lanmine657

iTrader: (11)

I am thinking that temp guns are junk. I have been running nitro for a while now and have come realize that every motor has its own personality, some run cold some hot and I have yet to fry a motor due too over heating(only air filters falling off). If its lean it tells u, if its rich it tells u, I dont think there is such thing as a proper temp for all motors (300 ok thats bad) and if there is, how can u truely know that your temp gun is right? The other day at our track we had 4 different temp guns give us 4 completely different readings, almost a 50deg swing between the four. We were using quality temp guns that i am sure are the same ones that most carry in their tool box, so can u realy trust a temp gun?????

I am not trying to start a argument here, just venting some frustration!!!!

jewn_beef

iTrader: (30)

were any of the temp guns a exergen if not then there is your problem the exergen is the only temp gun you can trust all the time the company will recalibrate it for free once a year for you .
as far as all motors being different yes they are and all run at different temps but once you find the temp your motor runs well at a temp gun will help keep it thier
i use a temp gun after quals just to see what temp range motor is in but by no means tune the motor with one i will tune the motor to where i feel it is running the way i want it to and then will check the temp of the motor if it is too high for my liking i will tone down tune a little sometimes but if the motor still smokes i usually run it where it feels good

lanmine657

iTrader: (11)

I agree that it is nice to know what temps your are running, but when some days are 90 and others 50, I say good smoke and good power= a good tune

Brian Alderman

iTrader: (43)

I have to agree with you on your test, I did the same with mine and found that its about 20deg too high. Just like you said yourself you can feel and hear when its not right, but as far as smoke goes, different fuels IMHO produce different levels of smoke due to oil contents. It seems that since I have started tuning to feel I have had less tuning issues, and now just use the temp gun rarely.

mgtmadness2007

iTrader: (4)

I have noticed that Odonnell 30% does not produce alot of smoke in my reedy 21 nor my GRP .28 Tuned, unless I fatten the needles to where there is thick smoke and the engine does not produce power well.

mattleegee

iTrader: (9)

What about a contact way? Like a multimeter? Maybe that would be more consistent?

lanmine657

iTrader: (11)

fuels are very much different, but if its reving out to the moon, im guessn its too lien or if its not clearing out and spittn fuel im guessn its rich.

mgtmadness2007

iTrader: (4)

My engine were producing smoke, just not as much as the other 2 reedys running (they were using Trinity 30%) and my temp for the reedy was 258-264F, the grp .28 was 213-216F. Pics of my RC8T is on rc8T truggy forums, which shows smoke, just not alot like the others.

I was told to richen them, but I had good power, smoke that was visible on the straight, and more visible on throttle around corner and while jumping.

Had more smoke showing in person than actual pics caught on Camera.

Mikey-B

i have temp guns but dont use them......lost faith in temp tuning eons ago, like u said .....the engine speaks loud and clear on where it needs to be.

sluggo_sx8

iTrader: (5)

Yup I feel your pain I learned to tune from a friend that has been racing for a few years. He is old school and was told to never take a motor over 220f. So he tunes all his motors this way and wonders why he only gets 6min run times and has no power. Well turns out the temp gun we where using was temping 60deg hotter then the motor was.

I now tune by feel and smoke, If I fry a motor then so be it but tell that happens my motors run great and I do 10 to 12 min pits in truggy.

The more I read and learn that normal temps for a race tune is between 200 to 280 for most motors. That temp also changes daily (say motor is tuned perfect in the morning and running 220f may change to 260f by the end of the day)

Integra

iTrader: (8)

Temp guns are also VERY sensitive to having a clean Tip, If your temp gun is stored in your Dirty pit box with all your other running gear and not protected properly the tip will get a layer of dust or debris and will cause the gun to give Extremely different reading's.....A Clean gun is an Accurate gun.

Cdj1091

when tuning before i take it out for a run on the track, i usually just go by if its too lean or too rich. I check the temp every once in awhile just to see if its way out of the ordinary

Do-Over

Does anyone know what Emissivity level you should run your temp gun at. Mine came set at 77E I believe but after reading the book it said I should set it around 95E. When I did this my temp gun was no where near what others at that track were it was much higher so I set it back and left it at 77.... Anybody know anything about this Emissivity? If so, please enlighten me.

mgtmadness2007

iTrader: (4)

My PE2 is set at 95E also.

Do-Over

I set mine to that as the book said and I was 50+* over all other temp guns I checked it against. I went back to 77 and I was within 15* of the others. I wish I knew how it worked and how to calibrate it.... I just don't understand it really. Thanks for the reply tho!