cooljoe164

Hey, I've been having a problem tuning my TT 39 engine. I flew today and I had it at 2.5 turns out and was running 215-220 tops. It was hovering about about 200 also. Whenever I have run it, the whole helicopter gets COVERED with oil. Oil is always on the backplate of the engine, remote glow starter wire, temp probe wire, front/rear skids where they connect to the frame, all over the fuel tanks(header and main) and pretty much any other low point on the helicopter. Is this normal? I am also running the Mavarikk performance pipe, if it makes a difference. The oil is clean and it does not appear to be pure fuel. Are they all like this?

spurry

My Feedback: (1)

hey, I've been having similar problems. Does your TT39 guzzle the fuel like it's going out of fashion? I've got the larger fuel tank and a header tank and I might get 10 mins flight time.

It is oily underneath and I have seen drips of fairly clean coolpower running from the gasket area. I've got a Weston Genisis pipe and the only thing I can think of is that the back-pressure is too much from that pipe and it is just squirting it all out. I'm also not happy with the shakes it has so I'm going to buy a zimmerman. They are excellent and quiet!

Interested to see if anyone else has this problem.
James

cheiro

Are you guys still running your engines in...? if so leave it until the engine is run in. Other wise reduce the needle until the smoke is not so white. Also are you mixing your own fuel... the oil mix maybe too much. On the cool power oils it recommends you use a little less than traditionally.

spurry

My Feedback: (1)

Yip, mine is still breaking-in and has only had 1 gallon of coolpower 15 through it.

I've got a zimmerman coming on Monday, my governor is fitted and setup and my pitch curves are fine so next week , if there's any more oil or anything wrong, I know it is with the engine mixture.


James

cooljoe164

Actually, no it's not a new engine, just a new piston/ring/sleeve. My carb got junk in it and leaned out the engine, it got to like 390 and didn't work so well after that. The new piston/sleeve has probably around 6 tanks on it or so. Yes, I am getting a ton of white smoke. I'm using Wildcat heli fuel(all synthetic) and not mixing my own.

It doesn't guzzel the fuel, i still get about half hour of runtime out of it. Also i'm using the Mavarikk upgrade pipe(the TT upgrade one from heliproz) if it makes a difference at all.

So should i expect the amount of oil to diminish as the engine gets fully broken in? I've been involved in gas r/c cars and have never had so much oil on a truck, but then again I've never had a ringed engine. As long as it is OK, then i guess it'll keep on hovering along.

helical-RCU

I've got the same problem. I've been running it at 3.25 turns on the main with two gallons thru it so far. Seems like a messy engine. Also using Wildcat synthetic.

cooljoe164

So I guess my question is now: is this really a problem, or just something that we all have to live with? Also, where exactly is the oil coming from? I have heard of fuel coming out of the engine at idle and going down to the front skid support, but the rear support and backplate? Something else is leaking. The muffler doesn't blow any of that stuff near the helicopter so where is it all coming from?

eddie13231

My Feedback: (3)

Yeah I also have the tt39. It runs hot yes, and sprays oil everywhere, I believe that it is the nature of the engine. But I do get about 25 min flight times with just doing forward flight and hovering in normal mode. I have the regular raptor 30 v2 fuel tank. I don't see how you are getting 10...you might want to check for a leak in your fuel tank or nipple.

Spaceman Spiff

My Feedback: (1)

Mine is getting only 10 minutes too. TT39, Mavric muffler, cool power 30%, I checked the tank, no leaks, just sucks the fuel down. I still have the training gear on, and it stays pretty cool 160 -180 degrees (and it was around 100 out today), so i am sure i can streach it out a good bit more once it is broken in and lighter. I read somewhere that someone put a Quick UK fan on and was able to turn the screws in quite a bit and still stay cool enough, increased the flight times quite a bit. i ordered one a few days ago, hope to try it out next weekend. i flew a lot today, and burned up very close to a gallon

extremeflying

My Feedback: (7)

its the front bearing !!

Spaceman Spiff

My Feedback: (1)

There is a lot of oil in the smoke. My heli leaves puddles of it on the cement. The smoke blows clear of the heli when flying but swirls around under the body a lot when i'm on the ground.

rb8612

If you're idling and fuel is sputtering out your muffler you'll really go through the fuel. If this is the case, you need to lean your low end quite a bit. This will affect your high end so you might have to richen it back up a little.

There is no such thing as one engine that runs dirty and another that runs clean. The carb isn't set right, or the bearing is bad. The temp is a clue to the bearing status. What comes in, comes back out.

cooljoe164

But when I fly, it only starts and ends on the ground, doesn't spend that much time there otherwise- it is barely ever idling. and, when I am in flight, the white contail is just streeming straight down from the helicopter, not under it at all.

I just think that is is really weird how much oil is coating the helicopter. The fuel is even on the other side of the exhaust, where my header tank is and my Venom temp. probe. The day that I posted this thread, i had the heli hovering for over 5 min. with the same throttle position and i never NEVER had to change the throttle stick. It was being extremely stable and i could walk around the helicopter and read the temp, practice side in, etc. without it drifting or loosing power.

I know it isn't my tuning, but is it really just the exhaust pipe? And even if the front bearing did go bad, why is there oil all over the helicopter, top of the fuel tanks/ rear spar skid support and such?

Spaceman Spiff

My Feedback: (1)

Just leaned out the idle running in the back yard. i got about a 1/3 of a turn. It is a much better setting, the throtle ran up faster. The temperature increased to around 210-220. After hovering a minute or two i let it idle for a couple minutes. temperature held pretty steady in that range (a good sign ?) head speed was a little more consistent than it has been, seemed to make it easyer to handle. Unfortunately my starter batt ran out so i could not find out how much better the flying time will be, i doubt it will be anywhere near 20 minutes, but even a couple more will be a nice improvement. having too much fun to shut her down after only 10 minutes.


i still think the oil is from of the exahust. maybe a small percentage of it gets caught in swirling air under the the rotor? i can't think of any other explanation.

1/8buggyman

If the bearing in the engine is bad, then oil and fuel will leak out through the front of the engine, where the fan and clutch are connected. It would then spin around and coat the rest of the heli. I don't think that it would be the exhaust.

Spaceman Spiff

My Feedback: (1)

Just pulled my engine to put in a new fan. the old fan and the whole top of the engine is clean and dry. Don't know about your chopper, but mine is certainly not getting oil from the bearing.

i put the new fan in and a baffle in front of the engine to direct more airflow to the head and keep the warm air from recirculating under the canopy. unfortunatly i am out of heli fuel so i don't know yet if it makes much difference.

spurry

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I'm now pretty pleased with my rappy. I leaned out the idle screw from 3 turns to about 2+2/3 and it now runs great. Exhaust is fine, and my flight time has gone up from about 10mins to god knows, I was hovering for bloody ages! Must of been a good 20 mins plus a about 5 mins of flying.

James

cooljoe164

Whenever I have dropped out my engine, the only stuff that is up there is clutch dust-so i know there isn't a faulty bearing. It must be the break-in period. I would still like to know why there is oil on the skid supports, backplate, fuel tanks(on the outside, hehe), and on the remote glow starter and stuff like that. Oh well, i just wish the weather in NJ would clear up a bit-haven't flown in a few days-running out of fuel too.

flmgrip

My Feedback: (2)

i have five helis... all get oily... just live with it, it is normal... just wait until you go inverted...
oil is good, lubes the engine and all other moving parts, i would only be worried if my heli would not get oily...

cooljoe164

Well that's comforting to hear, but i still would like to keep all of that oil in the engine and spuuing out the exhaust and not on the bottom of the helicopter. But i guess if all of these helicopters do it, then it must be normal. Ok, makes me feel better. I guess i don't have a backplate leak then

Spaceman Spiff

My Feedback: (1)

Ran the new fan today. now i am having trouble with over heating!! Should have left it alone. There is a large gap between the fan shroud and the fins themselves, maybe they sent me the wrong one? extra bad news is i ruined the old fan before i figured out it unscrews from the shaft :stupid:

Doh! just not my week i guess.

The temperature got to 280 F on the side of the cylinder. Is it trash now?

flmgrip

My Feedback: (2)

i've been running my engine at 300 for a while know... didn't know it though until i installed my venom temp gage... still going strong... those little engine can with hold quite some abuse... how do you measure your temp ?

Spaceman Spiff

My Feedback: (1)

Its good to hear this engine is tough.

i'm using a radio shack infared thermometer. Cute littel bugger, only 50$
and fits in your pocket.

Still figuring out the engine settings. Curves, needles, temperatures, head speed, trying to get it all together and keep it there is quite a juggling act, and i thought hovering was hard! Ha! Do the header tanks do much to keep it all stable? is the OS 50sxh easier to get dialed in?

Today the engine is frustrating, but all the taking off and setting down to tweek some more is starting to build confidence enough that i think i'm going to try without the training gear this weekend.

cooljoe164

Yeah, you'll be playing around with the curves, needles, headspeed and such for a while. My best advice would be to practice hovering and then see what develops to be wrong. Excluding the tuning, if the engine is being pushed too hard, i would increase the headspeed and lower the pitch. For me, it was trial and error. Just make sure you get more time in the air and less time on your setup. You'll know what's wrong when you need to make an adjustment. So what i'm saying is to just get as much time in the air as possible. I mean, heck, after 4 gallons of gas, i'm not even sure if everything on my helicopter is set up correctly!

j_keiter

My Feedback: (21)

Just an FYI. I've been playing with my V2 Raptor 50 with a tt50 running 15% morgan heli fuel with 2oz of castor added to the gallon container. My venom temp sensor is *****g out at 245F after doing aggressive loops rolls etc for about 3 minutes. I have discovered the LOW screw makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in the head temp while doing 3D. It's amazingly sensitive. A quarter turn lean will cause a 20 degree jump in head temp. I would turn the HI needle out almost a full turn and get no noticeable change in head temp. I've finally got the low needle set so rich that the then engine idle needs to remain a little hi to keep running. I reached this point by observing the max temp and adjusting the low needle after every 5 minutes of flying. Of course you reset the venom temp sensor to get a new max head temp reading on the next flight. The main needle is about 3 1/2 turns out. Stock I believe is 3 turns out for a TT50. I did not notice a diff in temp or performance at anything leaner than 3 1/2 so I left it. I set the hi needle by simply going full collective from a hover and observing the climb performance and smoke. I would lean till climb performance seemed to max out and I still had plenty of smoke. 3 1/2 turns seems fine. One more thing. I stuffed the temp diodes for the venom temp sensor just under the top head fins of the engine. The manual told me to put them around the base which only produced 185F at max. When I moved the sensor diodes up snug against the top head fins I saw 280-290F reading. Oops. At this point I started to make my low needle adjusts and cooled things back down to 245F max. Engine runs much smoother now. Rpm no longer jumps as though lean when I bring her down for a landing. I'm getting flight times of 13 to 15 minutes per stock tank. It does not idle as well as my OS32SX-H on the Raptor 30 but it's good enough to not be a nuisance.