Pull cord troubles

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Ferrebee88

Ferrebee88

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Fired up the Vesla at home before taking it to the park. 3rd pull around the park the pull string comes flying out with the knot still on the end. I had to cut the knot off to re-strimg itI took the starter apart and would up the string again and the knot came undone. After the 4th attempt I just gave up. From you experienced or just more mechanically inclined out there: is there a trick to the knot? Should I get a new string? I'm feeling pretty dumb right now.

Engine is the ESP 34cc with stock zenoah pull-start.
 
I'm a newbie myself, so my advice may be naive. That said, I have also had plenty of problems with going through starter stings as well. The knot thing is more or less voodoo to me as well, so I always play it safe.

Generally, building up a knot at least the size of an M&M is what I go for, and then I put a couple drops of wickedly strong superglue in the open parts of the knot. Even if it sucks as far as knots go, the glue will keep your knot from falling apart even if you suffer from chronic Hulk strength like me 😅
 
Ok. I double tied the knot and made sure the end was not frayed. I guess in the process I flooded the engine, so I had to take the carbon off and get some of the extra fuel out. I seem to flood easily, but i guess that's a whole other can of worms. I push the bulb just a few times and it seems to flood the engine.
 
Ferrebee88 said:
Ok. I double tied the knot and made sure the end was not frayed. I guess in the process I flooded the engine, so I had to take the carbon off and get some of the extra fuel out. I seem to flood easily, but i guess that's a whole other can of worms. I push the bulb just a few times and it seems to flood the engine.
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It took me a month of fussing and learning tips and tricks from having never owned a 1/5 scale RC to reach my current stage of handiness a month and a half in! I had this same issue so many times.

The easiest way I can describe starting up from a newbie's POV is this: I close the choke, then I tug the pull-starter slowly. When I hear the engine make that thump-thump sound as it's being slowly cycled, I let go and do another 1-2 very slow pulls. After that, I give it a couple of the usual quick starting pulls. Once it sounds like it wants to go, the choke comes off and a couple more spirited tugs gets the engine to life!

If you don't have a choke on your carb, just do a couple of the slow pulls instead. Then give it a couple cranks if it starts to turn over. If none of this works, one trick I learned both at the shop and here on the forums is holding the throttle open maybe 30-40% of the way and giving it a few starting cranks. That can help with starting a flooded engine. It can take quite a few if it is flooded, though! I didn't know that and it freaked me out until I learned.
 
Put a washer that fits (Usually 4mm) on before you tie the knots. The washer keeps a better, cleaner surface area than the pull handle itself.
 
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