Does that mean my engine if fuel locked when I try to start it and the starter will not turn? I mean it will turn, then all of a sudden it gets stuck. Its like it wants to turn, then it turns a little, and gets stuck then unstuck then stuck again. When I leave it alone for a bit, it gets unstuck, then it gets stuck again when I try to start the engine. I think it is fuel locked. But how do I prevent this from happening? How do you prevent a fuel lock because I am not doing anything different than I always do.

Christopher G.

Someone else chime in hre if I am wrong...

It could be one of two things...

1. If you are hydrolocking it with fuel. Pull the glow plug and see
if it will turn freely. If it does it will spit out the fuel out of the
open glow plug hole.

2. Check to see if the engine fan has backed off the threads. If it has loosened
It could be just at the point of riding on the clutch bell and allowing some turning
before catching. You will need to pull the engine and check the fan.


Be careful if you are seeing fuel locking as the fuel could serve to bend the con rod
and other components.

Good luck..

It's very easy to hydaulic a heli engine due to it's mounting position, any excess fuel runs into the crankcase.

Before I got a proper fueling valve fitted, I always used to remove the pipe from the carb and fill from there so that no fuel went into the engine till I was ready to start it and if it was going to be stood for a while I always stand it "nose high" to prevent syphoning.

I start the heli by blocking the exhaust outlet whilst turning the engine with the starter. This way you can see the fuel get to the carb inlet and release the exhaust as it starts, but only with a cold engine.

Like has been said before, remove the plug and spin the motor...don't keep trying to turn an engine that is difficult to turn........damage WILL occur.

If it is fuel locked, you really need to know why it is. Is it your fuelling technique or is it the tank position. It shouldn't happen unless there's something wrong.

The other thing is your battery and starter. If your field battery isn't good it could just be not enough "Ummmmph".

Thanks so much! You two helped a lot! That is one of the things I always want to know is why and how a fuel lock occurs. I know I am still having engine difficulties. Setting the engine up is to me, the hardest part of this whole thing. Last summer I had issues with it losing power and getting too hot. I know I don't have the propper air fuel mixture and am just having a time trying to get that. People have told me that I need to see a certain amount of smoke coming out of it and I have smoke coming out, but not as much as I should. I have never had the amount of smoke that I should. I have had sooooooooooooooooooo much practice now on the flight sim. I am ready to see the real thing, but man! That engine is just such a pain sometimes. When I think I've got it, its like it says look again. You don't have it yet. I know my idle is bad. I can't seem to keep the engine running at all right now. When it does start and it is idling, it shuts off. The it gets fuel locked. I think it's fuel locked. I will do the glow plug thing to find out of thats it. I know it's not the cooling fan problem. I have had that once and thread locked the bolt on there a while ago. The is with the engine just absolutely wont turn. And I am quite sure the battery for my starter is fine. I dought that I need a stronger starter. Do I? Let me hear some more comments.

Christopher G.

Chris...what engine is it...what heli...and what fuel are you using ?????

It is an O.S. 32 engine. It is a basic Raptor .30 kit. I don't know the name of the fuel. I think it may be a cheap brand of heli fuel, but it has a pink color it it and it is 15% nitro and has some caster oil mixture.

The OS 32 shouldn't be a problem, they are usually pretty stable. The Raptor is a different story. The standard fuel lines are suspect and should be changed for good quality fuel line. One other point in the fuel line is the connectot that sits in the mouth of the tank. The clunk line fastens to it on the inside and the line to the carb fastens on to it on the outside. This little tube need checking for plastic fash or depbris...it happened on mine and took me nearly 6 months to find.

Best thing is to start from srcatch. Remove all fuel lines, filters and carb. Strip the carburetter down to nothing and clean it well, rebuild it and set the intial settings to those in the manufacturers leaflet. Replace all the fuel pipes including the pressure line to the muffler and go from there.
The 15% fuel shouldn't be a problem unless it's not been stored properly, but a new half gaallon wouldn't break the bank and would prove a point.

A really good source of information on the Raptor , especially engine set-up is [link=http://www.raptortechnique.com/index.html]Raptor Technique.[/link]

I would also further point out...
If you do not fill it as Buzz has pointed out. You can hydrolock your engine if you pump in without
pinching off the line to the engine before filling the tanks..I have a T Filter int the line to the carb
and when filling I pinch the tubing to the carb... Learned the hard way one time..
If it has fuel locked you may also have wasted your glow plug. Check it out of the motor.

I fitted a Dubro fuel valve Wally...it saves all the "pinching" and you can't forget or distracted. As soon as you insert the fuelling probe it automatically closes the line to the carb. I've got them on my Raptor and all my nitro planks.

Nice,

I am new so some of these cool gadjets I haven't even had time to see yet.
I have just finished my first Gallon of gas on a heli and started my second.
Raptor 50 from Heliproz. The Hyperraptor combo...
I love it.
Forward flight. Now, Still working on nose in hover.
But I did the Hydrolock once only to be exacerbated by a loose fan that
locked up the clutch. Once I pulled the motor I verified that I did not
bend the con rod..

Rainy day today.. No flight time for me...

Thanks a lot for your help guys. I do have some spare tubing. I have replaced have the tubing for my Raptor once because I could not get the engine started this past fall before it got cold. Then I finally figured out what my problem was. It had to do with the screw in the carb. I had replaced the tube in the tank as well. I even replaced the clunk. I just need to replace the rest of the tubing and maybe I should get a header tank too. What do you think? Everyone else has one. I know what it does, but maybe it will help me too. I just can't wait! I have had so much time on Realflight. I know I am pretty good. I just feel like I am really good. Not bragging, but I have gotten to a point where I am doing forward flight and I can talk to people, and look around my room for a few seconds and not crash. I will crash every once in a while when I try something new or get really aggressinve with it. I still can't do 3D yet though. I am just dying to fly the real thing. I feel that I have not seen excitement yet until I finally get to fly mine. I've never even seen one of these fly except for in videos and on realflight.

Christopher G.

I have the O.S 32 and I love this little motor, one thing to check with is wich carb you have, I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head, but I think it's the 20c carb that you want. It has a longer high speed needle assembly. The other one, the 13c? has a short needle assembly and has been known to cause a lot of headaches. If your engine is starting, then sputtering out and hydro locking, it sounds like your low end is way too rich. Are there any experienced flyers around there that can help you out?

No I don't really have any experienced flyers here. I will have to some how tough this one on my own. I will have to see what type of carb that I have. I think the high end needle is long, but what you are talking sounds like it is acting like the 13c carb. I figured out I think my problem is not that it is fuel locked. I think I need a new charger for the starter battery. I have kind of kept the charger in some weather and temperature conditions. I have had it for about 3 years anyway. It was a quick charger used for my electric cars, but it has the black and red pinchers that I used to charge the starter battery. Maybe I am not using the proper charger. Could it be the motor in the starter could be running bad too?

It could be a bad starter, or a weak battery. It could also be be that your not getting enough heat to the plug. I spent 30 mins trying to start my motor one day only to realize that my remote glow heater was getting a little weak. Try powering your glowplug off your power panel and see if that helps get it running. Here is a pic of the 20 C carb. If your high end needle is shorter than that, you have the bad carb.

You don't have anyone around Indi that flys airplanes and knows how to tune an engine? I would be willing to be there are hundreds of flyers there. Get on the AMA web site and find the closest one to you. An experienced guy could show you how to tune that engine in less than a minute and explain to you what to look for and how to do it. You have been screwing with it for what, a year? Yea, that makes a lot of sense. Look up a club and get help. That or you can spend another year going nowhere.

OK Flyboy, I will find someone. Actually there is a guy that I met on this thing who lives about an hour away, but he is been so busy, plus I have not heard from him for a while. Maybe I will still try calling him. That is what I need though. Someone to show me how to tune it and tune it fast. I am sure that once I am shown how to do it, I will be able to tune the next one myself, huh?

Flyerdarren, that is the carb that I have for my O.S. 32. I am quite sure now that it is either a battering thing or a starter thing. Well one of the things I think it is is my charger went bad. It's not charging my battery. I will start with a new charger, then if it still does not work, I will get a new battery, then if that is not the case do you think the starter motor could be a bit shot? Not sure.

Christopher Gaines

Take the plug out and spin the engine to get the fuel out of it, then put the plug back in. If your starter still won't turn it, then have the battery tested. If it is bad, replace it. If it still won't turn it, then check the starter. I can't see that being bad though. I know on my 90 I have to pull the plug 1/2 way out to start it. There is so much compression the starter won't turn it. Tim had to do the same thing on his 70 till he had run it a few times. I have had to do it since new on the 90 and am hoping it loosens up eventually. Shouldn't happen on the smaller engines though.

Yeah I will try those things. I am just dying to get this one up in the air and fly it so that I can get a bigger one. I think I am going to jump to a 60 size. I am messing with the flight sim, and I can see already why they say to start with a bigger heli because I am already wanting more speed and power. I would have to say the 30 size on the flight sim is smoother, but thats because it is slower. Which is nice when I want to fly easy, but the 60 just has a lot more speed for high speed passes. I almost don't care much for doing 3D flying with the helis. I love forward flight! I love doing loops though. Are loops as easy to do in real life as they are on the sim?

Christopher Gaines