DA-100

[Shakes]

I have a DA-100 with 1 gallon through it. Yesterday I went out flying - roughly 76 degrees. The engine had been running fine although tricky to get started. Starting procedure consists of choking, flip 3 times - it pops, flip 3-4 more times with choke off and its running. It will usually die on its own or with ANY advance of the throttle within about 10 seconds. Repeat procedure 2-3 more times and it will finally start running fine. First off, is that normal? My DA-50 runs great and never acted like this.

Yesterday was a little different...same startup process and same result. Once it got running I let it warm up for about a minute. Advanced the throttle slowly to half...good. Advanced throttle slowly to full, good. Back to idle then quickly went to full - engine bogged, almost died (engines been running at least 3 minutes by now). Slowly advanced throttle back up to full - good. Advanced throttle up to full again quickly and it seemed ok but the throttle response wasn't very snappy. It seemed to take a long time to spool up in the air as well with sloppy throttle response.

Idle has as much vibration as my single cylinder DA-50. It seemed to be hitting pretty hard.

The idle makes me think its rich. Other tendencies make me think the low end is lean.

This engine is also running with MTW TD75 canisters and the temp difference from the last time I had flown it was about 10 degrees. The only needle adjustment I had made was when the engine was out of the box I leaned the low end 1/16th as the high end would hesitate quite a bit and never peak. Leaning the low corrected it.

So...can anyone tell me if I am lean or rich? It's seriously hard for me to "hear" what the engine is doing with the canisters on it.

Also want to add that I am running a PT Models Prop, 27x10.

[rcdart]

First off, check if both cylinders are heating, that will tell you if they are both firing. Apart from that, it sounds like the low is lean, OR, you have some foreign matter in the carby screen that is restricting fuel flow.

[Shakes]

I truly believe both cylinders are firing as the prop wash almost blew my transmitter away at full throttle on the ground and in the air I have unlimited vertical with a QQ 102". If a cylinder wasn't firing it would effectively be a 50cc right?

[rcdart]

Sounds right then, I would richen the low.

[DATech]

For the starting procedure, flip with the choke and ignition on until the engine pops. Leave the choke on and flip the engine 2 more times. Open the choke and flip until it fires, usually about 3 or 4 flips.
I would suggest starting over on the needle settings go to 1 ½ on the high and 1 ½ on the low. These settings are normally about right or slightly rich, especially on the low needle.
If the engine is still reluctant on transition, turn the low in 1/8 turn. If this doesn’t help, or the engine seems lean, you can try going richer but we seldom see a DA100 run well at anything richer than 1 5/8’s on the low.
The high needle is usually best at 1 ½ turns. 1 5/8’s should be the max. 1 3/8’s should be the leanest.
Any adjustments outside of this range would indicate a possible pressure pulse blockage, fuel feed problem, carb problem, etc.
If the needle adjustments don’t solve it, we will need to look deeper. Are there any mods to the carb? Other then excess fuel from choking, does fuel drip from the carb when the engine is not running?
Let us know how it goes.
DA

[Shakes]

	Quote:
	Are there any mods to the carb? Other then excess fuel from choking, does fuel drip from the carb when the engine is not running?

No mods to the carb at all. No fuel dripping out of the carb when not running.
I'll reset my needles and let you know how it goes. Thanks!

[Shakes]

Update:

Set the needles as suggested. Engine fired right up, no dying like it used to. MUCH easier to start. It was extremely rich though and started leaning out the low end again. High end is slightly rich on the ground but leans out nice in the air. Low end isn't quite there yet but I flew it a few times to see how it was in the air - yea, still a tad rich. I'll lean the low just a little more and it should be great. Landings were a ton easier now that it idles down