new motor and questions on temperature devices

[demo_derby]

I toasted my 3.3 traxxas motor, filter fell off after a flip and I didn't catch it, sucks.:constipat
Anyway I used that as an excuse to buy a OS .21tm. I hope the rain breaks here and there so I can break it in. I'm going to go for the heat cycle method. BTW, to gage BTC do you mark the fly wheel while using a caliper inside the glow plug hole or...something easy I am not thinking about?

What's the general opinion on what temp reading device to use:
Infrared
On board

How do I create a poll on this?

I'm leaning toward infrared, so I can use elsewhere too.

 

[robmob]

Remove the plug and look down the plug hole while rotating the flywheel. You will see when the piston has reached the bottom at which point you mark the flywheel with a marker or whatever.

On board temp monitors are really only good for giving you the max temp reached while running.

A hand held is best and more accurate.

 

[jack_mcgill]

look in your exhaust hole , youl see the piston go up and down the sleeve, unless you have a bolted header

 

[Cupooterluvr]

Just look in the glow plug hole. When you see the piston stop at the bottom and start to come up, mark that spot on the flywheel.

If you have bad depth perception, you can stick the eraser end of a pencil down the plug hole to gently press the piston down to BDC then mark it. Just make sure it's a new pencil so you know the eraser is clean.

 

[Scrogg]

Definitely use a quality temp gun such as a Raytek. It sucks to loose an engine to dirt, been there... I ruined a screamer of a SW.26 to the same situation.
Please give us a good review on the 21tm, I am trying to decide between the RB .23 and the 21TM at the moment.

 

[demo_derby]

Thanks guys.

One thing on heat cycling. From what I read the OS is extremely rich from the factory. Do I turn the HSN 90 degrees before I even start the break in or just leave it alone and try and heat cycle following the OS manual? Or option 3, run it as is and see if the temp goes up to ~200F?

 

[Scrogg]

First and foremost, preheat the engine to at least 180F. Always do this to new engines before the first 3-5 heat-cycles. It will make the entire engine last longer. Allow 20 min. of cooling time between cycles.
Then if it will idle fine with just a little throttle input from you let it run and see where the temps go. 180-220 is ideal for break-in. Don't touch any needles until the engine tells you too!
I would just follow the manual on this one in case you have warranty issues. 279 a pop is a lot for an engine.

 

[demo_derby]

279 is alot...but from what I can tell it should be worth it
ran the motor, maybe 3 tanks heat cycling it. It's really wierd, the lsn was too lean, it ran way too hot ~260-280 and I had to turn it 180 degrees to lower the temps to ~205, I'm pretty pissed about that and hopefully no damage occured. It also ran perfectly at idle, ~180-196. I don't get it from what I read in the OS manual it were supposed to run supper rich out of the box.

 

[demo_derby]

Definitely use a quality temp gun such as a Raytek. It sucks to loose an engine to dirt, been there... I ruined a screamer of a SW.26 to the same situation.
Please give us a good review on the 21tm, I am trying to decide between the RB .23 and the 21TM at the moment.

I thought I would get back to you on the OS.21tm:
Keep in mind I have had only 6 r/c motors in my life, the stock stampede .15 motor ~4yrs ago, stock ofna pirate motor, stock 1/8 ofna buggy motor, thunder tiger .21, 3.3 traxxas, and the OS .21tm.

Out of the group prior to the OS .21tm, I had liked the .15 stampede motor and the thunder tiger .21 the best. However, in my opinion the OS .21tm is way better than all of them. I have the tiger drive for starting and it only takes one quick pull on the drill to get it fired up, I would consider going back to a pull start, it is that good. It doesn't seem to lose performance running supper rich, meaning tons of smoke at full throttle and a temp of 220-240F. I have run it up to 270-280 and didn't notice a huge performance difference, so I fattened it up to drop the temp. It seems to idle for a good 10 seconds without a problem.

One thing I cannot figure out:
At part throttle it will hiccup like it is too lean, so I richen the LSN to where it won't do this anymore but it will only idle for 10s before flooding and dying. If I lean the LSN it will idle forever however I get the previously described problem, the hiccup. The hiccup does not occur when I go from a stop to full throttle, only when I am putzing around at 1/4 to 1/3 throttles. When I go from a full stop to full throttle it takes off like a bat outta hell, wheel stand and all with a nice trail of smoke. It does have a mid range needle on it that I open ~1/4 of a turn to try and help the hick up too, but I didn't have much success with that. Any ideas?