I worked on my DLE50 Reed and most of the surfaces were out, these engines are few year old so at that time DLE may have over looked the quality aspects. I noticed my reed petals that they are very very slightly raised at the end edge, since I have not yet fixed the reed on engine, how to make them sit tight to the surface, can I shim the end which is screwed to the triangle block, this will raise them slightly at the back thus the far ends will sit flat making perfect seal to cause vacuum.

Originally Posted by dynasel

I worked on my DLE50 Reed and most of the surfaces were out, these engines are few year old so at that time DLE may have over looked the quality aspects. I noticed my reed petals that they are very very slightly raised at the end edge, since I have not yet fixed the reed on engine, how to make them sit tight to the surface, can I shim the end which is screwed to the triangle block, this will raise them slightly at the back thus the far ends will sit flat making perfect seal to cause vacuum.

That would work but the simplest fix is to sand the entire block as I did. It takes a little bit of time but it worth it in the long run. I think DLE has stepped up their quality control since they first became popular in the market.

Originally Posted by Stangflyer

Jwall;


Good article. I know of a couple of people that have benefited from this very modification. Actually upon my recommendation, they followed this process to a letter. Good on ya for sharing. But I am curious however....


What if a guy, (me) already has two DLE 55's and a DLE 35RA that start, run and out perform DA's of like size without "ANY" mods at all? Just sayin'.....

Mine ran pretty good before the mods, but became better after them. I'm wondering how old is your DLE. I purchased mine 3 years ago shortly after they stopped producing the DLE50 and were pushing the 55, like they are doing with the 61 now lol

Originally Posted by Jwall

Mine ran pretty good before the mods, but became better after them. I'm wondering how old is your DLE. I purchased mine 3 years ago shortly after they stopped producing the DLE50 and were pushing the 55, like they are doing with the 61 now lol

JWALL;


My first 55 was bought last year. I believe it is V2. It came with the 4.8-6.0 volt ignition module. Purchased it brand new with a Bowman Ring already installed. It now has 38 flights, (a little over 5 hours run time) It has been flawless from the first start up. My second 55 was bought a few months ago. V3...4.8-8.4 ignition module. I have to eat my words a little here. Originally it was running great. This one had no Bowman Ring. However today, went out to fly the new Pilot Edge, and first two flights were really great. Motor ran really well. Upon the third start up, it was a little cantankerous.... After about four minutes in, she started stumbling and really had me on edge. I brought her in, adjusted the needles...didn't help. Decided to not risk it. Brought it home and tore into it. Holy cripes, Not only was the reed block carrier warped, but it was also missing... a reed block gasket. Man was I ever shocked. Sooo....I did all the mods on it. Except for the actual reeds themselves. To my surprise, they were all sealing very well. But did make sure of all other aspects. Installed all new gaskets throughout. New Bowman Ring, New CM6 plug. Reset needles... going to give all the upgrades and improvements a shot tomorrow. My guess is it will no doubt be much better than it was.


Again, thanks for the posting on this Mod. Although I have been aware of the mods for sometime, it is really nice to see someone offering assistance with first hand experience.

It's more so in the reed blocks than the cage. A missing gasket will definitely cause it to suck air


I am about to experiment with porting the cylinder and installing the 61 piston and cylinder on the 55. I need to find out if the bolt spacing is the same. Anyone know or have done this?

Originally Posted by Jwall

It's more so in the reed blocks than the cage. A missing gasket will definitely cause it to suck air


I am about to experiment with porting the cylinder and installing the 61 piston and cylinder on the 55. I need to find out if the bolt spacing is the same. Anyone know or have done this?

Well what do you know? After all the mods and special attention to detail to this 55, it is now running better than it ever did before. Only took a few minor tweeks on the needles to have her up and hummin' like never before. The weather was a tad cooler today than it was yesterday. Still, plenty warm. I figured I would put the Pilot Edge through her paces and see how it ran. I could tell an instant improvement on the ground and in the air. Very stable and most definitely more consistent. Did quite a bit of hovering, pop-tops, inverted flat spins, and a few walls. This motor just kept on pumpin' out the power and never phased one bit. Compression is already twice of what it originally was. So glad I decided to do the upgrades. As for my original DLE 55? At the present, it is running very well and don't plan to touch it. (Don't fix something that isn't broke, right?)


As for your 61cc pist-ony in the DLE 55 case? Sweet....let me know how that works out. I would be very interested to know.

I have sold my AJ slick airframe and purchased an Aerobeez Yak55. So while the engine was off I once again got the itch to take her apart. I decided to install some of these highly aclaimed Frank Bowman rings. Here's what my engine looked like upon disassembly. I am pretty certain the carbon is from my first 2yrs of flying this engine when I burned Penzoil in it. I switched to redline 40:1 about 1 yr ago and literally watched the black stuff pour out of my exhaust for a month.

I did no cleaning of these parts before taking pictures. This engine is 3 yrs old and has about 600+ flights on it, all flying 3D in 100 degree summers of Texas.


The clean portions of the top have a thin layer of oil on it.


That carbon cleaned right up with some brake cleaner. The walls had plenty of oil on them with no scuffing


You can see the redline oil on the bottom of the piston skirt, all of the bearings had oil on them and were clean as a new engine. Inside piston is clean, also indicating no blow by.


NO blowby! The gap between the pin and ring is a bit excessive when squeezed together. I think this is what Frank changes with his rings, simply tighter tolerances. It had no carbon on the ring or in the groove.

I cleaned all of the carbon off, installed a new Frank Bowman ring, New cylinder gasket and fired her up. Without touching the needles I was able to get a reliable idle and good transition. I ran the engine for 2 minutes at varying rpms, none of which were full throttle for more than a few seconds and then shut it off for 30 min. I did this several times and now the engine idles lower than ever, and is pulling a higher top end rpm. I am breaking in on redline 40:1 and I will continue to run exactly that the entire life of this engine. I will use my optic camera after break in and give updates regarding carbon build up.

My recommendations for a great running engine:
-Run a good oil!!! Either Sthil Ultra at 50:1 or redline 40:1 from day 1. The days of needing to break in on conventional are a thing of the past. If doing so makes you feel that much better, than use a very high quality conventional oil such as Castrol 2T.

-Inspect and true out the reed block

Originally Posted by Jwall

I have sold my AJ slick airframe and purchased an Aerobeez Yak55. So while the engine was off I once again got the itch to take her apart. I decided to install some of these highly aclaimed Frank Bowman rings. Here's what my engine looked like upon disassembly. I am pretty certain the carbon is from my first 2yrs of flying this engine when I burned Penzoil in it. I switched to redline 40:1 about 1 yr ago and literally watched the black stuff pour out of my exhaust for a month.

I did no cleaning of these parts before taking pictures. This engine is 3 yrs old and has about 600+ flights on it, all flying 3D in 100 degree summers of Texas.


The clean portions of the top have a thin layer of oil on it.


That carbon cleaned right up with some brake cleaner. The walls had plenty of oil on them with no scuffing


You can see the redline oil on the bottom of the piston skirt, all of the bearings had oil on them and were clean as a new engine. Inside piston is clean, also indicating no blow by.


NO blowby! The gap between the pin and ring is a bit excessive when squeezed together. I think this is what Frank changes with his rings, simply tighter tolerances. It had no carbon on the ring or in the groove.

I cleaned all of the carbon off, installed a new Frank Bowman ring, New cylinder gasket and fired her up. Without touching the needles I was able to get a reliable idle and good transition. I ran the engine for 2 minutes at varying rpms, none of which were full throttle for more than a few seconds and then shut it off for 30 min. I did this several times and now the engine idles lower than ever, and is pulling a higher top end rpm. I am breaking in on redline 40:1 and I will continue to run exactly that the entire life of this engine. I will use my optic camera after break in and give updates regarding carbon build up.

My recommendations for a great running engine:
-Run a good oil!!! Either Sthil Ultra at 50:1 or redline 40:1 from day 1. The days of needing to break in on conventional are a thing of the past. If doing so makes you feel that much better, than use a very high quality conventional oil such as Castrol 2T.

-Inspect and true out the reed block

+1

I have a dle 30 with about 2 gals. of fuel ran in it. Started to have problems with the idle hanging and rough mid-range. I did the mods seen here on the reed block and it helped a lot. I still need to fine tune it. Thanks for showing this fix. Waynem

Should the reeds hold water as a determination of sealing properly?

Thanks
Bob

Also, what does this mean regarding a carbon plate in post #17?

Yes carbon plate made by me. Like this it does make pa in the blocks. Must remove the two joints in blocked

Thanks
Bob

Bob,

You can tell if the reeds are sealing well by looking at them. If they all rest flat then you have a good seal. They should close on their own and meet the cage flush from top to bottom. Mostly the problem with our cages are a lip at the end of them preventing the bottom half of the reed from sealing.

The Carbon plate was something that was made and it not needed unless you are feeling froggy. It helps distribute the pressure (from the screws) evenly across the reed. It will only prolong the life of the reed and can be made out of a thin carbon fiber strip.

Thanks JWall.
I've done my DLE 30, and 55RA.

Workin on the 55RA now.
Well worth the effort!

Have a good Holiday Season!
Bob

Any advice on getting a low idle. Mine is out of control. Can't find any air leak. Nothing seems to work.

Originally Posted by sgolec

Any advice on getting a low idle. Mine is out of control. Can't find any air leak. Nothing seems to work.

Have you inspected the throttle linkage when the engine is idling to see what is happening? a friend of mine had the same issue only to find the throttle servo was not up to the task and on top of that the area where the servo was mounted was vibrating to much and also causing issues. The fix was to replace the servo with a better one and that took care of most of it. But the final fix was to strengthen up the area where the servo was mounted.