A few new questions from Newbie

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sombra

RC Newbie
Messages
5
Reaction score
9
Hi all,

I'm about to break-in my new Losi 8ight nitro RTR, and I have a few questions.

First, I was watching Adam Drake's video on breaking in an engine, and when I re-read my manual it says "[n]ever, under any circumstances, allow the engine to rev freely with the wheels off the ground." I'm not sure I understand what that means. In Drake's video, he has the vehicle tilted on its side to spit out any excess fuel/lube. Am I misunderstanding what it means not to "allow the engine to rev freely with the wheels off the ground"? Maybe "rev" is different from idle--with "rev" meaning one is actually pulling on the throttle?

Second, am I right that the flywheel one rotates to get to Bottom Dead Center is the blue one? Should I be able to rotate it freely with my fingers? The car is still out-of-the-box fresh, but I certainly can't move that blue wheel with my fingers. There is another black gear visible and reachable from the bottom. What is that? That one does turn freely.

Third, I ordered some Byron Fuel Race 2000 from here, because people seem to rave about it on the interwebs. But then I saw that Byron has gone out of business (or out of the nitro production business), and it apparently did so in 2020. Does that mean that this fuel is aged, stale and potentially unsuitable for use?

Finally, am I supposed to charge the Rx battery before first use? Nothing in the instructions seems to say that. But I'm not clear if that's just something everyone knows to do.

Thanks, and sorry if my questions are very elementary.
 
Last edited:
No idea on the tuning stuff. But yeah, it's a good idea to charge any battery before running. Especially if it is a NiMH pack. If it is a LiPo pack, that needs to be put on a storage charge after each use, and that is where it would be for shipping purposes, which is around 3.8v. So it would need to be topped off before running.

Maybe @cbaker65 or @STONER RC can chime in with tuning help. And I know Baker has a lot of tuning videos on his YT channel here...
https://youtube.com/user/fcbaker65
 
I have many times run idle on a stand it’s ok I recommend not Revving do to what can throw balance off in the wheels other than that ur fine. Most people have to fine tune gas rc on stand before putting it on the ground
Here is one I have run idle on stand to tune. Big tires in back don’t want to blow them of balance
 

Attachments

  • 4F402D78-0AE0-47B6-BB91-7D605ABE4B5E.jpeg
    4F402D78-0AE0-47B6-BB91-7D605ABE4B5E.jpeg
    373.2 KB · Views: 43
Last edited:
My understanding of revving it with the wheels off the ground is, just don't hold it at wide-open throttle, screaming its head off, with the wheels up. You can "blip" it all you want, but there's no reason or need to gun it for more than a second to see how it's responding to the tune.

This is to prevent a worst-case outcome of the engine breaking its connecting rod when it exceeds the RPM's it can handle.

Lots of the precautions you'll read about are there to protect you from edge cases, especially when you're new to the hobby, but are not set-in-stone laws.

Turning your engine to bottom dead center will be a bit tricky on an engine with a pull start, because if you advance it too far, you'll have to go all the way around again, which may be more difficult on a brand new engine. You'll have to get used to using gentle pressure on the starter handle and some on the flywheel to get it past the "pinch", and then turn it another 90 degrees or so to bottom dead center.

For engines without any starter, it'll be a lot easier because you can turn the flywheel in either direction.

Stored properly (sealed, dark, dry, cool), nitro fuel will not age as quickly as gasoline does- gas from early 2020 would be pretty stale by now, but nitro should be fine.
 
Back
Top