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Engine Tuning Tips
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Engine is the heart and hub of any machine. Its functioning needs to
be understood very clearly before touching any of its part. A basic
understanding of fundamentals would help in better tuning of the engine
and in turn engine would give maximum performance and also shall have
better longevity.
Glow engines can prove difficult to tune, this is the most prevalent
myth. With a little bit of know-how, tuning a glow engine can really
be a simple, pain-free process. People that don't properly understand
the basics can easily become frustrated by what should be a simple,
straightforward process.
Let us assume that everything else in the car is in shape and the engine
is not giving any start up problems. Then refer to the instruction manual
which should specify the instructions to set up your aperture size to
minimum. This is important because if your engine cannot get enough
air or gas flow then It would not run properly. A clockwise rotation
opens the aperture and increases the idle RPMs, a counterclockwise slows
it down.
Next would come to tuning of low-end mixture valve. This is done before
the high-end (main needle) adjustment because an improperly adjusted
low-end can affect the high-end performance. Like most mixture valves,
clockwise rotation will "lean" the mixture and a counterclockwise will
"richen" the mixture. Allow the engine to warm up completely, and then
allow it to idle, uninterrupted for one full minute. This would determine
whether the low-end mixture requires any tuning or not. If the engine
runs continuously then the mixture needs not any adjustments but this
means that the mixture is either too rich or too-low. Check out on that.
To determine whether the mixture is too rich or too lean, listen as
to how the engine dies out in the idle test. If the engine’s RPM revs
up at the last moment and then engine dies the mixture is too lean.
To correct this, turn the low-end mixture screw counterclockwise (out)
1/8 of a turn (always make adjustments in 1/8 turn) and retry the idle
test. If, on the other hand, it begins to wind down and you notice a
change in how the exhaust sounds in the last few seconds, then your
engine is running too rich. To correct this, turn the low-end mixture
screw clockwise (in) 1/8 of a turn and then retry the idle test.
The air and the fuel pass into the engine through vacuum method. The
mechanism that is responsible to pass this fuel and air in specific
proportion is the carburetor. Adjusting the carburetor would ensure
how much of this gas/air mixture reaches the engine and to what proportion
of gas to air passes on to the engine. By reducing the amount of fuel
per volume of air, the mixture would be come – lean; and by increasing
the amount of fuel the mixture would become – rich.
Most of the changes would not be visible for sometime. You shall need
to give a dry run to the engine before the adjustments to take place
and be visible. Running on lean side may give temporary thrill but running
the engine on the rich side would give better engine performance. Changes
in temperature also affect the tuning. Change in temperature or weather
condition would require tuning of engine.
Along with increased experience in learning the "Sounds" of a glow engine
and use of a quality temperature gauge, will make you an Ace at tuning
your engine... Tuning your Models engine is not "rocket science" and
is fairly easy once you completely understand the how the carburetor
works and the effects it has on your engines performance and sound.
With some time and experience, it will become second nature to you...
just be patient and perspective and the knowledge you gain will take
the voodoo out of this great hobby.
About The Author:
Peter Dobler successfully operates several web sites on the topic of
internet marketing and web site optimization. Visit his main web site
at:
http://www.sell1on1.com
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