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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / May 2004



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Fuel draw question/problem solved

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jjvb - 19 May 2004 05:16 GMT
I was having fuel draw problems with a new plane.  The tank was a little far
back which doesn't help, but the problem turned out to be the pitts style
muffler.  I read a post on rcuniverse about reduced tank pressure due to
using a pitts muffler.  They said to block one hole on the muffler.  The
outlets on my pitts muffler are the same diameter as the outlet on the stock
muffler, but there are two of them.  Seems logical that the muffler pressure
supplied to the tank would be less.  I blocked on outlet with a piece of
dowel rod.  I had to lean it out as it ran quite a bit richer.  No dead
sticks either, no matter what I threw at it.

If I were designing a pitts muffler for a specific engine, I would measure
the cross-sectional area of the outlet on the stock muffler, then make two
outlets on the pitts muffler half the size.  Is this a correct assumption?
Anyway, the engine ran great.

John VB
Paul McIntosh - 19 May 2004 07:52 GMT
The reason that these mufflers have such a large outlet area is that they
have far too little internal volume and need to get rid of the exhaust
before the pressure gets too high.

--
Paul McIntosh
http://www.rc-bearings.com
> I was having fuel draw problems with a new plane.  The tank was a little far
> back which doesn't help, but the problem turned out to be the pitts style
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> John VB
jjvb - 19 May 2004 13:47 GMT
So is it a bad thing to plug one of the holes?  The engine didn't seem to
mind.  You probably don't want the back pressure so high that it will not
let the engine run like it should.  There should be a happy medium
somewhere.

John VB

> The reason that these mufflers have such a large outlet area is that they
> have far too little internal volume and need to get rid of the exhaust
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> >
> > John VB
C.O.Jones - 19 May 2004 16:18 GMT
> So is it a bad thing to plug one of the holes?  The engine didn't seem to
> mind.  You probably don't want the back pressure so high that it will not
> let the engine run like it should.  There should be a happy medium
> somewhere.

I would think not.  Reason being that these mufflers are made for a range of
engines.  So I suspect the outlet size is a worse case plus some type of
scenario.

What I think would be better would be to use some aluminum tubing inserts to
size down the outlet.  You could add progressively smaller tubing until
optimum engine runs were obtained.  Sort of like tuning the exhaust.

Clean the muffler real well first and use JB Weld to hold the sleeves in
place.  Once the right size is finalized you can probably trust the JB Weld
to hold things.  Worse case is the sleeve will come out at the worse time
and be lost forever.  Or, you could drill a small hole through the side of
each exhaust outlet and install a self tapping screw to hold everything in
place.  Of course, the screw can mess with the looks of everything.

Chuck
jjvb - 20 May 2004 14:35 GMT
I was thinking of sizing down the holes.  My idea was to cap them both then
drill holes in the caps.  Sizing the holes until I had the engine running
properly.  Your idea of tubes would work also.  If I can get the first one
to fit fairly good.

Last night, during a flight, the engine started leaning out again.  I
suspected that the dowel rod plug had come out.  It had.  It was just
supposed to be temporary and it was.

John VB

> > So is it a bad thing to plug one of the holes?  The engine didn't seem to
> > mind.  You probably don't want the back pressure so high that it will not
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Chuck
Paul McIntosh - 19 May 2004 19:39 GMT
The usual thing that happens is once you get enough pressure for the fuel,
AND make it quiet, the engine suffers power loss and starts overheating.
Some of the newer pitts mufflers are designed with more internal volume just
for this.

--
Paul McIntosh
http://www.rc-bearings.com
> So is it a bad thing to plug one of the holes?  The engine didn't seem to
> mind.  You probably don't want the back pressure so high that it will not
[quoted text clipped - 33 lines]
> > >
> > > John VB
jjvb - 20 May 2004 14:38 GMT
Paul,

Why would the engine overheat?  Lack of mass flow through the engine?  The
muffler is from Bisson and seems to have more internal volume than other
pitts mufflers out there.  It is on a GMS 76.  The engine is really running
well.  I'm very satisfied with it.

John VB

> The usual thing that happens is once you get enough pressure for the fuel,
> AND make it quiet, the engine suffers power loss and starts overheating.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Paul McIntosh
> http://www.rc-bearings.com
John Hawkins - 20 May 2004 17:08 GMT
John, do you have any rpm figures for the GMS or other indications of
performance?  How does it compare for instance to strong .60?  I have
a GMS 1.20 (Bisson Pitts)  and find it similar in performance to a
pumped OS1.08 with the carb insert removed.   I have been considering
swapping out a strong running HP61for the GMS76 but wonder if it would
really  have any more punch.

    I have cut the outlet size down on  Bisson Pitts mufflers with
no detriment to performance that I could tell.

>Paul,
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>> Paul McIntosh
>> http://www.rc-bearings.com

John Hawkins -  From Canada's Atlantic Coast
http://rcalbum.rchomepage.com/Home.html
 
jjvb - 21 May 2004 13:43 GMT
I don't usually keep track of performance type info.  However, with a 13x6
apc prop, the GMS 76 was turning over 10k rpm and still running rich.  I
richened it up a bit more to the high 9s as it is not fully broken in yet.
It runs very consistently and hasn't caused any problems since I have cut
down on the outlet area of the pitts muffler.  I don't have any 60 sized
engines with which to compare it to.  It pulls my 66 inch edge around very
well running quite rich.  Sorry I can't help you much.

John VB

> John, do you have any rpm figures for the GMS or other indications of
> performance?  How does it compare for instance to strong .60?  I have
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> >
> >John VB
 
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