Trex 600 NSP Align 50 hyper question

[Tim Procter]

Busterboy has PM'ed me advising the Align exhaust could have some bearing on my concerns. And has kindly offered the directions to his local flying spot to compare with other 600's.

Well Shaun (Ponteflyer) arrived at the field today with his 600nsp, Got a warm welcome from the lads then we decided have a listen to his heli.

Jeebus the intense rattle the heli made was terrible.

The engine had loads of compression, Loads of power, And started first time so we tried to convince ourselves that the engine was ok.

I popped back home again for a spare Align muffler I have, We fit that thinking the baffles could be rattling around but sadly no difference with that fitted.

Scratching our heads almost lost for suggestions decided it must be a bearing in the starter shaft/clutch bearing or even the dreaded rear bearing in the engine.

Shaun is calling at his LHS on his way home for replacement bearings and presume he will report back here.

Watch this space.

[Jackflap]

Thanks to Tim (busterboy) I had a fab day at work. Yep was playing with heli's and getting paid by work to do it...

As describe got a very warm welcome from all at Tim's site and some excellent encouragement, conversation as well as help. Called at the LHS on my way home and was advised with my description of the said noise, rattle, whatever to check / replace the main engine bearing (dually purchased at £15.99!) but was advised the clutch was most unlikely to be a cause of the above. Was also advised to check for end to end float if the clutch wasn't tight i.e. threadlock fouling last few mm of threads etc.

Hopefully it will be (WTF) how did I miss that without any damage. I'm RTFM'ing as well just incase

Hopefully next time I get to fly at Tim's pad I'll not upset the neighbours or sheep with mi flying bag of marbles. Oh well I'll go put the oven on just incase the bearings do need changing....

Thanks for your time today Tim much appreciated.

Shaun

[Jackflap]

Latest update

Removed engine from frame to return to model shop

Close inspection reveals the following...

1. stiffness on bearing (worst I've seen)
2. conrod rubbing on bottom of crank case
3. balance weight spotted to death and the crank shaft (looking through carb)is missing coating showing wear.

Not going to bother with the bearing but going to try for an exchange engine, not happy with this for 4 ltrs as thread shows this unit has not been good from start.

Hopefully update tomorrow.

Cheers

Shaun

[Jackflap]

Not impressed!

Well took the engine to the LHS and got the answer I expected well got a few more actually.

I used it (dam missed that bit in the instructions) don't use this engine or it will break.

The other reply was what fuel did I use Optifuel 20% I replied, are that stuff mmmm.

Another answer was the back bearings gone....

No real concern felt for the purchaser other than they will send it to Robbe and they will either loose it in the post or tell me warrantly void as it has been used.

1st class customer service, if this is the attitude of retailers then sorry I'm going back to the internet and take my chances.

Well looks like I'm grounded until Monday 5th Jan 2009 when I have a 200mile drive to Leicster to see what Robbe say no doubt the same, to come home to put the new bearing in and risk something else going wrong and probably costing a large repair bill to the heli or buy a new engine but remembering not to put fuel in it. I'm sure the wife will appreciate a T-Rex sitting on the mantle piece. Should have bought an airfix kit it would have been cheaper

If the LHS concerned sees this then next time I call in I'll explain my concerns face to face....

Not a happy bunny!!!

[Tim Procter]

As I said on the phone Shaun, They gave me a similar answer when I asked about warranty on a new engine, Such a grey area in their eyes.

Can anyone shed any light on what warranty with what terms you get when buying a brand new OS engine.

[Jackflap]

Tim, yes you were almost word for word my friend, and I was advised but alas I had to try. I understand grey areas but it's I'm sorry to say "lack of interest" shown at point of sale that is grinding at the minute. Totally different attitude towards customers than the high street retailers. Just spoke to the wife she asked how I got on advised on the above post. She's even less impressed and when I mentioned the possibility of buying a new engine, kin hell......she went ape.

[James B]

my 600 with Hyper and Align pipe sounds quite loud and makes a very distictive sound,(compared to Raptor 50s with same motor) a very whiny sort of noise and a scream in idle up. There are 4/5 of us at our field with the same set up and they all sound the same....

[Jackflap]

Engine sent back to distributor last week to have a look at (rear bearing dead). Heard nothing so far from them (7 days). Good job I bought the heli to put on the mantle piece I would be stuffed if I used it for what it was intended for

[Tim Procter]

Did you not get a new engine Shaun??

TBH my engine was away about 3 weeks but as they decided it was repaired FOC I didnt complain.

[Jackflap]

Yep, went to Fast Lads and bought a new OS, it's fitted and ready to go. I went to the field Saturday but it was -3.5 so I gave it a miss, went Sunday and was blowing a gale. Waiting for this weekend fingers crossed for some reasonable weather to start running in. But heard nothing from Robbe yet.

[Jackflap]

Just what I expected

Final update,

Got my engine back today after nearly a month to be told heavy corrosion of the rear bearing caused it to fail (4 weeks old and 3 ltrs of fuel???) It also showed inadequate signs of lubrication, the suggestion was to fit a new set of bearings and take the model to LHS to have them set it up. Not flaming likely it was set up there originally look where this got me. Having said that I set my expectations low so I'm not too suprised. As advised on various forums the retailer and distributor seem to have their warranties pretty much wrapped up to put the blame on the user, fuel, set up, etc, etc.

Looking at a few older forums since fitting an OS to my heli "Robgt" has given me a good starting point and have now got three tanks through the new engine and it sounds and runs a lot better. The mixture settings are different to what my original engine was set at from LHS. Still a little unsure on best settings to minimise a reoccurance of engine number one. It's times like these you wish there was a flyin on the horizon to seek some advise.