Raptor V2 OS 37 parked 9 months

[helibud8207]

Hello to all,
My Raptor v2 os 37 has been parked for appox. 9 months, Was'nt that I did'nt want to fly But I had just lost my wife of 25 yrs. to complications during a stem cell transplant at City Of Hope. She Fought hard for two yrs. but Died September 7th 2007. (R.I.P Suzie My Love) Anyway that was not the reason I'am writing,

Fired up the Raptor the other day runs good, it really pays to store them properly. The problem is when I run the main tank close to empty it starts running more and more lean to the point which I have to land.
I cant run the header tank at all. have to refuel after main tank runs out. Checked fuel lines and they are clear, Engine runs normal until I start to run main tank dry. Any help would be great, Thank you.

[helibud8207]

opps my bad posted twice

[forjer]

My sympathies for your loss. Stay strong.

I'm not positive, but that may be normal due to lack of tank pressure. As the tank runs lower, the increased amount of air in the tank simply compresses and doesn't allow as much pressure to build compare to a full tank. I've been using a carb smart and the mixture servo definitely trends richer as the tank empties.

[Raven_darkcloud]

As a quick test put new fuel line on from the pipe to the tank and see if that helps. It wouldn't hurt to put new line all around including the clunk lines. They might be weak and ballooning a bit.

[alienteabagger]

If the lines on the heli have been sitting there for all 9 months then they may have developed hairline cracks in them. Especially the clunk line. The cheapest and easiest thing to do would be to just replace the fuel lines.

Your wife probably would have wanted you to start flying so she could see you smiling from up high.

[rotorhead58d]

[quote=helibud8207;713118]Hello to all,
My Raptor v2 os 37 has been parked for appox. 9 months, Was'nt that I did'nt want to fly But I had just lost my wife of 25 yrs. to complications during a stem cell transplant at City Of Hope. She Fought hard for two yrs. but Died September 7th 2007. (R.I.P Suzie My Love) Anyway that was not the reason I'am writing,

words like these give me hope when i think i have it bad. this tests our abilities as human beings to survive.

i salute you sir, to have the courage to go on with your life.

btw, i know nothing about nitro stuff...sorry

[helibud8207]

Thank to all that responded to my questions I think your right I should and will replace all lines and clunks. I should have thought of that also.

But more so thank for the kind words regarding my wife, so far this forum has been a total pleasure to search and use. Not any of the B. S. we all have seen on other sites.

Thank you again for the help and look forward to picking your brains for more..:thumbup:

Best Regards to all Bud.

I just may get through this, but I will never get over it. :hug:

[awr]

I saw an article in a helicopter magazine a while ago which seems to describe your problem quite well. It was written by Ray Hostetler (author of Ray's Authoritative Helicopter Manual).

He described an ongoing problem where he couldn't get the engine to run consistently throughout the entire tank. He tried everything - replaced lines, pressure tested the system, etc....

The problem turned out to be a problem with the manufacturing process of the header tank.
The fuel line nipples on the header tank are drilled out after the tank is manufactured. Because it's drilled out, a small piece of plastic is sometimes left hanging on the inside of the header tank. As the tank drains, the pressure inside the tank changes and eventually that piece of plastic plugs up the nipple for the fuel line leading to the engine.

The fix is to take a cheap flat bladed jewelers screw driver and sharpen the edges. You then push the screw driver into the fuel line nipple until it reaches the entrance to the header tank and turn it a few times so that it trims off all of the excess plastic that isn't supposed to be there.

Hope that helps.


Wayne

[iher]

In these forums usually i say this to people that crash but this time I reaaaallllllly mean it :

I`m so sorry for your loss!

Its probably not much , coming from a total stranger, but my heart goes to anyone that has to go through a difficult time of losing a loved one.


Regarding your heli: this is a very common problem. two things come into play pressure and siphon.

1 - (Putting aside the pressure added by the muffler) The height between gas in the main tank in relation to the gas in the header tank and the carburetor:

Liquid has weigh and pressure at the bottom of the tank depends on how much liquid it`s supporting on top of itself. more liquid = more weight= more pressure.
so if the gas in your main tank is higher than the header, and the H tank is higher than youcarb) this will generate more gas pressure in the carb just by gravity.
So if you have less gas in your main tank = less pressure= less gas in the carb= runs leaner

Siphoning affect in the oposite way: If your header tank is higher than your carb, your remaining fuel will start to siphon down to the carb ( like when you suck gas out of a car with a hose. you suck enough to get it flowing and as long as the end of the hose is lower than the top level of the gas in the tank it will continue to flow)
Siphon will increase the gas flow, but only when the main tank empties.

This add up with the fact stated before by FORJER , air in an empty tank is more compressible than gas , hence the pressurized tank generates less pressure out when empty.

Best quick solutions:
1-Ajust your mixture with an almost empty tank so you run rich when full and dont risk having your motor quit or overheat.
2- After going through this same problem, I tried to level the center of gravity of the full main tank in relation to the carb ( generally is not possible because the main tank is in a fixed position in the frame)
and use the siphon effect to force extra gas into the carb when the main tank is empty. you can do this by putting your bottom of the header tank leveled with your carb gas intake.....it worked great.
( i fly at 10`000 ft so maybe at lower altitude you might not put the H tank as high)
this will accentuate the problem if you finish your main tank inverted.......but landing inverted usually isn’t good for the heli either. :)

3- level everything and buy a motor with a pump.

[matador_24]

replace all fuel lines and filters, glow plug

[helibud8207]

Hello all, You all have have really good ideas I just havent had time to address the issue and try some of your ideas My daughters high school graduation was today,been a little busy lately. Very proud of her.

Thanks and best Regards, Bud

[Jim T]

Hello all, You all have have really good ideas I just havent had time to address the issue and try some of your ideas My daughters high school graduation was today,been a little busy lately. Very proud of her.

Thanks and best Regards, Bud

Bud, Congratulations on your daughters graduation. :thumbup: I can see why you're proud of her, what with what you both have been through. You have my respect and admiration for "keeping on keeping on".:noteworthy

Jim