G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
08-12-2003, 06:50 PM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
Hi,
I had something not so good happen yesterday. I took off and everything seemed to be ok. About 1/4 through my flight I noticed that I had no throttle control. It was intermitent but at about 1/2 throttle. I kept cool and told those around me that I might have to run my tank out and dead stick it in. Not a big deal. After only about 14 minutes it died. A bit far from the run way but I got a good controlled landin out in the field. Upon first inspection there were things loose inside the plane, battery, rudder servo and some small pieces. The strange thing was there was a mounting bolt loose inside. When I got it back to the pits I noticed that the throttle linkage was loose and almost fallen off. OK this is the problem? Not from what else I found today. I got most of the small thing fixed today and was about finished when I turned the prop around some. There was a scraping. OK, the spring starter came out of the hole on the bearing shaft. No biggie, I'll open it up and then put it back on and were done,. I got in there and the bearing was siezed onto the conical shaft that fits to the crank. ????? How could this have happened? Approximatly 1.5 hours of run time before I packed the bearings with white grease I bought from Bennett just for the spring starter bearings. It all came together. When it siezed the vibration shook loose everything it could. The spring was spinning around and around. I made a wooden spacer to go between the cup mount and the firewall and it showed signs of almost catching on fire. There were sparks shooting off the spinning spring. I apologize for the long post guys. This was just really out of the ordinary and the spring setup has served me well for many many flights, but is there an easier way to deal with the G45? Jump start? Will they start by flipping the prop or is that out. I refuse to carry a big puck starter. This is on my back up plane and I have a BME 44 on my main plane. Any ideas?
Joe
I had something not so good happen yesterday. I took off and everything seemed to be ok. About 1/4 through my flight I noticed that I had no throttle control. It was intermitent but at about 1/2 throttle. I kept cool and told those around me that I might have to run my tank out and dead stick it in. Not a big deal. After only about 14 minutes it died. A bit far from the run way but I got a good controlled landin out in the field. Upon first inspection there were things loose inside the plane, battery, rudder servo and some small pieces. The strange thing was there was a mounting bolt loose inside. When I got it back to the pits I noticed that the throttle linkage was loose and almost fallen off. OK this is the problem? Not from what else I found today. I got most of the small thing fixed today and was about finished when I turned the prop around some. There was a scraping. OK, the spring starter came out of the hole on the bearing shaft. No biggie, I'll open it up and then put it back on and were done,. I got in there and the bearing was siezed onto the conical shaft that fits to the crank. ????? How could this have happened? Approximatly 1.5 hours of run time before I packed the bearings with white grease I bought from Bennett just for the spring starter bearings. It all came together. When it siezed the vibration shook loose everything it could. The spring was spinning around and around. I made a wooden spacer to go between the cup mount and the firewall and it showed signs of almost catching on fire. There were sparks shooting off the spinning spring. I apologize for the long post guys. This was just really out of the ordinary and the spring setup has served me well for many many flights, but is there an easier way to deal with the G45? Jump start? Will they start by flipping the prop or is that out. I refuse to carry a big puck starter. This is on my back up plane and I have a BME 44 on my main plane. Any ideas?
Joe
08-12-2003, 07:39 PM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
My solution would be to send that bad boy to Ralph Cunningham along with $150 (if I remember correctly)-- You will not believe it was the same engine when it came back. CH Jump Start is not bad, but they are around $50 and for the difference I would go with the ignition. (just my opinion)
08-12-2003, 08:04 PM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
Hmmm, that is a thought AJF. I might do that. I like the engine. It has be really reliable. I'm lucky that I got that plane down safely and in one piece.
Joe
Joe
08-12-2003, 08:09 PM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
My G45 starts easy by hand. Choke on, ignition on, flip prop until it pops once. Open up choke and flip until it starts, usually about 4 or 5 flips. This is a stock engine out of the box.
08-12-2003, 08:19 PM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
TM4, thanks! I am going to try this before I just to the conclusion that I need an electronic ignition. The engine is real easy to start with spring. I have been hand starting my quadra 35 no problem at all and it has points! Thanks!
Joe
Joe
08-13-2003, 10:26 AM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
For me it has always been "hit and miss" starting gas engines by hand. All of them would start some times, but it became easier just to pull out the Dynatron and get it done. "Different strokes" I suppose. My point was that before I would spend $50 or more for a Jump Start or another spring starter, or even $125 for a CH ignition, Ralph would be my choice. Can't beat that Lifetime Warranty, not to mention the transition and idle.
08-17-2003, 12:14 AM
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G45 Spring Starter Meltdown!
Had a similar problem with a g-62, it smoked 2 springs in as many flights. Opened up the cooling air outlet and it kept the engine lots cooler. Then it was learn how to hand prop after $90 in spring units.
