Who's using o'donnells

[DO-U-MAXX]

I just switched to the 20% o'donnells and now I am having tuning issues. First off it does not smell as nice and trinity fuel but...........ok. Now I am having troubles getting above the 200F mark. This could be good but its giving me a headache. I try to lean out my lsn to get the proper take-offs and tuning, but I have to have it really lean to get it above 200F. So lean that the motor rev's up shortly after releasing the throttle and the rpm's really start to climb at idle. Then I take off and as soon as I let it off it dies because of the idle not catching up to the falling RPM's, so I set the idle higher but then it lurches. If I richen it up, I do not get the best take-offs but it tends to run smoother at idle and low speeds. I do multiple high speed passes and the temps are staying really low. Do you just keep leaning it out to get in the temp range or what, cause its really leaner settings then my trinity fuel by far. My trinity ran at 230-250 all day. Oh yeah I just installed a MC-59 plug too. Seems like it does not like that plug and gives me some issues starting and dieing as soon as I let off the starter button. What do you all think.

[Tex]

I've used that plug with success for the past 2 years. I dought that's the problem. Why did you switch fuels?

[DO-U-MAXX]

heard it was better and its a little easier to get.

[Mr. Tune]

No mention of the HSN? Lean out the hsn to get higher temps, not the lsn. Don't worry about your temps when tuning the lsn. Just get it to where it takes off good (you're preference). Temps really only matter when tuning the hsn. The moment you mash the throttle, the hsn takes over the fuel control anyways. Think of the lsn as fuel delivered at idle, and hsn as fuel delivered the rest of the time.

[Michowski]

no i disagree, the lsn controls the first 1/4th throttle the truck has and after you go more then 1/4th throttle the high speed takes over. So basically if you gun it the first second is low speed and after that its all high speed. Tune it to were it idles consistant, has decent take offs and you should be good. Anything above 1/4th throttle is hsn adjustments.

[DO-U-MAXX]

the reason I did not metion the HSN is that it screams at full throttle, almost sounds like its revving to max rpm with great smoke trails. The LSN is whats giving me issues. I like it a little lean but then it sounds like it loads up and the RPM's increase after a few seconds after I let off throttle. This thing ran great on Trinity fuel and was easy to tune but I went with a respected recommendation to get o'donnels. Has anyone switched to or from o'don's and notice any of the issues I have. I will get it tuned with a little more time but its not as easy as with the last fuel and I was just checking if that was it.

[Michowski]

here is the rule on fuel. Use what works best lol some fuel works better for some people then others so it might be the best fuel for them and the worst for you. Use what works

[Tex]

IDLE adjustment screw controls amount of gas being delivered to motor at IDLE, low speed delivers fuel at a "low speed" like mich said and HSN delivers everything else

[Tex]

the HSN will make the most difference in truck performance, although they all have a certain duty

[DO-U-MAXX]

I know what each one does but its all about the temp not getting up there and having the LSN so lean that it revs after the throttle is released and the HSN is leaned out so that it revs almost to its max RPM and still under 200F. the question is, is it the fuel and have others noticed the same thing while using this or when switching to it?

[SixVi6-Camaro]

The LSN won't raise and lower engine temps unless all you do is idle around. I'd lean the HSN out just a tad to get the temps back up then retune the LSN to get the idle back. Bascally every time you change brand or % nitro fuels you will have to retune also some fuels just don't work well with some engines just like some glow plugs don't work well with some engines either. you may have just found a combo that doesn't agree with this engine.

[DO-U-MAXX]

you could be on to something six, but I may play around with the plug temp keep leaning out the HSN to get the temp up and worry about the launching later with the LSN.

[thenewguy821]

Am I missing something? I know there is an "ideal" temp range, but if you over lean the engine to reach a set temp, can't you be doing just as much damage as running lean and hot? Now I'm getting confused. I was under the assumption that you tune to performance, and make sure there is still good smoke. The temps are just a way to make sure you aren't TOO lean. I know that High temps are bad, what is wrong with low temps?


I guess what I'm asking is: Isn't it better to have a Fast R/C, with good smoke, temps at 190, than to have a Fast R/C, no smoke, temps at 220?

[Tex]

ya tune for performance, if the performance is there why does it need to be hotter?

[DO-U-MAXX]

Cause it was running at 250F before and if it runs cooler than that doesn't it cause excess wear at the top of the sleeve cause it hasn't expanded as much as it did when it was at 250F as when its at 200F. So I do not want it to hurt the motor now that its running cooler as when it happens (if ever again) to get up to the higher temps and run with less performance.

[DO-U-MAXX]

just got off the phone with team orion and he said to go back to my old LC3 plug or use MC8 or RB8 instead. He said the MC59 is too hot and causes flameouts which just started happening when I switched. Another thing he said is that Trinity fuels are better quality than O'donnells when everyone else I talk with say the opposite. There are enough opinions out there to blow your mind and I think that alot of the manuf's just go by a lot of word of mouth kinda answers. I was talking with Rick over at RB and he says that I should use o'donnells and an MC59 so I did but I am pretty sure its just the plug. I will go and get a new plug and test it out, maybe one of you will want to get a MC59 cheap on saturday.

[Mr. Associated]

Were you using 20% before?Its not a good idea to switch %s without some re-tune so I always stick with 20%. I understand the headache and smell issue of certain fuels. The Blue Thunder Fuel gives me a headache and my old p.o.s HPI MT ran like garbage on Blue Thunder, it could of been that it was a used motor but who knows. Blue Thunder also is so rancid it gives me a migrane headache almost like its pure poison. However, the Monster Fuel (purple) 20% I use now smells alot less rancid and never gives me a headache, plus my car runs great on it all the time.

[DO-U-MAXX]

I stick with 20% but I was thinking about runing 30% for better performance and lower temps but I have to get this worked out first and I may just stick with 20% anyways. I do believe that it could just be the plug causing the headache so we'll see.

[SixVi6-Camaro]

yeah I bet its just the mixture of the fuel and plug not agreeing with the engine. A good tip when you start having problems like this is to get a notebook and write down the plug, fuel, engine temps, needle setings, even roughly how humid it is out then a couple notes on how it was running. I do that with my engines until I find a combo that I really like.

[DO-U-MAXX]

what combo do you use in your JT six?

[TowShen]

[DO-U-MAXX]

well it was the plug. I put in a MC9 (I think) and it worked great, no flame outs like before. I spent a little while tonight just setting the needles and I think I got them really close. But wouldn't you know it, just about through the second tank almost ready to put it away but I just wanted to squeeze a little more bottom end so I turned the LSN just a scootch and did 2 high speed passes. 1-1/2 of them went fine but I noticed it was pulling a little bit to one side, but on the last return it just happened to pull into the front tire of my neighbors car and snap off the front a-arm and bulkhead..................DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One more trip to the LHS and its all fixed ready for tomorrow........... ;-) I picked up a MC8 to try that tomorrow as well.

Believe it or not, this is the only damage that has ever happened to my truck since I bought it. 2-1/2 gallons of fuel and almost a perfect record.

[Tex]

nice, it was due for a breakin'..........Git-R-Done

[Czech-it-Out Graphics]

someone mentioned that the LSN needle will not raise temps unless you idle it around. I would have to disagree with this, the LSN brings the motor temps up the fastest. You want to get it tuned to where it idles fine and has good performance with good smoke. Then you would mess with the HSN, the HSN is like a fine tuning needle. OD fuel is much better than the trinity fuel, has more oil than the trinity, thats probably why your motor ran color with the OD. If you were considering switching to 30% I strongly reccomend it, your motors will be much easier to tune, and will run better with the 30. just my $.02

[PoPRC]

As I understand it, and not that it matters now it seems like you figured it out. Is when you switch fuels and Nitro content that resetting the needles to factory and re-breaking the engine (not fully, just get it used to the new fuel) is the way to go. Then start retuning and of course making sure you have the right plug installed for the nitro content involved.