OPERATING THE ENGINE IN YOUR MODEL
1) Ensure that you follow all of the safety
instructions when operating your engine.
2) Always remove the fuel lines from the
muffler and carburetor and fill up the fuel tank via the fuel feed
line that was running to the carburetor. When the tank is full,
re-install the fuel lines. Do not fuel up with the muffler
pressure line connected to the muffler.
3) Turn the high speed needle valve (black knurled knob on the
side opposite from the muffler) slowly clockwise until it seats
and you begin to feel resistance. Then back the needle valve
out about 2-1/4 turns. (See Figure 1)
4) With the throttle fully open (throttle arm fully forward), place
your finger over the carburetor air inlet. WIth your other hand
turn the engine over several times counter-clockwise (as
viewed from the front) until you see fuel flowing from the tank
to the carburetor. Make sure you always hand crank your
engine before using an electric starter or chicken stick.
5) Connect the glow plug ignitor and reduce the throttle to
about 1/4 open. “Prime” the engine by squirting a small amount
(10 drops or so) of fuel into the carburetor inlet.
6) Using an electric starter or chicken stick start the engine in a
counter-clockwise direction (as viewed from the front). Never
use your fingers to start the engine.
7) When the engine is running, remove the glow plug ignitor
and open the throttle fully. Hold the nose of the aircraft
straight up and slowly turn the high speed needle valve
clockwise in steps of about 1/8 of a turn. Listen carefully as
the engine RPM increases. When you get to the point that the
engine RPM is near its peak, back the needle valve off
counter-clockwise about 1/8-1/4 of a turn and lower the nose
of the aircraft to level. At full throttle with a full tank and a
level attitude the engine should be running with a slightly rich
gurgle. As you lift the nose of the aircraft, the engine should
lean out slightly. If in doubt always err on the side of being a
bit too rich when the tank is full and the nose is held high.
8) Adjust the low speed idle stop screw and your servo throws
so that at normal mid trim position on your throttle the engine
is running just above the point where it stops. Ensure that the
engine will stop when you pull back on the throttle trim or
when you hit your “kill throttle” button if you radio offers this
feature.
9) We suggest adjusting the low speed mixture only if
necessary and only after the engine is well broken in. Trying
to adjust the low speed mixture on a new engine that has not
been broken in will be very frustrating and generally does
more harm than good.
10) The low speed mixture screw is a small brass screw
recessed into the center face of the throttle arm. The best way
to check and set the low speed mixture is to warm the engine
up for 5 minutes or so at full throttle and then reduce the RPM
to idle, wait 30 seconds and then pinch the fuel line to cut off
fuel flowing to the carburetor.
- If the engine speeds up slightly before quitting, the low
speed mixture is about right and should not be adjusted,
- If the engine quits without speeding up slightly, the low
speed mixture is a bit too lean... richen the low speed mixture
by backing the low speed mixture screw out counter-clockwise
about 1/8 of a turn.
- If the engine speeds up considerably before quitting, the low
speed mixture is too rich, lean out the mixture by turning the
low speed mixture screw in clockwise about 1/8 of a turn.
4
5
CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF YOUR ENGINE
TROUBLESHOOTING
THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO!
1) Please read over the section entitled “THINGS YOU
SHOULD NOT DO”.
2) Do not run your engine in dirty, dusty conditions.
3) Use clean filtered commercial fuel. Install a fuel filter on
your pump to filter fuel as it goes into your fuel tank.
4) After each flying session
- run the engine dry by pinching the fuel line feeding the
carburetor and let the engine run out of fuel. Pump out your
fuel tank then re-connect all fuel lines.
- remove the glow plug and carefully put 6-10 drops
of afterrun oil (Pacer After Run recommended) into
the combustion chamber and another 6-10 drops
into the carburetor inlet. Turn the engine over by
hand 10 times. Reinstall the glow plug, close the
carb and insert a small plug of wadded paper towel
into the carburetor intake.
- use a stiff tooth brush and Fantastic or other non-abrasive
household cleaner (dish soap and water will work) and clean
all surfaces of the engine paying particular attention to
thoroughly clean the head and all cooling fins.
5) Make sure your propellor and spinner are clean and
balanced at all times. Discard your propeller if you find any
cracks, splits or nicks.
6) Make sure your fuel container is firmly closed.
Your VMAX engine will last a long time if you take care of it. On the other
hand you can ruin an engine pretty easily if you ignore the following
1) DO NOT...
run the engine in dusty dirty conditions.
2) DO NOT...
run your engine after a crash without clearing dirt, grit and
other debris from the engine.
3) DO NOT...
use low grade home brew fuel.
4) DO NOT...
use fuel with less than 18% oil content
5) DO NOT...
use fuel with only synethic oil in it. Make sure your fuel has
all castor oil or a blend of castor and synthetic oil.
6) DO NOT..
. forget to break in the engine carefully, preferably on an
engine test stand like the VMAR #VMA-ETS120
7) DO NOT...
push the engine too hard, too fast, too lean or too hot. If you
see oil residue literally burning onto the sides of the head to form a brown
varnish... you are running too hot. If the hear the engine “sag off” at high
RPM you are running the engine too lean and it is overheating.
8) DO NOT...
fuel up with the fuel line attached to the muffler. You run the
risk of flooding the engine.
9) DO NOT...
hit the engine with an electric starter without turning it over
by hand first. If the engine is flooded and has a hydraulic lock and you hit
it with an electric starter you will bend the wrist pin or connecting rod or
blow a hole in the top of the piston. Pretty much the dumbest and sadly
the longest standing most popular way to ruin an engine!
Your VMAX engine has been precision machined to give reliable and
powerful performance with a minimum of break in and adjustment.
In the event that you have trouble getting your engine to start or operate
smoothly please review the following troubleshooting tips.
1) DO NOT PANIC!
Just about everything has a cause and an effect and
with a bit of patience you can solve just about any problem.
2) READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.
Even if you have read them once, read
them again and fix anything you may have missed.
3) CHANGE ONLY ONE THING AT A TIME.
Do not change 5 things at
once, change one thing at a time and if the problem does not go away,
revert back to the way you had it before the change.
4) MAKE SMALL CHANGES.
Do not use a hammer and pipe wrench
like you are doing home plumbing or working on a tractor. Use small hand
tools and make slight careful adjustments. Do not overtighten any of the
bolts or you can strip the threads and then you are in big trouble. After a
small change, test the results before you change anything else. If the
problem got worse, go back the other way on your adjustment.
5) CHECK THE SIMPLE THINGS FIRST.
Your VMAX Engine is a
precision made and elegantly simple piece of machinery. The simple
things really do matter. Before you go off and start field stripping your
carburetor check the following...
- make sure the carburetor is seated on the O-ring seal and firmly held
into the engine by the retaining bolt.
- try a different glow plug and glow plug washer.
- make sure your glow plug ignitor makes the plug glow bright orange and
that it can keep the plug glowing well for at least 5 minutes.
10) DO NOT...
leave fuel in the engine at the end of a flying session.
Rust will start to form on the bearings also immediately! Run the engine
dry of fuel by pinching the fuel line to the carburetor while the engine is
running and keep the fuel line pinched until the engine stops for lack of
fuel.
10) DO NOT...
forget to use a good quality after run oil like Pacer After
Run when you are finished for the day. After Run inhibits rust and keeps
all the parts from gunking up with left over combustion oil.
11) DO NOT...
continually adjust and muck around with the engine. Once
you get it set up, only slight occasional adjustments are necessary to
accomodate changes in ambient conditions like temperature and
humidity. People with chronic “adjusticitis” usually adjust things until they
don’t work... then they call for an expert!
12) DO NOT...
take your engine apart unless absolutely necessary. If you
do take your engine apart it should only be because it is not working well.
Usually you will not be able to do much aside from clean it out and/or
replace worn parts. Note carefully how to reassemble it.
13) DO NOT..
. forget to clean the engine exterior after each flying
session. Leaving oil and baked on residue on the exterior of the engine
will reduce the cooling effectiveness of the head, fins and case and
contribute to over overheating and premature wear.
14) DO NOT...
use power tools or over tighten any of the bolts or you will
strip the threads.
THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO continued
6) SOME MORE SIMPLE THINGS TO CHECK.
- make sure that your fuel is clean and good quality. Have a friend fly a
tank of your fuel to make sure it performs well.
- check your fuel tank and tubing all the way from the muffler, back into
the fuel tank and back through the cluck to the carburetor. No leaks, no
kinks! Pull the pressure line from the muffler and try blowing in the
muffler pressure line while pinching the carburetor fuel feed line... no
leakage of fuel or air should occur. Now pull the fuel feed line from the
carb and blow gently into the muffler pressure line... fuel should come
out of the fuel feed line.
- turn the high speed needle valve in until it seats, counting the turns as
you go for reference. Now back the needle valve out and remove it. Clean
the end of the needle. With the fuel feed line connected to the carb, close
the carburetor barrel, turn the engine over and blow gently into the
muffler pressure line and make sure that fuel flows into the carb fuel
nipple and into the carb and out the needle valve receptacle. Blow gently
and in short bursts to flush the carb without flooding it with fuel. Reinstall
your needle valve as before and reconnect the pressure and fuel feed
lines.
7) ASK A COMPETENT FRIEND FOR HELP.
Check around at the
flying field and you will notice that some people arrive at the field, set up
their gear, do their checks, fuel up and fly fly fly with little in the way of
grief or trouble. This the kind of helper you want! Someone who knows
their stuff and can help you sort out a problem carefully. Stay away from
the verbose self-proclaimed “experts” who tend to spend all their time
adjusting this and that but seldom get it in the air or when they do,
seldom land with the engine still ticking over and the airplane in 1 piece!
8) USE AN ENGINE TEST STAND.
When you have trouble with an
engine in a model you can spend a lot of time trying fix an engine
problem only to find later that it is a fuel tank problem, vibration problem
or other difficulty inherent with the model rather than the engine. A test
bench really helps you set up an engine properly and you can change
fuel tubing, fuel tank height, props, spinners, glow plugs etc much easier
on a test stand.
TROUBLESHOOTING continued
VMAX WARRANTY
WHEN YOU NEED PARTS OR SERVICE.
Your VMAX engine is warrantied to the original buyer to be free of
manufacturing defects for a period of 1 year from date of purchase.
Problems caused by normal wear and tear, crash damage, abuse,
improper use, failure to comply with the break in and operating instruc-
tions, customer disassembly, use of substandard fuel or damage caused
by use of other accessories are not covered by this warranty.
All warranty returns MUST be accompanied by a dated sales
receipt from an authorized VMAX re-seller and the original VMAX
box. Warranty returns must be sent to the VMAX Service Center in
your market area.
1) Parts are available through your retailer or On-Line at
www.richmondrc.com. Please see the parts list on page 7.
2) For repairs please remove the engine from your model and send the
complete engine including muffler and carburetor to the VMAX Service
Center in your market area. Please visit www.richmondrc.com for the
location of the Service Center in your market area.
3) Attach a short note explaining the difficulty you are having, fuel type
used, glow plug used, propellor used etc. Be certain to include your name,
address, day and evening phone numbers and your email address.
