Manufacture's Dont Give Enough Info!

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.

windy city maniac

RCTalk Racer
Messages
97
Reaction score
0
RC Driving Style
WHY DONT THE MANUFACTURE'S TELL U THAT IF YOUR IN CRAZY WHETHER CLIMATES TO TWEAK THE NEEDLES TREMENDLESSLY. EX: I BOUGHT A NITRO TC3+ in chicago the factory settings were fine there. when i brought it back to texas it was way out of wack. the factory settings were like this
HSN - 2 1/2 TURNS OUT
LSN - 1/16 OUT
my new settings in texas went like this
HSN - 1 1/4 TURNS OUT
LSN - BARELY OUT AT ALL ALMOST CLOSED
AND WHEN I BOUGHT MY MAD FORCE I GOT WHEN THE HSN WAS 4 TURNS OUT. AND EVERY 1 SHOULD REMEMBER MY THREAD ON THAT 1. WHEN I TOOK IT THE LHS THEY RETUNED IT AND NOW THE HSN IS ONLY 2 1/4 TURNS OUT. R THEY TRYING TO GET U TO DAMAGE UR ENGINE OR WHAT?
IT WOULD B VERY FRAUSTRATING FOR A COMPLETE NEWBIE! MANUFACTURE'S SHOULD GIVE U DIFFERENT SETTINGS FOR EACH STATE.
LIKE IN ALASKA THESE THINGS RUN AT LIKE A 1/2 TURN OUT!
 
first of all Alaska is so friggin big it'd need like 10 different "region settings". Honestly I couldn't expect a manufacturer to travel to all 50 states just so they can publish different needle setting that would all end up wrong on Wednesday because they tested it on Friday two years ago. Basically I'm saying that you can't blame the manufacturer for lack of info just because you happen to travel around to different climates. Climates change hour by hour in most places and even more in some (like here in Cleveland, OH) they can't assume that any given needle settings will always work in an given area of the country/world.
 
Last edited:
Nitro engines are the fussiest pieces of machinery when it comes to their environment. Go 1/5th scale and get a two-stroke gas/oil mix engine and your tuning headaches go away.

tuning.gif
 
They Should Havve A Representitive In Each State That Can Test There Products There I Just Dont Think It Is Right That They Test In California And Expect It To B The Same On The East Coast. They Should Put A Little More Concern Into There Products! They Travel To Different States To Go To Major Races And Have To Tune There Truck For That Climate Why Couldnt They Give Tuning Guides Then?
 
windy city maniac said:
They Test In California And Expect It To B The Same On The East Coast.

I highly doubt they "expect" it to be the same.

A don't mean to be given you a hard time but I don't see how it's the manufacturers responsibility to teach everybody how to tune an engine. The market is large enough for people to learn and teach themselves. That's why it's considered a 'hobby'. There are countless websites and such with all the information you could possibly ever need to learn about r/c's, including engine tuning. There's was this little invention quite some time back that held information on all kinds of stuff. I think they still call it a library. :shrug:
 
Creating a tuning specification that takes into account every combination of factors that affect a nitro engine would be next to impossible.

Do you even know your barometer reading today?

How about the relative humidity? (That's not the sweat that forms on your balls when you're doin' your cousin, by the way.)

Bottom line: There's only two needles to adjust on most engines to achieve a "harmonious balance" with the five major factors that affect tuning.

As much as some people like to bash Traxxas, that chart I posted above is from them. It's the only piece of Traxxas documentation that I actually keep handy.
 
The factory settings are also for break in only. They are typically extremely rich regardless what state your in. All factory settings are good for after break in is when you get it so out of wack, you at least have a rich starting point to get it running again.
 
So you think a manufacturer should have someone in every state to gather data? Don't you think the cars are expensive enough as it is? I for one do not want to pay for a company's added costs of something like that. And even that would not be enough. Why? Because the actual settings depend on variables that can change even with 2 locations only an hour apart. You need to consider things like ambient temperature, barometric pressure, altitude, and humidity. And if you look at all but altitude, the rest of the factors can change significantly IN THE SAME LOCATION from day to day. One thing you will have to get used to is the fact that the settings you ran yesterday will probably not work as well today. Nitros need to be tuned and retuned often. In some cases with every run. So it's impossible to give settings for every state. Even if someone did want to, they'd still only be suggestions. So my advice to you is to take the time to learn to tune your engine. Learn what conditions demand what kind of tweak. That's the only way you'll ever get along with your car. If you feel that tuning a nitro engine is too much of a pain, do me a favor and buy an electric....
 
I agree with this guy and that's why I am calling HPI first thing Monday to ask for someone to come out and tune my Savage for NY weather. Dammit, I am demanding they send someone first thing. I want them to install a HSN and a LSN that will automatically fluctuate just as the NY weather does. Yeah, that's what they will do, for sure. And they will have to install some type of titanium engine mount cuz mine broke after one too many jumps and lid-skids.


Anyways, back to reality. Just richen it up and work your way in, works for me. You will have to retune for different weather, different altitudes, etc.
 
I'm thinking fuel injection with an electronic control module. That should solve all our tuning issues....
 
you should see the instructions XTM gives for doing the .21 conversion. its a joke! There were 3 parts in there I had NO FRIGGEN CLUE what they even were and had to call and ask wtf they were and were they went. But after being on hold for a good 20 mins they were so good help. But if they would just put some instructions in with it, I wouldnt have had to call.
 
Even if you're in the same area, the tuning will still be different from day to day because of temp, humidity and barometric pressure. As an owner of a nitro vehicle, it is your responsibility to be able to tune your engine, or have it tuned at the LHS. Manufacturers can't have data from every single area just so you can dial in a certain amount of turns for your car.

Tuning is not an exact science. You have to find your engine's sweet spot.
 
Last edited:
olds97_lss said:
So what your saying is... I should let my wife tune it.
LOL, sure ... why not? But I meant your engine's sweet spot, not yours!
 
i didnt have to b ridiculed for this. what i am trying to get at is they should put a little more info in with there products.
 
WCM, although we may be making a little light of the comment, what we are all saying is that tuning a nitro engine is so incredibly variable that it's not feasible to try to give that much detailed info in a manual. The best we can hope for is perhaps a brief explanation like Traxxas gives in their manual which are mere guidelines. Or a site like RCNT where you can look through posts which have posed similar questions and get another general idea of what you should be doing.
The real bottom line is experience. Get out there and tinker. Get a temp gun so you can monitor your engine. And take a little time just to experiment and see what different adjustments do to the performance of your engine. The tough part is there are no absolute answers. It's not possible to be able to make a table of precise settings based on where you are. Yeah, that would probably make life a little easier. But it's way to variable. There is no substitue for experience. So, let me apologize for being one to make light of it. Just get out there with a screwdriver and have at it. You'll be amazed at what you can learn in one afternoon. And if you have more questions, there is plenty of experience on RCNT to help you along.
 
I've been running RC's for about 3 years now, about 10 different engines from 4 makers. There are still days I just can't get it to run right. Unfortunatly the manuals are pretty much made to get you started. On my first, I didn't even read it. I figured I "knew" how to deal with a 2 cycle engine... therein lies a problem, these aren't a typical 2 cycle. My first engine lasted me 2 gallons before it was dead. Little did I know there was an actual break in process...

Like CandyMan said, experiance in the field is about the only thing that helps with quick and accurate tuning. Although, it may cost you an engine, or at least an engine will have a short life. As time goes on, it gets easier.

No ridiculing intended.
 
How about the relative humidity? (That's not the sweat that forms on your balls when you're doin' your cousin, by the way.)

LMAO Thats great.
 
WindyCity-
Well, I'm new in this "nitro" hobby (2 months so far), even though I owned my first electric offroad more than 15 years ago. Be honest, I'm kind of enjoy tuning the engine. It is the major reason I chose nitro over electric. Once you know the concept, it will be easier.
Just be patient. It is a learning process.
 
It's also easier to make nitro go faster, cheaper anyway. But from what I've seen, it's hard to out torque electric. But I can run for hours at a time... that is, when I can get it running...
 

Similar threads

normrdz300
Replies
4
Views
3K
normrdz300
normrdz300
D
Replies
7
Views
2K
Daltonator777
D
H
Replies
9
Views
3K
gandalfnz
gandalfnz
Nitroman7888##
Replies
17
Views
809
DavidB1126
DavidB1126
Back
Top