How do I get better at tuning
 

Ok so on Friday I took my truck to my hobby shop the got it running. Now on Friday it was hot out but to day it's not so I didnt run it on saturday so if I want to run it today do I have to tune it?

once u have more time with it u'll find that ur truck will run just fine in most conditions with very little adjustment. extremes not withstanding. folks get in trouble simply by tuning TOO MUCH or, if we were some polynesian countries, gettin married to their temp gun.

read trinity/car action's nitro tuning book. yeh i'm asking ya to read which seems like a lost art amongst today's youth unless u post the whole book on a facebook comment. worth your time.

filters and lines clean, good gas, good plug, good clutch, dont tune too much!

have fun

R

Wait so if it was tune prefectly on a hot day then do I have to tune it today its cold out.

your truck should still be close, but u might have to give it an hr or 2 depending on the change. barometric pressure, humidity, altitude in addition to temp have affects. but unleses we are talkin bout a 30deg drop in temp or gross change in weather (prolly not runnin in rain). you should still be close if the shop got it tuned well.

you might find that your just a lil lean after the motor warms up. so u might have to richen it a tad for best performance. DO NOT make the mistake of thinkin that when it gets colder out that u have to lean your motor out 'to keep it warm'. its the opposite. you must RICHEN it for proper performance.

with time and experience u'll come to learn what ur motor wants and how to spot trouble before its an issue. stick with it, dont let it intimidate you, make mistakes its ok, just pull her in and assess what is wrong and reference to good reading material like the book i described earlier. trust me the motor will tell you when its not right...

...and i'm talkin in terms of sound, not a temp gun reading.

R

You may have to do a slight adjustment but dont go wild. Run the car, get it to temp and make fine adjustments

OK thanks and im not a kid.

Dont ask how to tune, that's how you'll get better at it.

There is PLENTY to read online.

How did you learn to drive a real car? Certainly not by asking people, right? Practice.

There is a sticky thread on the top of this page in regards to tuning... I recommend starting there as that's where all the masters have posted their How To....

Then practice, practice, practice. And listen to the sound of your engine.

I agree on the temp gun. Only use it to verify. Tune for smoke and performance. If you've got good smoke and good performance then the temp should be ok. The best thing to ever happen to my tuning abilities was the batteries going dead in my temp gun. Just practice at it and don't over-tune as was stated earlier. Learn to listen to what your motor is telling you. Good luck.;)

Best to tune is to buy yourself an RTR engine (like a hyper 21 ... which according to everyone i've spoken to is a complete bastard of an engine) and try and tune that...

I'm new to the hobby and am no way a professional tuner, but after my hyper 21 (first nitro engine ive ever had) died i got a reedy 21 ... the hyper i struggled to tune, but this reedy i'm having no problems at all.

One thing i will say though, ALWAYS tune your HSN first !!!!

The reason for this is because as others have mentioned in these forums, you have to think of a HSN as the tap to turn on a garden hose, while the LSN is the nozzle on the end of the hose that you hold and water your plants with. Basically a good tune is all about balance between the HSN, LSN and idle screw. So you tune your HSN first, to set how much fuel you will allow into your engine, then tune the LSN to get it to idle properly and take off with the performance you are looking for.

Hope it helps.

So how long did it take for you to get good at tuning?

I'm no expert at tuning either. I just started racing last season with my first nitro engines...and I struggled ALL season long only to find out I was fighting a losing battle since I bought used engines. I read everything I could find online....talk to guys at the track while they were tuning and I picked up little tid bits here and there. Now....I do pretty well with tuning. I have had a few new guys come to my place for some tuning help, and low and behold....I managed to get their engines running pretty well without even breaking a sweat.

So just practice practice practice and read read read. Then put what you've learned into action...and it will all "click" once you get a few right.

A good way to practice tuning (for me at least) is to just give your needles some random turns before you get out there....and when you do...tune the engine again. You will get really good...really fast ;-) Just don't lean it out too much with your random tunes so you don't damage anything. You always want to start with a rich tune when possible. So if you get too far out of whack....richen it and start over.

About a year and a half for me and that's racing 2 weekends a month. I only blew up 3 engines oops. But once I bought a high end mill I asked for help and took my time. Every engine has a different sound it likes when it's tuned properly. Just take your time and make sure the engine is good and warm before you go twisting the needles to much. Never attempt to tune a cold engine. The thread at the top the tuning bible has all the info you need.

Aside from reading and practicing. I highly recommend asking for help as well. Not help and do it for me, but help and do it yourself. I never let anyone tune my engines. The only time someone touches my engine is if i ask my pit man to.
It will get frustrating at times. But its just something that takes time to learn, dont give up b/c i promise its something worth learning in this hobby. I have destroyed many engines when i 1st started, lost count to be honest.

alway tune from rich to lean ...someone else said give the needles random turns before you go out ...its a good idea to richen up your needles after every outing ..it keeps you from running off the tune you had the week before ...and it will be different by a little bit everytime ....i richen my needles about 3-5 hours on top and 1-2 hours on bottom after every race weekend ..it keeps me honest and makes me tune it in again every race day :nod: