Starting my engine

[Mosey]

The Silver Bullet is complete enough to run. It has gas in the tank up to the carburetor, sparks at the plugs, and the timing is as Steve H. suggested. I can crank it over with a hand crank through about 1/2 rotation. It does not give a pop.
What should I do to get it to start?
Mosey

[tangler]

Mosey,

I don't think I'd ever have got the Wyvern to start if I hadn't been able to keep it turning over with the electric starter.  I just fiddled with things until the pops started to join together.  As you can see from the video, I've attached an old model aircraft spinner to the flywheel and used the end off a Sullivan electric starter held in my mains powered Bosch drill which has speed and torque control.

Good luck,

Rod

[Mosey]

Yes, I will try a more vigorous starter.
Mosey

[stevehuckss396]

The Silver Bullet is complete enough to run. It has gas in the tank up to the carburetor, sparks at the plugs, and the timing is as Steve H. suggested. I can crank it over with a hand crank through about 1/2 rotation. It does not give a pop.
What should I do to get it to start?
Mosey

Try a drill motor or better yet an RC starter.

[philjoe5]

Brian Rupnow has posted a design for an electric drill powered engine starter here:

http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/

It's worked well for me.  Modify the plans to suit your crankshaft and it should work well for you.

Cheers,
Phil

[Mosey]

My Sullivan R/C starter turns CCW, and my engine, CW. Can I assume it is OK to reverse the power leads from the battery and run it backwards?
Mosey

[Don1966]

Hi Mosey, I see no problem reversing the leads to get proper rotation. I have a hobby starter myself that I had for a helicopter I use to have.

Don

[tangler]

My Sullivan starter was struggling a bit and getting rather hot when I tried it on the Wyvern.  That's why I transferred the connector to the electric drill which I reasoned was more suited to continuous use.

Rod

[Mosey]

Hi Mosey, I see no problem reversing the leads to get proper rotation. I have a hobby starter myself that I had for a helicopter I use to have.

Don

Don,
You Ned a heli!
Thanks
Mosey

[Brian Rupnow]

Mosey--This is a road I have traveled about 6 times now. Your 110 volt variable speed drill is your best friend here. It has lots of bottom end torque, is easy to control with one hand, and is reversible. I always set my engines up to rotate clockwise so that there is less chance of the drill chuck loosening itself off while trying to start the engine. However, for initial start-ups I have started to go in a different direction. I find for first start ups it is better to have a larger motor, at least 1/4 horsepower, 1800 rpm bolted to your workbench and connected to your engine with a v-belt and pulleys set up for a 3:1 ratio, so that your engine will be turning at about 600 rpm. Bolt your engine down securely to the table as well. Have a fire extinguisher handy. It is always nice if you can have a pivoting belt tightner, or have the 1/4 hp motor mounted on a hinge to tighten and loosen the belts. Fill your tank with fuel, oil all of the bearings, make sure your battery is fully charged and your ignition timing is close, make sure you have spark, and then plug in the motor and let it run. IF---and that's a very big IF your engine fires up right away, then you can loosen the belts and let the engine run on its own while you "tweak" the carburetor settings and adjust the timing. However, as happens most of the time, your engine will run for a couple of minutes, and you may have to choke it a bit until it pulls gas up to the carb, you should start getting "pops" as the engine is driven by the electric motor. Your hope is that these "pops" will come closely together, and that by tweaking the carb while the engine is being driven, it will start to fire right along with the electric motor driving it, indicating that it wants to run on its own. If you don't get any "pops" after choking it while it is being driven, something is wrong. Shut everything down and recheck fuel level in tank, check sparkplug and ignition, check everything that you can. All engines will benefit from the first 20 or 30 "pops" as the fuel "exploding" in the combustion chamber will help to seat the valves better. (the fuel doesn't actually explode, but you get the idea). Of course the goal in all of this is to get the engine to run independently of the electric motor. Once you have accomplished that, then you may want to use the variable speed drill for further start ups.---Brian

[Mosey]

Brian,
Very thoughtful, thanks.
OK, were off to find the pops.
I'll keep you posted. One pop and I'd be happy.
Mosey

[stevehuckss396]

My Sullivan R/C starter turns CCW, and my engine, CW. Can I assume it is OK to reverse the power leads from the battery and run it backwards?
Mosey

Thats what I do

[Brian Rupnow]

So Mosey--What's the scoop here? Did it run or not??---Brian

[Mosey]

Brian,
It  popped twice, but did not run. I believe that there is not a good seal at the valves. I am now determining whether I have good valve sealing and will go forward from there. The carb will not draw fuel up from the tank, so perhaps there poor intake valve sealing.
Mosey

[Brian Rupnow]

How high are you trying to lift the fuel?