fueling and unfueling heli fuel tank

[clarkee]

My current heli has a fuel line between fuel tank and engine carb with a simple splice in the middle that enables me to 'break' the line and fuel \ unfuel the heli fuel tank..

Is there a better way of doing this as I think this current way could potentially allow the fuel to be contaminated with crud? I have heard of people being able to fuel and unfuel without breaking the line.

My heli also doesnt have a fuel filter.. I think I need one right? if so is there a recommended inline fuel filter that I can fit into the fuel line as well?

Also, I am looking at getting voltspy-cia, does anyone have any views on this product? Is it good\recommended?

Also..My 12v starter (Irvine super starter) has started being tempermental with me - sometime when pressing the starter button the starter intermittently works sometime it doesnt. Ive taken the starter apart (to look for anything obvious) but I cannot identify anything. My starter is approximately 18months old - do they stop working over time? Is there a fix or do I need to get a new one? Ive heard that a Sullivan Dynatron are good - does anyone have any views on this product ?

Sorry for lots of questions but hey I am a beginner!

[Ade_Law]

you can get a T piece filter. but personally i prefer just having a normal filter and splitting the line off the tank end of the filter. That way the filter catches any crud.

I dont use a filter on my heli. but i am very careful with the fuel. it is filtered as it comes out of the bottle and i have a cap with the filler lines in it that never comes out of the bottle unless i am switch to a fresh bottle of fuel.

for battery checking it is better to buy a load checker that plugs into the charge lead, loads the battery and measures voltage.

Ade

[Janek]

Just get a simple non-filter "T" piece, and two clamps, one for the carb pipe, and one for the "open" filler tube.

Like Ade, I don't run filters on the heli fuel line, but double filter from the bottle. I do however run a fliter on the pressure line, to stop exhaust crud getting into the tank.

[Raptorite]

I personally do all three! I filter the fuel between the fuel bottle and the heli, I also have filters on both the feed to the carb from the header tank and one in the pressure line from the exhaust to the main tank.

As long as you have a filter somewhere in the fuel system from the bottle you buy from the shop to the carb, you should be fine. The real trick is to make sure the bottle and all the lines you use to fuel the model up are not allowed to come into contact with anything that might contaminate them, things like allowing the end of the pipe to drop onto the dirt on the ground is one classic way of contaminating the fueling system, so long as you are careful to avoid things like that you should be fine.

As far as fueling the model up go, there are several ways of doing it, you could either as has already been mentioned, insert a T piece, in the fuel line between the tank and the carb, which along with a couple of clamps, one to clamp the line between it and the carb to stop the engine flooding while you fuel up the model, and the other to clamp off the fueling line while the model is flying. If you go for a header tank at some point, if you dont already have one, some have three nipples, usually one needs drilling through if you want to use it. The third is usually for fueling up, so the one from the clunk in the header to the carb can then be clamped off, again to stop the engine flooding whilst you fuel up the model.

Starter wise, the dynatron is indeed a very good starter, I have had one myself for the past three or so years, touch wood, it has always been very reliable and has never let me down. One of the benefits with the dynatron over some other starters is its ability to run on anything from 12v right upto 24v. This can be really useful, particularly if later on you get into the bigger block motor powered helis such as 90's etc. I run my dynatron on 18v for starting both the 70 and the 90, as these generally take more torque from the starter to turn them over quick enough to start.

Having said that, there are a number of good starters on the market which are equally capable of starting any heli, so as long as you steer clear of the cheaper end of the market, you should be fine. The average price for a good quality starter is around £50, although the dynatron retails at £74.99, you can find them a bit cheaper if you look around, and being so popular, they do come up on the second hand market from time to time.

The trick with any starter though, is to make sure you are powering it with a decent battery, if you have one of those small 12v 7AH flight box type batteries, you would certainly need to look into getting something with a little more oomph, maybe a car battery or a leisure battery such as you would find in boats and caravans. I, for example use a 12v 110AH leisure battery I took off the narrow boat when I replaced the batteries on it a couple of years ago, even then I still add a 6v 12AH battery between the leisure battery and the positive side of the starter to give it the extra power 18v provides for starting the larger helis.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Pete.

[clarkee]

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful indeed. Me thinks a shopping trip is in order!