wnor
11-15-2005, 10:01 AM
Perhaps this experience will help someone:
I recently bought my first Thunder Tiger Engine, a 50 in a Raptor V2, and it has 52 flights on it now. Thus far I have had the usual difficulty getting the needles set right. The engine has run, in a word, weird, seemingly both too rich (won't idle, tons of smoke in hover) and too lean (rather hot backplate). When it quit without warning during an inverted hover, I decided the time had come to systematically isolate the problem, one step at a time. I went through everything - changed bearings, changed fuel tubing, flushed carburetor, tried different glow plugs, etc., but found no smoking gun. As a last step prior to doing the low-speed needle mod, I switched fuels from RedMax Helicopter 10-15% nitro, to Byron 15% nitro, 20% oil, castor/synthetic blend (the only thing available at my tiny local hobby shop which, unfortunately, is not so local). Result: totally different engine. It now idles fine, the backplate is only slightly warm, smooth throttle transitions, and lots of power.
I'm not saying anyone's fuel is bad. I'm saying that my particular engine seems very finicky regarding the brand of fuel it is fed, unlike the ten or so OS and YS engines I have owned. Has anyone else had this experience with the TT 50? Perhaps this explains, in part, why some folks give the TT 50 rave reviews while others want to chuck it into the woods. What is your opinion of the best fuel for this engine available by an individual through the mail in something smaller than a 55 gallon drum (10-15% nitro, if possible)?
I recently bought my first Thunder Tiger Engine, a 50 in a Raptor V2, and it has 52 flights on it now. Thus far I have had the usual difficulty getting the needles set right. The engine has run, in a word, weird, seemingly both too rich (won't idle, tons of smoke in hover) and too lean (rather hot backplate). When it quit without warning during an inverted hover, I decided the time had come to systematically isolate the problem, one step at a time. I went through everything - changed bearings, changed fuel tubing, flushed carburetor, tried different glow plugs, etc., but found no smoking gun. As a last step prior to doing the low-speed needle mod, I switched fuels from RedMax Helicopter 10-15% nitro, to Byron 15% nitro, 20% oil, castor/synthetic blend (the only thing available at my tiny local hobby shop which, unfortunately, is not so local). Result: totally different engine. It now idles fine, the backplate is only slightly warm, smooth throttle transitions, and lots of power.
I'm not saying anyone's fuel is bad. I'm saying that my particular engine seems very finicky regarding the brand of fuel it is fed, unlike the ten or so OS and YS engines I have owned. Has anyone else had this experience with the TT 50? Perhaps this explains, in part, why some folks give the TT 50 rave reviews while others want to chuck it into the woods. What is your opinion of the best fuel for this engine available by an individual through the mail in something smaller than a 55 gallon drum (10-15% nitro, if possible)?