Dead engine ?

[Spasmod]

Fired up the Raptor 30 V2 today on the rotation table I made.

Was fine for a while, sitting nicely at half stick on normal curve while I tested the gyro settings.

Suddenly the entire heli started to shake violently and the engine was making a strange noise and losing power. I hit throttle hold which cut the engine and let it cool down.

About an hour later it did the same again. Seems fine for about a minute then does the same again and won't restart after.

A friend of mine thinks the big end has gone in the engine and when it gets hot rattles so much it's making the heli shake.

It's an SC .36 engine... anyone had something like this happen ?

Thanks

Martin

[waveydavey]

By the sound of it's leaner than a super model. What's a rotation table, what fuel and what are the needle settings.

[Spasmod]

Could be that causing it, the fuel is Sidewinder 16%.. I'm not sure what the needle settings are. I'm going to have a quick look over on Raptortechnique to see what they should be. I just hope I haven't killed the engine

Edit* forgot to say the rotation table is something I made up using an old wheel and a wheel bearing I had lying around. It let's the heli spin up and rotate 360 degrees without the fear of it tipping over if something goes wrong. Quite handy for a newbie like me

[Steve]

Best thing you can do is take it to a local club and get it checked over and test flown.

Never heard of Sidewinder fuel - is that car nitro fuel or something? Could be lacking some oil content maybe?

[oneandonlyian]

check your fuel clunk line isn't to long and sucking itself to the fuel tank. Sounds weird but seen it done to or 3 times.

[waveydavey]

I've had a quick look and can't find anything for the SC 36. Have you got a manual you could post

[Steve]

I've had a quick look and can't find anything for the SC 36. Have you got a manual you could post

I had an SC36 heli engine once which I never fitted into a heli! I used it in a plane on normal heli fuel and it went great at full chat, but didn't throttle at all well. Kind of 'all or nothing'. The plane was a Bill Kitts Funfly 15 and we had a load of them at our field that summer. We messed about with a radar speed gun and clocked mine at 147mph from memory with that engine and a 10x5 prop.

[electricsceadu]

the sc36 is prone to rear bearing failure, poor carbs
and tuning issues
and the odd con-rod snaps

and i think sidewinder fuel is car fuel

first i would have a look inside the engine and replace any damaged items
then get some heli fuel
re-tune the engine
take it off the rotating table to allow the heli to load the engine hopping about with training skids on

[bigbas]

imho i would waste no money on that motor the carbs are a bloody pig to throttle well i had one and ended up with an os carb on it put a wanted ad on forum someone has a good one here to spare but run on heli fuel only mate u asking for grief if not os 32 is what u want !!!!!!!!!!

[Spasmod]

Thanks for all the help guys, I never realised heli's have to have special fuel. I'll try all the suggestions before giving up on the engine. Thanks again

[del19_82]

For heli fuel the most popular two in my opinion are Optifuel & rapicon. Both would be perfect for you to run your engine on

[oneandonlyian]

If its a plane engine shouldnt it be horizontal which could explain some of the issues (just putting ideas out there) The first nitro heli leeds model shop sold to my dad they sold him a plane engine for it, he had similar problems to you as the carb position is wrong.

[electricsceadu]

it will be this engine the sc36h




sc36h.jpg

[Spasmod]

it will be this engine the sc36h




[ATTACH=CONFIG]30950[/ATTACH]

That's the one

[electricsceadu]

with the engine still in the heli i would remove the engine backplate and look at the rear bearing
check that the cage between the balls isn't breaking up and check that the balls look ok
if in doubt change the rear bearing
if ok
refit the back plate
get some heli fuel with at least 18% oil content (as per the sc instructions for warranty)
set the main needle to 2 tuens open from fully closed (don't force the needle in tight as it will damage its seat)

and try again
any signs of overheating stop the engine , let it cool down, open the needle a bit more and try again