i have a venom engine temp sensor installed and i get max temp around 300 !! did i install the probe in the wrong spot or am i frying my engine ?
OS50, R50, wildcat 20%

thanks

is the sencer rapped around the base of the head?300 is a little high,try to richen the engine up some also.

I will be installing a venom when I install my new TT39. What temps have most of you been trying to get during breakin and after.

the sensor is below the head on the crankcase... at the bottom of the heli... yeah i will richen that... was quite surprised because the raytech heat gun never got more than 210 or so... the venom is definitely worthwhile its money !! what's a good temp for the os 50 ?

Anybody know an appropriate temperature heat range for an O.S. 32?

I used to race Yamaha sprint karts, we had a temp probe mounted under the spark plug on those engines, based on that, I always check my engine temp right at the glow plug area of the head, I shoot for 195-215 degrees, regardless of engine size......Coop

Throw the venom away as well as the raytech. If the heli looses power or quits and the engine is very hot to touch then you are too lean (you should avoid ever getting to that point). If it sags during long full collective (no cyclic) climb out then try leaning it. BTW, if it sags, dont continue to make it a LONG climb out. Keep leaning it until you see no more increase in power. Back it off to the point where you first detected no increase in power. This is what just about all the guys do who want the most out of their engine. Go to a fun fly and see the guys with strong engines and ask them how they set it. I tried to work both these temperature gages and it just never produced any 'real' data. Climb outs produced real data and if you find your not getting the performance you expected but you set the needle this way, the needles seem happy, then you may also look towards a cooling problem. Just don't mistake poor collective management as an engine problem. I have a OS50 on WC20% and after 10-12 minutes of flying I can stick my finger on the backplate and it is just warm. I would like to think I could just take my engines temp and that would tell me everything but in reality it just doesn't happen. I cant write the best, You would be much better off calling Ron Lund at Rick's RC and asking him to describe his approach.

EC120, i don't agree with you. the temp gages especially the venom are very helpful tools. the backplate test may work for you, but what's warm for you is hot for others... if i would use your approach my os 50 would run at 320-350 degrees and that most certainly is not healthy.
no, engine temp is not the only thing you need to tune an engine properly, but it helps you monitor it, just like a voltage monitor... or you don't use those neither ?

Temp on engines is also a matter of preference to some extent:

Most of the recommendations using a temp gun are to keep the engine somewhere below 225/230 degrees. This assumes that you DON'T have the temp monitored during flight but that you fly around, land, and then check the temp between the exhaust bolt and the heat sink (the hot spot on the engine). In flight, you can bet that if you get 195-200 on the ground that you are running somewhere near 250 in flight.
As an example, one of the local fliers has been running his OS 50/MP1 combo for some time now at a very agressive needle setting. We temp'ed him after a good thrashing in his sceadu, and he was at 290degrees! His engine showed no signs of bogging, (through very rough 3d) and had a perfectly thick plume of smoke on 30% nitro. He runs his engines this way consistantly and just rebuilds them as needed, (bearings and an ring).
Keep in mind these are rules of thumb, lower temp means longer life but in some cases, less performance.

Sorry, I didnt mean I checked my temp with my finger to set the needle. That is just an observation I make after setting the engine via climbouts. Same as I used to do with temp gauges. I just went from digital to single digit and the information is about as useful. At one time I would set the engine via climbouts and then looked at the temp gauge. After awhile, I stopped looking at the gauge then I gave them away (I kept the raytech to shoot beverage containers and my hand while waiting for a heli to charge on a slow day). It didn't tell me anything. It doesnt matter to me what the external temp of the engine is. I want the best fuel/air mixture. Lean does not equal more power. Too lean throws you back off the curve even before it could overheat. You can be rich or lean or just right. I had both a venom and a raytech but neither told me anything that power climbouts didn't and they never told me 'just right'. People complain about bearings falling out, midrange, and all that (and you know some of these guys are using temp gauges) but I don't know how many cases I have in mine and it is still ticking good as new. I have a new one in another heli and they perform equally. And having an engine running at the right fuel/air mixture makes you a lot more confident performing 3D. It is just my opinion but based on my experience, the gauge is a crutch or charm that you will eventually keep in your junk drawer. The performance is what sets your needle anyway so why bother with anything else? Test the performance. If you drilled into the head and put a sensor reading the combustion chamber then you might have something.

i'm hearing ya.... it might be just an other gadget... but at $30.- it's a pretty cheap one... i was just curious about it, but your opinion and others confirms that the engine temp is no definite on the "condition" of the engine...