Flying Site/field Maintenance
- Thread starter LitterBug
- Start date
Foamforce
Elite member
Well of course you don’t have problems with your carb gumming up. Doing that is effectively the same as draining the fuel. The point is to get the gas out of the small passages in your carb, which that does. I do that with my generator, since that has a fuel shutoff. I don’t do it with my snow blower, which doesn’t. If you don’t have a shutoff or a drain, then your options are messy. You could try to remove the fuel line from your carb, drain the tank from that, and then remove the bowl from your carb and drain that. Or, you could just get non-ethanol gas, put in 25 cents of Stabil, and forget about it until next year. It’s the KISS approach.
That said, it’s almost a moot point anymore. All of my experience with gas engines is basically useless archaic knowledge at this point since I only own a couple gas engines anymore. Thankfully I switched to an electric mower almost a decade ago, and got a much better one a couple years ago. All the small yard tools like string trimmer, hedge trimmer, etc, are electric (2 stroke, be gone!). Only my generator and my snow blower remain, and the snow blower only remains because it isn’t worth buying an expensive new machine that I only use a few times a year. There’s still a place for gas machines, such as larger riding mowers like you use on the field, but for most home owners with normal sized lawns, it’s not worth the hassle anymore. My children won‘t ever need to know how to clean a carb or care about how to store gas engines.
danskis
Master member
And down the rabbit hole.....someone should switch the topic. We don't do maintenance on the flying field because its basically a 60 acre city park. We're very lucky to have it. It's not exclusively ours so we have to pay a couple of grand to hold our next contest there. On the other hand its ours 7 days a week till 12 noon. I know in other states it can cost as much or more than $1000 to even join a club. Our club dues are $40.
Can't find an objective source of independent laboratory validation that these products do what they say? Simple request really. I don't drain or shut off the fuel on anything but my generator. I shut the valve off on it, but do not drain the tank. The gas in it is several years old, and it still fires up fine.
We do maintain our field and we have a club fee of $65 a year. That goes to the field lease and maintaining the field and equipment. I do all the mechanical maintenance on the mower and only ask for reimbursement of parts. This keeps the cost down for everyone.
We do maintain our field and we have a club fee of $65 a year. That goes to the field lease and maintaining the field and equipment. I do all the mechanical maintenance on the mower and only ask for reimbursement of parts. This keeps the cost down for everyone.
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danskis
Master member
Leasing sounds like a good option - which I don't think anyone in our club has thought of. We were looking at buying some dirt but that just isn't viable given our membership. I'll bring up the leasing option to the board and see what they say. How long a drive is it to your field?
My experience with My pull chord mower for my house was very different than yours. It would never start in the Spring if I just left the gas in there and let it evaporate. I'd have to take it into the shop which was $100. Now with ethanol free gas with some gas additive it starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull without replacing the spark plug. BMW did some studies as did AAA. They are out there - but you do what works for you.
My experience with My pull chord mower for my house was very different than yours. It would never start in the Spring if I just left the gas in there and let it evaporate. I'd have to take it into the shop which was $100. Now with ethanol free gas with some gas additive it starts on the 2nd or 3rd pull without replacing the spark plug. BMW did some studies as did AAA. They are out there - but you do what works for you.
MrClean
Well-known member
SeaFoam, made for cleaning up the gunk left behind in old 2 stroke motors. Doesn't do a thing for anything else BUT you wouldn't know it to listen to the "internet Experts". Except for Scotty Kilmer, he'll tell you the correct additive for your car. But Sea Foam, got the name Sea in it for a reason. My small motors get pure gas or pure gas/2 stroke mix. My John Deere is rated for E10 so it gets the same as my truck. Truck and mower never have the same gas in them for that long as when it's not mowing I haul hay, mulch, general play farmer stuff around the acreage. End of the year or end of when I think I'll use anything like push mower/roto-tiller/chipper shredder I just turn gas valves off if they have one and run the bowl dry. Chickanic on Youtube, who is a small engine mechanic, will tell you on two strokes, empty the gas, run them dry THEN put 2 stroke oil into the gas tank and use the prime bulb to suck that 2 stroke oil through the carb. Empty out the oil from the tank and store. Next time you use the motor, Spring, 2 years or so from that point put fresh mix in, prime the fuel to the carb and the oil will have kept everything from drying out. I tend to use all the equipment to where worrying about the fuel in it comes into play. Except my motorcycle thats been sitting for 4 years now. Really need to get it out in the open and put a clutch in it, service the forks, and check the valves. Maybe even ride it a bit. My checkbook would prefer I never touch it again.
Exhaust valve guide has been pressed back in at the factory depth this morning. Used Permatex green 64000 which is a high temperature sleeve retainer (aka glue). 24 hour cure time before use, but I will not be back to the field till Thursday so it will have plenty of time to set up. It will need to cure another day or so after that since the engine manufacturer now recommends only RTV for the valve cover gasket because of the horrendously bad leaks that have plagued this engine line. Complete factory head gasket set with new head bolts was only $30.
I am lucky that the field is only a mile frome my house. Most of our club lives 10 miles or less.
We have stations on both sides of the field for morning and evening flying without having to stare into the sun.
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Get him to make stripes. You can fly FPV through them like Luke Skywalker flying the channel on the death star! Works better with corn.
Got the mower out, charged the battery, and mowed off all the old gas that was in the mower and left over in the cans. (no stabil, ran fine) Filled the roller with 300lbs of sand this year instead of water. No more need to top it off or drain it for the winter. Need to pull the blades and sharpen them since they are pretty dull.
DaveM
FPVFC President and CEO
It is not even a little surprising that you know how to pull apart an engine. RC and FPV drones provide us with an enormous background to not be afraid to take things apart and fix them! In addition to RC, I have 55 years’ experience working on car and motorcycles. Thank you for this post!
NiCE! Corn Stubble!
Mr NCT
Site Moderator
LOL, not very smooth but at least I can find my planes now!
