new guy with big heli

[djaypro]

Why does my muffler come loose, Raptor 30 with a RL 52 new engine. I heated screws & muffler while I tightened screws and used gasket material with high heat silicone gasket sealer. I forgot to take the muffler cap off when i first tried to start it. Would that do it?

[o0hyra0o]

red lock tight

[twoody]

get rid of the gasket

[djaypro]

I did use red lock tight for got to say that.
Get rid of the gasket and keep the sealer or just bolt it on?

[Bri]

I read somewhere about someone using a piece of aluminum (aluminum can) to make a gasket for a muffler. Also said something about the screws staying tight with this method.

[djaypro]

I put the heli down pretty quick Hopeing my engine did'nt over heat. This is the 2nd time this has happened. I'll get new bolts but still feel like I doing the same thing expecting different results.

[Broken]

You need to retighten the bolts while the engine is hot. After I had removed and reinstalled my pipe (with gasket) I just tighten the bolts down normally, then when I am at the field I do a short flight to get the engine hot and recheck the bolts (with the engine OFF!). I also do not have a header pipe (extension).

[djaypro]

Thanks for the good advise broken. I heated my pipe up with a hairdryer

[SeismicCWave]

Originally Posted by djaypro

Why does my muffler come loose, Raptor 30 with a RL 52 new engine. I heated screws & muffler while I tightened screws and used gasket material with high heat silicone gasket sealer. I forgot to take the muffler cap off when i first tried to start it. Would that do it?

Too much vibration from your engine. Check your clutch and shoe alignment.

[Darkside41]

I use longer bolts and put nuts on the other side,problem solved.

[howardm4]

hair dryer isn't hot enough. tighten it all up. run the engine, hover for a minute, shut it down and quickly tighten the screws again.

[FlyingHigh 450]

Originally Posted by Darkside41

I use longer bolts and put nuts on the other side,problem solved.

+1..
Buy this http://www.heliproz.com/prodinfo.asp?number=804350 and put a nylon locknut on the bolts,never had a pipe come loose this way.Depending on the pipe,you might have to dremel a small flat spot on the pipe so the nuts sit flat..

[aceaviator182]

Hey flyinghigh, did you mention that you flew at skymasters in lake orion?

[Jskrapper]

Personally, I heat up only the bolts in order to get them to expand. I do NOT heat up the muffler or engine as they will expand as well. If you heat just the bolts with propane or butane, then tighten them, let them cool and they will contract to a better grip.

The bad part of heating muffler and engine, they expand a little, Then you tighten the bolts, and muffler and engine cool and contract, therefore loosening the grip of the bolts.

Thats just my theory, and I have never had my muff bolts loosen.

[FlyingHigh 450]

Originally Posted by aceaviator182

Hey flyinghigh, did you mention that you flew at skymasters in lake orion?

Nope,im pretty far from there..

[Hrob2Ate]

loctite will not work on your muffler bolts as the heat created will cause the loctite to turn liquid again and come loose. tightening the bolts while the engine and muffler is hot is the correct method. you should always check these bolts as part of your preflight inspection and again after the first flight of the day. the other is to use longer bolts with nuts to lock it down. nylon lock nuts can also come loose when the nylon softens fron the heat. i've used double nutts on each bolt and tighten the nuts against each other causing them to lock together. Just my 2 cents.

[fastone93]

I use red rtv, no gasket, and loctite. works well for me, the gasket is what was causing mine to come loose.

[flyinfool]

Gaskets are the biggest problem to keeping a muffler tight.
The gasket will continue to compress over time and cause the bolts to loosen.

RTV (regardless of color) if not used correctly will take out glow plugs.

I have been using split ring lock washers on my muffler bolts and using 5 minute epoxy to seal the joint for the last 10 years and never had a muffler come loose. I have tried many different types of epoxy over the years and found no diference in perprormance from the cheapest 5 minute to JB Weld or even some industrial epoxies. all you need is a thin film on the clean muffler and bolt it up to a clean engine. removal is jusst a simple light tug and the old epoxy scrapes off with a single pass of an x-acto blade.

I have not found a method that is faster or more reliable.