How Cold can you go?

[godale03]

Hey guys,

The days are getting shorter, the temps are getting colder and therefore the RC's are getting ready for hibernation. What is the temperature that is the "cutoff point" for running RC's? I guess what I mean is what is the coldest you guys would run your RC's? I know the RC's will run when it gets cold, but I also know that parts get really brittle in the cold. I was just curious. I am trying to milk every last second out my cars before they go up on the shelf for the winter. Thanks

Tom

 

[vbgagnon]

some people run them in the winter. As long as your not going super huge when its below 50* you should be all set.

 

[godale03]

Thanks VB.... I live In MD so it doesn't get real cold... well at least not during the day, but even still it is usally only in the 40's in the heart of winter. If you do decide to run em in the winter, do you lean them out more than you usually would? Thanks

Tom

 

[vbgagnon]

You actually have to richen them up because the air is much more condenced. You should also run with a sock or tin foil around the cooling head so your engine can reach operating temp.

I actually ran my lsp at -5* last winter! I had just ported the engine and wanted to see it run. But that was for a short time!

 

[godale03]

You actually have to richen them up because the air is much more condenced. You should also run with a sock or tin foil around the cooling head so your engine can reach operating temp.

I actually ran my lsp at -5* last winter! I had just ported the engine and wanted to see it run. But that was for a short time!

Really... richen it. I am such a noob! I figured you would lean it to get the temps up. It makes since to richen it though. It hardly ever gets -5* here in MD, but it gets cold. There were some pretty nice days around here last winter, cold but no wind and plenty of sun, I wanted to run them last year but was afraid to do so. I did read in a post yesterday that you can actually boil your suspension parts to get them to flex a bit on impact. That would help things some in the winter, but seems to be more trouble than it is worth.

Tom

 

[beason]

ha i live in texas.. 80 deg and people start pulling out there "winter" coats.. i can prolly run all year with the exeption of maby a few weeks..

 

[godale03]

ha i live in texas.. 80 deg and people start pulling out there "winter" coats.. i can prolly run all year with the exeption of maby a few weeks..

Hey Beason! Rub it in man... Rub it in...... LOL It's 67* here right now, and I am still walking around in short sleeves and no coat. It's beautiful here right now.

Tom

 

[TT120]

I live in California so it never gets too cold to run. It will rain a lot this winter but we have some indoor tracks around so I can race all winter long. We also have a covered area for our on-road cars as well so I'll be burnin nitro all winter!

 

[godale03]

I live in California so it never gets too cold to run. It will rain a lot this winter but we have some indoor tracks around so I can race all winter long. We also have a covered area for our on-road cars as well so I'll be burnin nitro all winter!

See response to Beason above. )

I really need to move. LOL

 

[Plaidfish]

67* is perfect outdoor weather IMO....I hate heat....Hate humidity...so yeah I basically hate where I live...but make do w/ what you got right.....are you running th eRG still? if so pick up a used head from someone and cut the top 2 or 3 fins off for running in the winter if you don't want to do the sock thing.....funny how the air density issue is overlooked by a lot of RCers......the temp of your engine has very littel to do w/ the air temp...it all depends on O2 volume of the air.......so humidity actually affects tuning more than temp changes here in FL......really if you wanted to go SUPER techno geek you could make an enthalpy chart and graph your needle settings to the enthalpy reading adn always be on point w/ your tune......but that's turning a hobby into a job at that point, right?

 

[godale03]

67* is perfect outdoor weather IMO....I hate heat....Hate humidity...so yeah I basically hate where I live...but make do w/ what you got right.....are you running th eRG still? if so pick up a used head from someone and cut the top 2 or 3 fins off for running in the winter if you don't want to do the sock thing.....funny how the air density issue is overlooked by a lot of RCers......the temp of your engine has very littel to do w/ the air temp...it all depends on O2 volume of the air.......so humidity actually affects tuning more than temp changes here in FL......really if you wanted to go SUPER techno geek you could make an enthalpy chart and graph your needle settings to the enthalpy reading adn always be on point w/ your tune......but that's turning a hobby into a job at that point, right?

Yeah still running the RG, and man do I love that mill. It may not be high tech, or the fastest thing on the block, but it tunes easily and runs like a dog with its ass on fire. I will keep an eye open for a used head in the forum and go from there. Still a long way till cold weather.... at least here anyway. It is up to 80* here now. I am still a noob, so it is no surprise I had no idea about how little air temp has an effect. Thanks Plaid...

Tom

 

[4u2nv]

I drive my Savage year round. I got it in the middle of winter last year, so its only seen a half of winter, but I plan on to again this year. Here in MN. it gets pretty damn cold, so usually I'll get cold beforethe truck gets warmed up. I dont do any massive jumps or anything like that, just kinda rip around the yard and maybe jump some drifts, but nothing to crazy. Its also pretty hard to use the controls with gloves on, but its enough to cure my nitro addiction.

 

[AC48]

I have had my Nitros out at -13* before. Parts are britle but its harder to hit stuff hard cause theres so much snow everywhere, its like padding haha. I also found that your shock oil will get insanly thick. I had a savage and I would compress the shocks and it took like 4 seconds for the shocks to fully extend when lifted of the ground haha.

 

[joey]

same here i run my Gt year around mostly when I'm bored but what i also do it put a strip of electrical tape on the heat sink one on the bottom of the heat sink and one on the top .. it helps keep the temps up..

 

[akmadmaxx]

I live in Alaska and we run our nitros here all year round. If it gets below 10-15 we dont run them because your hands get so cold, but we run them all year.

 

[beason]

now THAT is hardcore.. lol i guess it can't hurt that bad.. i mean they do have nitro snowmobiles.. just make sure you hit operating temp

 

[BigRed]

We have our final big race for the outdoor season, its only supposed to be 50 out. Time to find an old pair of socks before the wife throws them out :hammer:

 

[phil110191]

i ran my rex x in -5 without havin any problems which is a gud thing since i live in the UK and winter dosent know wen to end lol i found that my shock oil did get a bit thick though

 

[olds97_lss]

I run in the winter all the time. But I try to have a "winter" engine to use because things do run cooler regardless how you tune.

I've read that you should run richer, but typically I don't. I lean it some to get the temps to stabilize around 200. Also, this year I took a second head for my 21 RG and cut all the fins off but 3 or 4, so now I have a stubby head to try.

I don't normally run below 20F just because I don't like driving with heavy gloves. If it's so cold that I can't wear those cheap brown 99 cent gloves, I don't bash.

 

[Plaidfish]

I've read that you should run richer, but typically I don't. I lean it some to get the temps to stabilize around 200.

I know you aren't trying to start up anything but just to clarify this....you may have to lean it out in some cases...for the most part though colder air is more dense....sometimes that density isn't all O2...it can be H2O......then you are looking at less O2......also elevation plays into this as well...higher elevations = thinner air = leaner settings......I just wanted to clarify the statement before anyone jumped on my ass about how to tune an engine.....or someone reads the statement and fiddles w/ stuff not really understanding what they are doing.....