Hello All:

     How may I prevent an electric starter from spinning a safety nut off when attempting to start an engine?

     Tia,

     Frank

If the acorn nut is heavy enough, drill out the cross hole so you can use 5/32" music wire cross bar. The thinner wires just bend when you try to tighten the nut.

Motorman

    So in other words, the safety nut has a smooth bore hole through it's center which makes it a spinner. If the safety nut/spinner has enough wall thickness, drill a hole straight through so that the hole can be tapped for a fine thread set screw, one on each side, 180 degrees opposite from each other. Tighten the bolt through the spinner as tight as possible, the secure the set screws. Plug the holes above the set screws with some wax. You may want to check and make sure that the screw is not bottoming out in the crankshaft hole.
  Otherwise, learn to flip start the engine.
  Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

      Hello Bob and Dan:

      Thanks for the prompt replies.

       To answer a few questions.  The engine is  MVVS 1.5cc. That has a TD . 049 nva installed.  Perhaps this why I am having so much difficulty.  Perhaps a standard nva. would solve many problems.  What do you think about that idea?

       I have been using an electric starter on this engine since I obtained it.  Thus far, I get NOTHING if I hand flip it thus the use of the e starter.  I would rather hand start the engine but sometimes that is not possible.

       Thus far the best success that I have had, in to start the engine via the e starter and adjust the engine for best runnng conditions.  There is no way that I may restart the engine at the last running settings by hand or by e starter.  The best that I can do is to advance the compression 1/4 turn and use the e starter.  Hand flipping at the increased compression gives nothing!

        When the engine is cold or hot, choking, a few drops of fuel in the venturi, a few drops of fuel on the side of the piston or a wet prime does nothing to aid in starting.  Oh yes, the fuel is good, 25% oil, 35% ether1.5% die and the remainder kero.

          I watched my mate start his ED Racer, 1954, with six flips after it had not been run for fifty years and wonder, why can I not do the same.

       Suggestions/Comments

      Hello Bob and Dan:

      Thanks for the prompt replies.

       To answer a few questions.  The engine is  MVVS 1.5cc. That has a TD . 049 nva installed.  Perhaps this why I am having so much difficulty.  Perhaps a standard nva. would solve many problems.  What do you think about that idea?

       I have been using an electric starter on this engine since I obtained it.  Thus far, I get NOTHING if I hand flip it thus the use of the e starter.  I would rather hand start the engine but sometimes that is not possible.

       Thus far the best success that I have had, in to start the engine via the e starter and adjust the engine for best runnng conditions.  There is no way that I may restart the engine at the last running settings by hand or by e starter.  The best that I can do is to advance the compression 1/4 turn and use the e starter.  Hand flipping at the increased compression gives nothing!

        When the engine is cold or hot, choking, a few drops of fuel in the venturi, a few drops of fuel on the side of the piston or a wet prime does nothing to aid in starting.  Oh yes, the fuel is good, 25% oil, 35% ether1.5% die and the remainder kero.

          I watched my mate start his ED Racer, 1954, with six flips after it had not been run for fifty years and wonder, why can I not do the same.

       Suggestions/Comments

    I would try some of your friends fuel. You may 6think you have good fuel, but it's not.  Does your fuel run in the buddy's engine??Could be one of the components in the mix.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

I triple the motion of what Dan and Bob have said: swap fuels to a known good mix (ie. you saw it run only minutes before in a working setup); use a higher inertia prop like we mentioned before in a different thread until you can find and fix your real issues; and stop using the electric finger to solve a problem it can't fix. If you can't get it to burp on just a prime---it ain't a-gonna run no matter how much electric finger you put to it. And you are going to damage it, sooner or later.

I will defer to the Bobber, but when I cold start a diesel, I back the compression screw out, reducing compression, not cranking it in as you described in your prior reply. That tells me that something else is either wrong with the engine, the setup, or the technique. I'm open to hearing how I'm wrong on this since we've been doing a fair bit of diesel testing here, and they don't always start right up, and I'm always looking for the easier start. In particular, when the engine fit goes away and there isn't the gas spring effect, the little buggers get very hard to start. The least expensive engines seem to suffer from this the most. (And the old, tired racing engines....) That doesn't mean they don't have good friction or pinch at the top. They likely will. But the gas pressure is low, so they don't snap thru to the expansion stroke. You try to flip and it gets stuck at TDC. However, you can get a similar feel if the piston is dry and the friction goes way up.

One of the reasons you can use less oil in a diesel than a glow of similar material construction (piston/liner) is that the kerosene has significant lubricity whereas alcohol does not.

When you have a particularly difficult time starting one, you need to consider whether you have enough ether left in the fuel. I travelled to the Nats one year--over 2200 miles--and over several mountain ranges. The fuel mix that I tested just days earlier would no longer even start the diesel engine in my plane. Unfortunately, I was convinced the fuel was good, and did not beg even one tankful from a competitor. So we missed out on flying while we screwed around with compression adjustments, head shims and other nonsense.... We finally mixed a new batch of fuel and it started right up. But then we had to take things apart to undo all the unnecessary stuff and get back to the point it ran good enough to race.

The Divot

Hello Frank The MVVS 1.5cc diesel has a crankshaft bolt that is two short and has a cross head to tighten. Replace it with a Allen head or hex head bolt as long as possible to engage as much thread while not bottoming out. It is the worst 1.5cc diesel I own in terms of starting but gives good power for a basic plain bearing engine. We fly a lot of 1.5 diesels here for Phantom Racing and 1/2A combat and would recommend a PAW twin ball raced (TBR) 1.5 or .09 or even a Mk17 for easy starting at a good price. A Fora 1.5 would be a nice to have but at  $175 is pricey unless you are using it for competition.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165560405998?hash=item268c2b4fee:g:6O4AAOSwWzRiwlGQ


Regards Gerald

I'd vote for less castor and more ether. The ether is a problem, of course, and remember that if you're starting out with spray cans of John Deere starting fluid (which is said to have the most ether of all brands), it's not going to be pure ether. If you can obtain real ether, I'm sure some others would like to know how you managed to do so! Going to a simple 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3 mix should make that less of a factor. I'd probably go with 20% castor, 30% > 40% ether and the rest kerosene, but I gotta ask, does the instruction sheet have any suggestions?  Steve

      Hello Steve et. al.:

      Thanks for the replies.

       I did see see an instruction sheet for MVVS Diesel engines that stated that  45% ether content was suggested.  I will try that mix the next attempt.

       Stay well,

       Frank.

Whoa! 45% ether is way more than any diesel fuel mix I've ever seen. That would allow lower compression settings, making me wonder if the engine is known to be structurally weak. Really can't imagine that, from MVVS. Maybe that's just suggested for break-in?  Steve