dry, and try it again.

Waddya guys think? Will alcohol hurt the Rx?

A replacement reciever will run you about $60-$80 and yes, you can get them in your freq.

The lines don't really matter where they go into the tank, as long as the feed line can swing side to side, and top to bottom, and the vent line (inside the tank) reaches the top of the tank.

kingkiley

Ok, I turned the tx on and the rx in the plane.Steppmed back a couple of feet and the jittering went away. So, that must be a good thing.

After replacing the fuel tank I fueled up the plane and found that it still leaks! I'm really getting frustrated at this since I have not even flown the plane yet! With all the fuel that has leaked into the fuselage will it be like one big fire bomb (since the balsa wood soaked up so much fuel) if something goes wrong and there's a spark where there shouldn't be one?


I already took out the engine once, to replace the fuel tank. Seemed like the only way to get it out. I guess I have to do it again. This time though what I'll do it try fueling it up outside the plane and see if it leaks then.


I tank that I bought is a Sullivan RST style 10 ounce, is that the right one? When I took the old one to the store it was the closest match.

Could it be leaking by the rubber stopper? How would I know if I had it properly installed?

Kiley

Devo

The bad thing about fuel leaking inside the fuselage is not so much a fire hazard, but it softens and weakens the wood. You need to dry out the fuselage as much as possible.

Instead of filling the tank with fuel to check for leaks, hold it under water and blow into it and watch for bubbles. This is a lot less messy and it makes it easier to pinpoint exactly where the tank or fittings are leaking

DMyer

My Feedback: (2)

You don't need to fill the tank with fuel outside the plane to test it. A better way is to place the tank under water and pressurize it with air... block off the vent and blow through fill tube(manually by mouth is AOK). No bubbles... no leaks... gauranteed! You can also just pressurize it with air and clamp it off... release the clamp after 60 seconds... if pressure was still present in tank... good tank and stopper seal. I'll be honest... I never test my new tanks. I have never had a leak on a good quality tank like Sullivan, Dubro, Hayes, Tetra(bubbleless bladder) etc. I have had a problem with a cheap no-name tank that came with my kids ARF trainer several years ago. Good luck.

P.S. - If your receiver did get full soaked... even if it works AOK... I would open it up and examine it for fuel contamination. If it is dry and clean... no need to ever be worried... if fuel is on the inside... I would clean it with either a de-natured alcohol or an electronics cleaning spray.

jmc012

My Feedback: (2)

This wouldn't happen to be an Alpha Trainer ? This seems to be a very common problem on this plane. The good news is Horizon seems to have really good customer service, so far they have sent a tank and a fuselage, suppose to have a new receiver coming also. I made some modifications on it for a du-bro tank, I wouldn't consider using another hanger-9 tank.
Jim

kingkiley

Jim,

Yeah, it's a Alpha Trainer. This is the second fuel tank. The first one that came with the plane had a crack right where the two halves of the fuel tank were put togethr, by the rubber stopper end.


Rather than sending back for a new fuel tank, I decided to go out and buy own myself at the local hobby shop. Only cost me 5 bucks.

The problem I had when I installed the new tank I had left the brass tube for the fuel line too long and it must have hit the front brace in the nose. What happend was that the brass tubing got kinked and that cut the fuel line hose(right where the fuel line tubing had been slid over the bass tubing).

I opened up the reciver and found no fuel traces in there. So, that's really good news to hear.


But, all of this should not have happened the first time around, if Horizon had put in a decent fuel tank.


Kiley

jmc012

My Feedback: (2)

Kiley
I've talked to a few people and all had the exact same problem. I know exactly how you feel, other than that I like the plane. E-mail their tech support and tell them you want a new fuselage and receiver because it was fuel soaked. They didn't argue with me and agreed to send them, so I feel better about the whole deal. I don't know why they keep using those sorry fuel tanks. I sure won't use another on.
Jim

jmc012

My Feedback: (2)

Kiley

By the way, I've been flying it with no problems even though the receiver and fuselage got a good soaking.
Jim

kingkiley

Hey Jim,

When you had to re-install all of the servos and linkage and such, was it a really big deal to do?



Makes me wonder why the use the junky tank if they know it will fail?


Can you give me any hints as to how to make sure the motor placement and thorttle linkage are correct?

One last thing, di you remeber who you e-mailed at Horizon?

Kiley

jmc012

My Feedback: (2)

Kiley

I'm still using the old fuselage, I'm just going to keep the new one for a backup, but it would be easy to change the servo's and motor. The holes for the engine mounts are there along with he mounts for the servo's and linkage. I bet it could be done in 30 minutes or so easily. I believe the tanks crack because they don't have a cap over them for support, just a rubber plug. Here's a good article on fuel tanks:
http://www.airfieldmodels.com/engines_fuel_system.htm
Also here's how I e-mailed them:
[email protected]

Hope this helps.
Jim

DMyer

My Feedback: (2)

"I believe the tanks crack because they don't have a cap over them for support, just a rubber plug."


Sullivan doesn't use a cap either, just a stopper, yet, they never fail(at least for me)... I suspect inferior plastics and molding processes is to blame in the quest to save 25 cents of unit production cost.


Dan

jmc012

My Feedback: (2)

"Sullivan doesn't use a cap either, just a stopper, yet, they never fail(at least for me)... I suspect inferior plastics and molding processes is to blame in the quest to save 25 cents of unit production cost. "

Dan, you may be right. These tanks are without a doubt inferior.
I was reading on the net somewhere that the cap is the way to go. I'm pretty new at this so I can't really say from experience.

kingkiley

Ok


Repalced the tank with a Sullivan tank. No leaks no bubbles when I put it under water and blew in to the fuel line while plugging the air vent line.

So, I must have a decent fuel tank now.


I still have a problem with the batteries, when the transmitter indicators show just the red/yellow leds(on the jr reciver) does that include the battery pack in the plane?


What's the voltage that I should expect from the battery pack(fully charged).


Kiley

DBCherry

My Feedback: (4)

The Transmitter (Tx) LED's have nothing to do with the Rx pack. Get a voltage meter, preferably one that puts a load on the pack. Plug it into the Rx pack and it will tell you when the pack is getting low.

A fully charged Rx pack should register about 5.4 volts. I don't fly if my Rx pack is below 5.0 volts, but know others who let them get down to 4.8 before they quit. That's pushing your luck, because once the pack gets to 4.8, the voltage starts dropping off real quick.

The Tx pack usually gives you about 11.2 volts hot off the charger, but it'll drop to 10.8 or so very soon.

Don't push your luck with the batteries, it's not worth it. If you need more duration, buy larger capacity packs, or bring extras with you.
Dennis-

jmc012

My Feedback: (2)

Kiley
One thing I found out about the transmitter when the high LED goes off, land ASAP and recharge. Mine just has a few minutes left of power when that happens.