I have just purchased a 91 pumped hyper. I currently have 2 Raptor 50's both with hypers and have no problem starting them with a torqmaster 90. The torqmaster will not come close to turning over the 91, (now that you have stopped laughing) what is recommended for starting these? I would like to have a portable starter and have heard the hydratork does not work well. I have been using a 18v dewalt drill on the low speed setting but I know this is probably not a good way to start this engine. Does anyone have suggestions for starting these? I am flying in the 40 and 50 degree temps right now so this doesn't help... Thanks

You have a couple different things that are making it hard to start. Often a bit of fule gets into the cylinder making it hard to start. Also sometimes it could be oil residue left over from a previous flight draining into the cyliner from the crank case or muffler. To get rid of this pull the plug and spin the motor over. The second thing is the temperature, sometimes the motors don't want to start as easily as on a warm day. Many people keep the helo in a warm car until they are ready to fly. Also since the mixture has to be richer on cold days there is a better chance of flooding and hard starting. It is acceptable to loosen the plug so you can get the starter to turn the motor over and then once started tighten the plug before you fly.

Evan is right about the temperature. I tried starting mine on a cold morning with a brand new dynatron on a fully charged battery and almost didn't fly that day. And yes, it does get that cold here in Florida some times. [sm=shades_smile.gif] I have also read many posts about draining the fuel from the lines and do so before packing up for the day in addition to spinning it up with the glow plug on to burn off the excess fuel in the crankcase. Haven't had any more cold days yet and have had no trouble starting since although it is supposed to be around 30 degrees on wednesday. We will see how i do then. Draining the fuel lines has also eliminated the spots on my shop floor.

Thanks guys! I always make sure all fuel has been run out of engine after each outing and heli is usually warm before I take it out to fly. The torqmaster 90 I have is older and may not have the punch it used to. The torqmaster 180 is maybe what I need now. I would like to know if anyone has had any luck starting 90's with any of the portable units.

Take the 6mm rod out of a starter and put it into the chuck of a 14V cordless drill, and Viola. Its all I use for my two 50's and my 90. works great and is a far cheaper alternative to buying large expensive starters. handy too, as there are no wires to worry about, and has a handle to grip, variable speed and torque setting. I would never go back to a starter.

Dynatron

you didnt mention what voltage you are starting your engines on? all the above is good practice, but without the proper voltage, it wont mean anything. chances are there is nothing wrong with your starter ( unless it is powered by 16 volts plus). i have a sullivan hi torque starter that is 20 plus years old. i start my 80-90 with 2 7 cell panasonic sub c car packs. if the charge goes down, no matter how much i clear the engine, it aint turning over. charge em up and good to go.

i zip-tied a 7ah field battery to my torqmaster and it made all the difference in the world. Much stronger than the pack hobbico sells for it and stronger even than running off of a field box with the same batt bc of the shorter leads. Cheapest easiest way to go.

After several different starters and batteries, the best setup I've found for big glow stuff is a Dynatron wired up with 2 11.1v Li-po batteries for 22.2v and 2100Mah. It's good for .90 size helis and big glow airplanes. I have 2 OS 1.60 2c and it will crank those better than a regular starter cranks a .40. The charge will last about 2 weeks with everyone at the field using it because they're tired of trying their little starters.

Thats interesting. I have a couple of TP 2100's I don't fly, I wonder if I should try that. I have a dynatron but the batteries are shot and I haven't bothered replacing them yet.

BH, That's what you need, some old puffed out Rex batteries works well. These were some 16c's that I didn't have much use for. The charge does hold up well so it's one less thing you have to charge everytime you go to the field. It's cranked over a 40cc gasser with no problems before. I came to this just because none of the 12v hobby batteries put out enough amps to start anything. That Mavrikk starter that they claim will start a .90, they left out the part of it will only start it once and toast the batteries doing it.

My beef with the mavrikk starter, which will crank a mean airplane engine, is that being geared its slow. When it pushes the motor over compression it can't keep up with it so the crankshaft is waiting on the starter at BDC. The end result is it sounds like an impact gun and it chews up starter couplings, the hex ball on the start shaft, and if you are really not living well, it will take out any one way bearing in the clutch like the Raptor.

I agree, for the price there are better starters out there. I think you're better off to go with the drill rather than the Mavrikk, especially on anything larger than a .50.

I love my drill it has never fails me, has enormous amounts of torque, is fast, was cheap, and I have yet to find a starter that will compare.
I even made an adapter to start my 50cc twin gasser, and its great.