Hi all, I have converted my 1st plane to gas, a 78" with new dle 30cc. I am new to fuel engines so my experience with any power plant that is not electric is VERY limited. Anyway, my problem is the dle won't start. I have 2 batts, one for ignition other for rx. I have a connected opto kill switch that I installed that has an LED to tell when it's armed. I have to on/off switches, one for rx other for opto kill. I turned on rx, armed kill switch, choke on and tried to start and would not even fire, even after 100 flips! I am wondering if there is a way to check to see if I am getting a spark without damaging the ignition.

Fuel is getting to the carb, I can see it.

Any suggestions? My friend is going to bring and extra DLE ignition on Saturday but I wanted to see if I could try anything first.

JB

Well I will try to help, I just got my New DLE 30cc 2 day ago. LOL

Anyways to see if you have spark, all you need to do is take out the spark plug, Keep it connected to the wire, and hold the base of the plug on the head of the motor, (that way it you are grounding the base of the plug.

Turn it all on, and flip her over you will she a small arc on the plug.

If this scares you, you can go to autozone and they have a inlike spark checker, it dose the same thing but you don't have to hold it.

2nd, I freand of my got his 3 weeks ago and said the stock plug is junk, I don't have my Iphone with me, but there is a NGK plug that is supposed to be better, maybe you can google it.

3rd, I have read if you put more than 6v to the control unit that you will fry it, so I hope your control/spark power supply is a 4cell nicad pack

If the above dose not help take off all your fancy parts, and just run it bare bones!

But if all eles fails call the company you got it form for more truble shooting, Thats why I got mine from Troybuilt modles as they seem to have the best coustomer service.

You are closeing the choke and doing 2-3 flips to get it to start and die, then turn the choke off, and starter up right?

Thats all I got, good luck, Im hopeing to break mine in Next week.

You are going to run a gallon of fuel throw it before you fly right?

What oil did you use?

Many new gassers have a problem getting fuel to the carb. That would be the first place that I would look. With the Ignition Off take the prop and turn it until you feel the compression take hold. Rock the prop back and forth with the throttle wide open until you see gas moving in the fuel line. Once you are sure you have fuel in the carb, set the throttle to just above idle, turn on the ignition, set the choke, and flip the prop.

Also sometimes the recommended setting on the two carb adjustment screws does not work well. Try closing the adjustment screws and opening them up 2 full turns and try again. When you get it started you can adjust them to get full power.

Try to find someone in your area that can help you. Most guys are more than willing to help.

I tried your idea of taking the plug out and turning over the engine and I got a nice blue spark. I did notice that the plug was dry (no gas on it) and no gas odor either. It seems like maybe the fuel is not getting into the engine, even though I saw some remnants on the carb. My friend suggested using his elec hand starter to get the fuel up into the engine initially and after that it should be ok to hand start ( I hope so).

Thanks,
JB

I would suggest reading the thread over on RCU regarding this engine. Tons of good info provided by people who sell and service these engines.

Before I even started mine, I replaced the stock plug with an NGK CM-6 ($4 at oreilleys), and soldered the hole shut in the choke plate. Mine popped within 3 flips with the choke on and was running within 8. This was in 40 deg weather.
Regarding the ignition voltage, your opto kill may be regulated to 6 or adjustable. You definately need to check. If its's pumping battery voltage straight thru and you are using a 5c nicad, LIFE or Lipo, you aren't doing your ignition system any good. I had to splice in 2 1N4007 diodes between my IBE and ignition.
Also, no need to run a gallon thru it on the ground...

BTW I used to live in Grand Blanc, MI before moving to AZ. I am going to bypass all the switches and opto kill and directly see if maybe one of them is the culprit. I am using a NIMH batt on ignit and LiFe on rx. Don't know if the opto kill regulates the voltage or not though.

Sat I will bring plane to field to have some of the gas flyers trouble shoot it with me.

JB

Most the probably is fuel. I had a devil of a time getting the carb to start sucking fuel on my DLE 30.

anybody got a link to that thread on rcu?

TM

It seems like the fuel was not getting to the engine for one. Second issue might have been the stock plug. I went to autozone locally and got the NGK CM6 for $3, replaced plug and withing 1/2 hour we had the thing going!

Brought it to field Sat and started right up. The "pro's" there fiddled with the hi/low and had it running great. In fact on one landing my pilot used the optokill to kill motor.

Now to break it in!

Seems like a may like this "gas" thing!

JB

Yeah...I have had the same problem with my new gas engines in getting the fuel flowing to the carb initially. After the first run, it gets easier and easier.

I run my engines/tank dry so it still takes a while to get the gas flowing on my first start-up on a new day. After that, starting is easy. An electric starter certainly helps!

Take the choke plate out of the carb and solder the little hole shut and reinstall it.

You need to "wet" the motor before starting it. With the ignition OFF, choke the engine and rock the prop back and forth past the compression stroke 5 or 6 times. Turn on the ignition and flip the prop till it fires or "pops". Turn the choke off and flip it 2-4 times and it should start. If its cold, leave the choke a 1/3 closed till it fires. then shut the choke off.

Have fun. Gas is great!

+1 on soldering the air bleed hole in the choke plate
Pete

No need to remove the plate if you have a high watt iron.
Also, you can use RTV if you can't\don't solder.