heat guns DONT suck.....they're good for vinyl tile removal ..lol

Yes heat guns suck for motor use lol. My buddy melted his carb insert on his motor using a heat gun and the one time I attempted to use my heat gun at the track I shut down everyones chargers who were plugged into the same track outlet....so a good 15-20 peoples power was shut off cause of my heat gun. That was the first and last time I took that to the track. I now use my comp heat....works much better.

if I am in a rush and need to heat up an engine for break in then yes a gun is better just use something like a small gringing disc placed in front of the engine this acts as a heat shield from your air filter etc and angle your gun around the back and around the down the cooling head working in a slow cicular motion not on one area for a long period of time and that could be only a few seconds especially when the heat gun is putting out up to 500deg celcius. my 12v comp heater definately does its job well when I am at the track hope to grab another soon running buggy and truggy

I dunno...personally I am in no rush to heat the motor up for break in. Breaking in a motor for me is a time consuming thing...I lack patience but when it comes to a new motor...ill heat cycle with the comp heater and sit back with a beer and wait. No sense in rushing to fire up a new motor when I have no reason to rush it.

Ok, I have to ask this ? I am really wanting to know what the purpose of the heat cycling the engine several times before you even start your motor for break-in, I keep seeing several say you must do this, but I have not seen an explanation for this. I under stand heat cycling a motor during you break-in(running your motor at operating temps at x amount of time then shutting down to let cool. This is so that the run in will marry the parts to each other (piston,sleeve,rod & crank). I just don't understand why you are heating a engine up to 200* then cooling it off several times before u ever start the motor. If you guys are talking about strengthening the metal, then you are wasting you time, you have to get the metal at a temp that you can not achieve with a heater/heat gun. So please explain the purpose of this!

Just as stated above...the purpose is to heat the parts up so marry the piston and sleeve together. Maybe one of the engine gurus can go into more detail but the simple answer...to mate the 2 parts together.

Ok I understand the Matte/Marry the piston and sleeve together and the crank pin and the piston pin to the rod. But the only way that is done is by running the motor. If i am wrong please explain and correct me.

I should be saying seat! LOL

It has nothing to do with heat treating the material. It's about making sure your engine is 100% ready when you hit the track. We all know what happens when we heat the engine, the material expands and when cooled it contracts. The reason for doing this before starting and running the engine is to nut and bolt it (term for making sure everything is tight) after expansion and contraction. It's just another precautionary step to make sure your not going to have problems down the road, especially with the carb. I would heat cycle a few times before sealing it.

By no means are we saying this is required. Most are going to do as they want to. It's just a recommendation that certainly can't hurt and may save you from a few headaches in the future.

I see a lot of people saying they heat their motor to 200 degrees prior to start up. My comp heat unit will not get my motors that hot, I have left them on for 20 mins or so and they never get past 175 degrees. Is there something wrong with my unit by chance? I have tried on my 12V power supply as well a 3S LiPo. I have only used it two or three times because I end up having to finsih it off with a heat gun anyway. I also use an Exorgen temp gun so I think it is pretty acurate. Any advice? Thanks

You can always contact us if you have any questions but I will address the best I can.

Most of the time ambient temperature has the greatest effect on pre-heating temps. When pre-heating my personal engine before a race I pre-heat between 160-180 before firing. This temperature is ample for relieving the stress on the piston, con-rod and crank. The engine will fire on the first bump of the starter box and finding the tune will be simple. What we have found through all the engines we pre-heat is good heat saturation is more critical then temp especially within the first couple of gallons. Hope this helps...

175 is far better than 50-80-100 !
mine gets to 186 with power supply at 11.4v.

how hot is your chasiss getting under the motor ?
as long as it's hot to touch u are good to go.

have you tightened the velcro around the cooling head ?
a loose fit will not heat the motor properly.

Harold,

I have only used the 120V heater so far. (our local has power, even at pit lane)
I tested it in the house at 70*F, I took the heater off at 220*F and it was still climbing. At the last race of the outdoor season it was 40*F and breezy. That day the best I got was 165*F. My experience is , once you are over a bout 140*F it has loosened up quite a bit. As stated, the saturation is the key factor.

Moto

Is there ever a max temp you don't want the engine to reach when preheating the motor?

Ok, So it has nothing to do with seating the piston/sleeve ect. but just checking head/backplate and carb bolt for tightness. this is what i am taking you are saying, correct.

yes motors are assembled cold, most new motor problems come from loose bolts after the first run or two