New to gas RC. Tuning? Cold weather? We're Canadians.

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Freelander

Freelander

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So we noticed on a colder night we got better performance.

So going on my limited knowledge of ICE 'cold air=more dense=more leaner explosions=faster truck'??

Is there a temperature that is really bad for engines or will cause what I guess is 'leaner' fuel to air mixtures.


What do we need to be aware of given we're headed for <10°c which I dunno what that is in farenheit. Is there a temperature below which it is totally inadvisable to run? Is there a temperature difference that would make the engine run super lean and grenade itself? Like an engine that runs good at 20°c at a given carburetor setting what happens when ambient temperature is 0°c?


Right now we have the stock muffler and stock carburetor settings. Is it common to adjust needles for the low end every time you run? Given our starting point is the stock settings if we adjust things is a quarter turn too much?


If it idles rough we should make it more lean on the low end? The danger being if it is too lean on the low end it will idle too high and want to engage the clutch(?)


I am super sorry for not knowing the vernacular lingo word things for all this stuff or just being absolutely out to lunch on basic concepts.

Also I am happy to have standard temperature info and google the Canadian translation.
 
Also let it warm up good before you whoop on it, ive been told and theres a instruction sheet in a engine builders kits saying to work on the low end tune and get that good then move on to the wide open top end of the engine.
 
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Fellow Canuck from Onterrible here. We run all year, we make a small track on some frozen ponds and race. As other have said richening is required and let em warm up. You’ll be golden.

You’re completely on the right track of thinking, colder and less humid air is denser and creates a leaner air/fuel ratio.
 
RcJunkie13 said:
until you need to replace all your bearings...but its worth it
Click to expand...
Haha. Yes. Slush makes dirt find it's way into crazy places. We have learned this from the electric kits.

Also plastic gets awful brittle in the cold. No sending it, usually just some parking lot bashing but man does road salt work an awful magic on these things.
 
Winter running is usually because it is upgrade season and work on the truck because we're stuck indoors but just *have* to run it one time, you know what I mean?

It's generally been a big mistake in our experience so I wanted some advice from other people north of the 49th parallel about how to treat these things in -10°c because anything below that the human element will probably not be willing.
We have mangled all kinds of motor bearings between salt and slush in the little trucks.
 
Dry it off, clean it, use wd40 displace moisture and won’t have an issue. Stick it a corner wet & dirty then leave it for a couple months expect it to be in top performance then wonder why the bearings siezed is what he’s getting at. Common sense stuff
 
The faster you get water off the rig the better off you'll be in the long run. Certain areas of the rig that doesn't have paint, anodizing, chrome will flash rust so using wd-40 not only chases the water away it also creates a barrier for dust and water for the next time. I also read at one point that wd-40 doesn't harm any of the plastics used in rc and it also helps to bring life back into dull plastics.

As for bearings they will seize up almost overnite depending on how wet they are as well as if there's no grease left.

Always do a "pre" trip inspection of the rig before you take it out as you'll be surprised when you catch something that could end your day early. When you come home clean it up and check it over again so what you need or what needs tending to will be in your head and you won't be rushing when you want to go run it again.

Also is the new pipe you bought chrome or raw?
 
I bought a raw pipe. There is some care involved it not having it rust? I imagine there is but have no idea what steps to prevent.
Also: those tires arrived and we just discovered we lost a pin from a front driveshaft going to the axle stub. The part is like a 5.0x20mm pin that is not sold separately from the assembled driveshaft/axle. The plan is to get some 5mm hinge pins from a Kraton 8S and cut a pin to size. The pin rebuild kit for the DBXL is not available anywhere locally.
 
Yes there is. I've kept my raw pipes rust free by using wd-40. Apply immediately after every use and avoid touching the pipe bare handed at anytime as the oils from your hands will create a spot for rust to form and it will happen as fast as 1 nite of sitting. Also wd-40 does not leave a residue when it's burned off so it will look just as good as the day you bought it if you keep up with it. Also keep in mind it will eventually rust over if you run it in wet conditions.

Also here's my pipe after 5 months of doing that method 20220911_205248.webp
 
Sick. Thank you very much for the guide on raw pipe care. I imagine any spray on penetrating oil is equivalent to wd40(?)

Anyways. Learned some super important things about the DBXL 2.0 architecture in terms of grub screws and drive pins because of this debacle.
 
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