I'm an RC newbie with no experience out side of the walmart-tyco special. 
This weekend I took my new Maximum ST out to do a little break in. The events of the day I'm sure will leave you seasoned RC addicts rolling on the floor laughing.
To start the comedy of errors, I realized Saturday morning that I should have plugged my glow igniter in the night before. I read the box and sure enough 12-14 hours needed the first charge. I plugged it in anyway and let it charge for 6 hours.
Not knowing if the thing would start in 32 degree weather with a glow igniter that had only charged for 6 hours, I figured I put only a little bit of gas in the tank and try to start it out on my porch. I followed the book and gave it hell. Nothing. Glow igniter needs juice I thought. I removed the glow plug and hooked it up to the igniter. It was plenty hot. I replaced the glow plug and tried again, manually giving it some gas. It fired right up. I filled the tank the rest of the way and packed it out to the street.
Problem #1 solved – engine started. Problem #2: when I would let go of the throttle it would die. During break in, I had to use the trim on my throttle to make it idle. To make matters worse, if I had to use the breaks, it would die instantly. I knew it had to be the carb. I checked the books again. The high-speed needle wasn't the problem so I tinkered with the low speed needle. Didn't help. So I put it back. I read the book again. The third adjustment didn't get much justice. The "throttle stop screw" (or idle stop) just didn't make any sense. The Duratrax instructions tell next to nothing about it. I later developed the theory that this is a physical stop on the throttle mechanism. When you let loose of the throttle, the throttle stop screw decides where throttle rests. I gave it a turn or two and TADA! That was it.
Problem #2 solved—truck didn't die any more. Problem #3: the whole time I was running the truck around, the controller was inverted. I had to turn the wheel left to go right and I had to push the trigger to give it gas instead of pull it, etc. It was annoying. After the first tank of gas into the break in, I figured I'd call it a day and see what I did wrong when I hooked the servo's up. I know I oriented them right. I figured it must electrical (seems so stupid now). Later that night, I took the receiver off and flipped it over. You can't plug the servos in wrong; all of the wire plugs are notched. That wasn’t the problem. I then looked at the controller....... Hummm... what’s this? .... a door?!?! …. with switches inside ?!?!? Will you look at that "servo reverse". I guess the choice to not read the futaba book had come back to bite me.
All in all, it was good. I learned a lot and didn't damage anything with my stupid mistakes. I can't wait to finish breaking it in (with the controls not in reverse)
-Robert
This weekend I took my new Maximum ST out to do a little break in. The events of the day I'm sure will leave you seasoned RC addicts rolling on the floor laughing.To start the comedy of errors, I realized Saturday morning that I should have plugged my glow igniter in the night before. I read the box and sure enough 12-14 hours needed the first charge. I plugged it in anyway and let it charge for 6 hours.
Not knowing if the thing would start in 32 degree weather with a glow igniter that had only charged for 6 hours, I figured I put only a little bit of gas in the tank and try to start it out on my porch. I followed the book and gave it hell. Nothing. Glow igniter needs juice I thought. I removed the glow plug and hooked it up to the igniter. It was plenty hot. I replaced the glow plug and tried again, manually giving it some gas. It fired right up. I filled the tank the rest of the way and packed it out to the street.
Problem #1 solved – engine started. Problem #2: when I would let go of the throttle it would die. During break in, I had to use the trim on my throttle to make it idle. To make matters worse, if I had to use the breaks, it would die instantly. I knew it had to be the carb. I checked the books again. The high-speed needle wasn't the problem so I tinkered with the low speed needle. Didn't help. So I put it back. I read the book again. The third adjustment didn't get much justice. The "throttle stop screw" (or idle stop) just didn't make any sense. The Duratrax instructions tell next to nothing about it. I later developed the theory that this is a physical stop on the throttle mechanism. When you let loose of the throttle, the throttle stop screw decides where throttle rests. I gave it a turn or two and TADA! That was it.
Problem #2 solved—truck didn't die any more. Problem #3: the whole time I was running the truck around, the controller was inverted. I had to turn the wheel left to go right and I had to push the trigger to give it gas instead of pull it, etc. It was annoying. After the first tank of gas into the break in, I figured I'd call it a day and see what I did wrong when I hooked the servo's up. I know I oriented them right. I figured it must electrical (seems so stupid now). Later that night, I took the receiver off and flipped it over. You can't plug the servos in wrong; all of the wire plugs are notched. That wasn’t the problem. I then looked at the controller....... Hummm... what’s this? .... a door?!?! …. with switches inside ?!?!? Will you look at that "servo reverse". I guess the choice to not read the futaba book had come back to bite me.
All in all, it was good. I learned a lot and didn't damage anything with my stupid mistakes. I can't wait to finish breaking it in (with the controls not in reverse)
-Robert
There isn’t anyone around here I can learn this stuff from. You guys will just have to put up with my questions. 
