Test Stand

[David_Ruff]

Well here is my test stand.  Plan to clamp to a surface outside; most likely one of my utility trailer rails.

[Dave_Trible]

David that looks pretty good but please don't clamp it.  There are bad stories about clamps vibrating loose.  Screw or bolt it down to something solid.  My stands are boards like yours screwed down straddling two 2x10s about two feet long.  They give enough weight to hold down any engine I have and raise the engine off the ground about a foot.

Dave

[Dave_Trible]

..I also hit them with a coat of polyurethane varnish to keep the oil from soaking into them.  I have two so I can get more use of my field time and the second one I have set up to run ignition engines as well.

[Ken Culbertson]

..I also hit them with a coat of polyurethane varnish to keep the oil from soaking into them.  I have two so I can get more use of my field time and the second one I have set up to run ignition engines as well.

I just want to know who makes those crazy props.?   

[john e. holliday]

The digital cameras.   I clamp my test stands to a saw horse with a big c-clamp.  Using a peice of wood between saw horse and the clamp.  I torque it down and check after a run.  I also keep and I on it.  So far only problem was when my K&B carrier engine shed a prop blade and one of the pins was sheared off.  I try not to leave an engine running when Using the tests stands.  I have three of them.

[Andre Ming]

I've gone at it a bit differently. I have a very heavy duty Tatone (I think?) cast aluminum test stand 4 point bolted to the top of a wooden step ladder. The paint bucket fold out works great for holding my field tray w/starting stuff therein.

It is at the right height so I can work on (change a plug/whatever) or start them while standing.  When finished it folds together and has a small footprint for storing out in the garage for the long term.

My set up has worked worked perfectly over the two decades or so of use.

Andre

[David_Ruff]

I ran a Fox .59 today with the rig clamped to my utility trailer rails.  I found some very robust clamps and they work well.  I did notice that the actual Tatone mount bolts got loose.  Next time I will torque them down better.
The clamps are spring loaded types.  If they keep the Fox .59 locked down, they are working well. 

[Fred Cronenwett]

My test stand with two Fox 35's running

[David_Ruff]

Just ran the Fox .36 on the stand.  It vibrates a lot.  Was watching the glow plug and it vibrates into a blur.  Engine ran great.  Well it is a Fox.  So vibration. 

[Andre Ming]

My test stand with two Fox 35's running

Oh wow... that takes me back to my first time at Fox Mfg!

Every now and then I'd have to go help out in one of two run-in sheds out back of the plant. (One was for RC engines, the other for control line engines.)

In the control line shed, there was a battery of quick-clamp test stands (at least 3, maybe 4 or possibly more?) with an electric starter motor on sliding rods. As a two man team, one would run the engines, and the other would prep the engines.

Once the process was in motion, a finished engine (they were rotated through) would be tossed onto the workbench and the engine guy would grab the waiting pre-propped engine. He would then clamp it in place and commence the starting procedure on it (attach the fuel line, and hook the glow plug clamp, then commence starting it while administering "Lustrox" polishing compound). The bench worker would de-prop the just-ran engine and prop the next one. He would then take the just-ran engine and clean it in Stoddard solvent, drain it, and check the bottom end (the bottom of the stroke should be smooth and free). If it passes muster, it goes to the box and he starts on the next just-ran engine that's handed to him. IF there's an after run issue, the engine was tagged with a description of what the problem was, and it went to a tray that eventually goes back to the assembly room to be rectified.

Imagine doing that for 8 hours a day and you'll get an idea of why hearing issues develop. (There wasn't a plug made that could stop hearing damage from prolonged exposure.)

Anytime you stepped out the back door during work shift hours, there was the incessant sound of multiple control line engines droning.

[Dennis Leonhardi]

My approach was something that could easily be carried around (by a weight lifter, ha ha) and stable enough that I could start an engine that needed break-in, then walk away to the flying circle.

Dennis