Engine Doctor

Well worth a try to repairing it . Do make sure that windings or tails cannot short onto case or mounting. New heat shrink should do the job but If in doubt try some 24hr araldite. It will hold wires in place and insulate them . Definitely use some threadlock on mounting screws .

How did you get on Stevo ? Any pics of the finished job ?

I'm sure word /his name will spread through the local grape vine and he gets all he deserves .

Posted by Dave Hopkin on 05/07/2015 11:07:34: Its a brilliant tool but fit a chuck to it and bin the annoying collets! Downside it always runs out of battery 3/4 the way through a job! I agree with above and binned my old cordless dremel some years ago. I use a mains powered B &D Wizard Multi tool with a chuck fitted . Great tool loads of power and it doesn't go flat when you need it and just over half price of dremel at £40

I bought one a couple of years ago. I was very disappointed with it. Badly assembled but was from china through e-bay By the time I had fitted it to a plane it was too late to complain and probably not worth the hassle from china anyway.It was rebuilt by me with new cyl ,piston ,ring, bearings etc as they had been damaged by swarf left in the engine from the factory ! Re-built engine was much better but still not as powerful as expected. so sold it. I have spoken to other owners who have had no problems at all . If fitted in a cub or a very light air-frame it should be fine . mine was fitted to a seagull Extra that was a bit on the heavy side in fact a flying brick . Dont put off testing it like so many of us modellers in case its a poor one . Try a 16x8 wooden prop . Edited By Engine Doctor on 04/07/2015 15:47:09

Hi All . Our next Swapmeet will be on Sunday the 16th August at our Stickfast lane flying site near Sittingborne ,north Kent . No need to book just turn up £6 a boot/stall £1 entry for buyers .Children under 14 free All proceeds to KAA . Tea and coffee bar available . Fun fly after sale weather permitting . If your not a club member you MUST have your BMFA membership with you. See you there For details of location go to www.medwaymfc.org.uk   Edited By Engine Doctor on 04/07/2015 12:02:59

Posted by Martin Harris on 03/07/2015 11:27:59: I've always used a circular but up and down action in both directions to produce a cross-hatched pattern - it feels kinder to the rings than having them hitting a series of horizontal sharp edges and follows larger engined practice - any reason for your method ED? Hi Martin I didn't make that very clear did I  ? Circular yes and vary the angle I meant not  not straight up and down the bore  . Using a digit to glaze bust our small engines does produce a cross-hatched effect as it very hard to keep the wet and dry in one place .Sharp edges , hardly , not from 1000 to 1500 grit . We are talking glaze busting not honing out machine marks . When lapping cylinders I use a back and forth motion to help maintain a parallel bore Its not critical . so long as the marks are not vertical . As for larger engine practice I would agreed with you entirely and use a honing tool but they do tend to have a courser grit and if they are not moved up and down the bore they can produce an un-parallel bore . Edited By Engine Doctor on 03/07/2015 21:16:51

Posted by Stevo on 02/07/2015 13:31:51: Well with baking soda, a rinse in hot water is all that's needed Hi Steveo not if there's thick oil in the thread ,it makes a very stubborn plug/thread eater

Hi its important to de-glaze the liner before fitting a new piston ring . As Steveo said Fine wet and dry will do the job anything from 1000 to 1500 grit . Wash well in plenty of soapy water after de-gazing to remove any traces of grit. De-gaze in a circular motion around the cylinder , not up and down . The fine scratches produced help bed down the new ring and trap oil to help the process . New rings , although turned round are not always perfectly round after they have been hardened and tempered so this bedding in really helps make a good seal that's vital for good slow running reliable engine . A hone isn't really necessary as a Mk1 finger will do the job fine .If the liner is badly scored then its a replacement job. Check valve seating and that the valve springs are ok at the same time as these are often overlooked .They shouldn't take too long to run in Three or four tanks running a touch rich with short runns allowing the engines to get thoroughly hot the allowed to cool will speed up the running in . After this fly them running slighty rich and they will be fine .

Hi Virtually all old 35 meg Tx's are convertible to 2.4 using the Fr-Sky modules or hack module . Very easy and cheap . £35 meg is fine if your flying site doesn't suffer from any interference . Our field had two very bad spots for interference and it was worse on a Saturday for some reason ? We think it may have been micro wave transmissions but don't really know. Since most members are now 2.4 interference is it seems a thing of the past .

Do you mean CrrPro 26r ?

Have used Fr-Sky modules in my FF9 /FF7/6exa and fitted many hack modules to various other Tx's for club mates and all are Brilliant. Excellent bit of kit with a decent fail-safe facility and almost instantaneous re-boot .

As fa as I am aware it can work either way . 2.4 Rx then 2.4 Tx is master and vice versa with 35 Meg Tx master for 35 Meg Rx

You will probably find that putting it in a saucepan of boiling water will soften all the gummed surfaces. Or you could use a hot air gun to heat the whole engine . Other brave souls use SWMBO's oven though usually when she's out. Any heat will soften the built up gunge that is probably castor oil.The bearings may feel ok but will probably be damaged with fine pitting on the surfaces that will quickly degrade and fail if its run. Some of the early OS engines had Manufacturer only bearings that could only be sourced from OS ; not sure about the open rocker model as never had to replace any bearings on one .Front or rear crank case can be removed not a problem . If the front is first be careful that the big end journal is not stuck in the con rod with gum as this could damage the rod or piston all the rest is pretty straight forward . Good luck and let us know how you get on . E.D.

Posted by Stevo on 01/07/2015 10:14:48: Nothing to do withPaul Hollywood and his beloved bread. I saw Mr Winch introduced thesubject last week in the magazine - I did email him but he gave nothing away! I'm now armed with a compressor, blow gun, 5kg tub of Sodium BiCarbonate and an Enya 90 FS. Will report back by the weekend: - Hi Stevo . Block all the threaded holes before blasting. As any blasting agent can clogg in them and is a so and so to remove. E.D.

H Peter . Have you tried the museum in East street in Sittingbourne ? They seem to get hold of most things from the area.

Is there a good airflow over the ESC ? Overheating in this unusually warm weather is a common cause of ESC problems or even failure. Well worth looking at .

This one is even cheaper and will power the Imax B6 fine while charging 4s batteries of 3500 Mah at 1c . To charge higher capacity you have to charge at a lower rate . I use this type all the time and its fine . Hope it helps E.D.

Hi Stevo. Not messing about now .I'm sure you already know all of this but it might help any newcomers with their first attempts at covering . I find I only really use my covering iron for tacking and fitting the covering apart from compound curves where I use the hot air gun . I only tack around the edges When I'm happy with the fit I then iron down the edges firmly. When the panel is covered all over, ie top and bottom ,I then shrink the whole lot with the hot air gun. Just keep the gun moving so as not to overheat one spot ,especially important if using a light weight covering or solar film original, light span etc. Another tip when covering a light weight structure like a twisty wing is hold it straight or hold in washout as required when shrinking .When happy with the the result use the iron again and iron all the ribs and spars that touch the covering , this fixes the covering to the structure and stiffens the whole panel . Also make holes in the ribs etc before covering to allow hot expanded air to escape so as not to cause the film to bulge a it will then sag when it cools .

ASP or Magnum crank case will be ok as all the same ,just different badge casting . If JE are selling them at £38 that's probably the way to go. Just MO but I don't think you will get anywhere by asking the suppliers to replace it as being faulty. It does look as though its been bolted down to out of line or un-level mounts . The two piece mounts are ok but drill and tap carefully and double check that they are not too tight against the crank case before bolting engine up tight . When happy mark the firewall mounting with the mount bolted to the engine and all should be ok . Better still use a Du-Bro metal mount and the rubber bushes should allow a small amount of adjustment to take place when all bits are tightened but not a substitute for accurate drilling.

Hi Stevo . Use the rule of thumb method ! !,Turn on iron and allow to warm up . 2, Put thumb on iron to see if its hot enough . 3, If you can hold thumb on iron its too cool . If it's B***** hot but doesn't blister its probably OK .If thumb singes followed by smoke and a scream --- its too hot . This method is free at point of use , so if the medical treatment from your local minor injuries unit. Only try this at your own risk ! No responsibility will be taken for loose or burnt covering to model or thumb .Please ask family taxi driver before attempting this checking they are available for a drive to MIU.

Posted by ben goodfellow 1 on 20/06/2015 08:51:03: ED , do you need rights to fly in airspace of adjacent land . i only ask as iv'e got planning on my home and was told by various sources my land is my land but iv'e no rights to airspace above it same as any other land owner . not picking, a genuine point i was wondering about? . Hello Ben . Sorry I agree ,what I said is wrong , "Agreement" would be a better way to describe what I meant .As you rightly say "your land is your land" and I wouldn't want all and sundry walking all over my crops to retrieve a model. But it needs to be written into any deeds as does access across another persons land.

If you are able to buy do make sure you also get the rights to over fly the surrounding area as 1 1/2 acres isn't a big area to fly in . Also if you have been at the site for the last ten years or more without any restrictions being applied by the local council apply for a Certificate of Lawful Use (CLU) which is planning permission . If you don't and a new neigbour doesn't like you there or complains about noise they can quite easily get you closed down or get severe restrictions put on your flying times . You will still have to keep noise to an acceptable level but the council  wont be able to close you down. Good luck and hope it all goes well . Edited By Engine Doctor on 20/06/2015 08:36:39

No change then ,swap one rude arrogant presenter for another. Clarkson could just have lost a bit of weight and dyed his hair . Out of the two Clarkson was a bit funnier at times .

Have you thought about the buddy lead connection ? It's often overlooked but can cause the symptoms you describe . I have had something very similar while teaching with a buddy system .