Product
Engine Failure
Question:
Hello, My Name is Jeff Gittos, I live in Perth Western Australia. I am writing to you because I own one of your products which has just suffered a catastrophic and premature failure. The product is a Pro 50H engine. This engine was installed in a Century Raven Helicopter. This engine has only been installed in the helicopter for a short period of time. The engine would have had less than 5 litres of fuel used. The engine break in procedure was strictly adhered to. The engine failed due to a broken conrod. The Conrod failed at the gudgeon pin end, the eye through which the gudgeon pin fits separated. This allowed the piston to travel and stay at the top of the cylinder bore. This allowed the now broken conrod to strike the skirt of the piston breaking parts of the piston skirt. The conrod eventually locked either under the piston or jammed in one of the cylinder ports causing the crankshaft to stop rotating. This failure was not caused by lack of lubrication, nor from overheating, nor from an overly lean mixture. I have attached pictures of the internal engine components. As can be seen from the pictures, the piston crown shows no signs of detonation. The piston skirt shows no signs of scuffing from overheating or lack of lubrication. The cylinder bore shows no signs of overheating or scuffing. It can be seen on the piston skirt where the conrod has struck it breaking pieces off of the piston skirt. The underside of the piston show the gudgeon pin still in place and the broken conrod eye still attached. The Conrod show that the gudgeon pin eye clearly broken. The conditions that prevailed at the time the engine failure occurred are as follows. The fuel mixture was 18% klotz synthetic oil (heli) 3% castor oil 20% nitro Remainder methanol Ambient air temperature 22 degrees C Throttle at 95% open Helicopter weight 3.7 kg 600 mm carbon fibre main blades. Helicopter was ascending at the time of the failure, the engine was therefore under load. Fortunately I was able to autorotate the helicopter to the ground and landed with minimal damage. The helicopter did suffer some minor damage to the carbon tail boom, carbon tail drive shaft and carbon tail blades and one of the Carbon Main blades was also damaged. The failure that this engine suffered could only be described as premature component failure. There is no evidence internally within the engine that could be considered to be abuse or incorrect use. I am extremely disappointed that this engine has failed in this manner. Your sincerely, Jeff Gittos
Answer:
Dear Jeff, Thank you for your mail. We have never heard of similar problems with this that happened to PRO-50H engine. From the piston and accumulated grease filth on the gudgeon pin in the pictures, especially when comparing with a normal working engine, our technical staffs' initial opinion is that the lack of lubrication should be the major cause. The setting of needles or the fuel you use may be related. Please contact ACEHOBBY DIST. AUSTRALIA P.L. as follows for service. They may further request to send in the engine to them if necessary. Sorry for the procedure. ACEHOBBY DIST. AUSTRALIA P.L. Tel: 61-2-9602-6153 Fax: 61-2-9602-6298 E-mail: steven@acehobbyaustralia.com.au Web: www.acehobbyaustralia.com Contact person: Mr. Steven Burgess Best regards, Customer Service Thunder Tiger Corp. [ Simon ]
Hello, My Name is Jeff Gittos, I live in Perth Western Australia. I am writing to you because I own one of your products which has just suffered a catastrophic and premature failure. The product is a Pro 50H engine. This engine was installed in a Century Raven Helicopter. This engine has only been installed in the helicopter for a short period of time. The engine would have had less than 5 litres of fuel used. The engine break in procedure was strictly adhered to. The engine failed due to a broken conrod. The Conrod failed at the gudgeon pin end, the eye through which the gudgeon pin fits separated. This allowed the piston to travel and stay at the top of the cylinder bore. This allowed the now broken conrod to strike the skirt of the piston breaking parts of the piston skirt. The conrod eventually locked either under the piston or jammed in one of the cylinder ports causing the crankshaft to stop rotating. This failure was not caused by lack of lubrication, nor from overheating, nor from an overly lean mixture. I have attached pictures of the internal engine components. As can be seen from the pictures, the piston crown shows no signs of detonation. The piston skirt shows no signs of scuffing from overheating or lack of lubrication. The cylinder bore shows no signs of overheating or scuffing. It can be seen on the piston skirt where the conrod has struck it breaking pieces off of the piston skirt. The underside of the piston show the gudgeon pin still in place and the broken conrod eye still attached. The Conrod show that the gudgeon pin eye clearly broken. The conditions that prevailed at the time the engine failure occurred are as follows. The fuel mixture was 18% klotz synthetic oil (heli) 3% castor oil 20% nitro Remainder methanol Ambient air temperature 22 degrees C Throttle at 95% open Helicopter weight 3.7 kg 600 mm carbon fibre main blades. Helicopter was ascending at the time of the failure, the engine was therefore under load. Fortunately I was able to autorotate the helicopter to the ground and landed with minimal damage. The helicopter did suffer some minor damage to the carbon tail boom, carbon tail drive shaft and carbon tail blades and one of the Carbon Main blades was also damaged. The failure that this engine suffered could only be described as premature component failure. There is no evidence internally within the engine that could be considered to be abuse or incorrect use. I am extremely disappointed that this engine has failed in this manner. Your sincerely, Jeff Gittos
Answer:
Dear Jeff, Thank you for your mail. We have never heard of similar problems with this that happened to PRO-50H engine. From the piston and accumulated grease filth on the gudgeon pin in the pictures, especially when comparing with a normal working engine, our technical staffs' initial opinion is that the lack of lubrication should be the major cause. The setting of needles or the fuel you use may be related. Please contact ACEHOBBY DIST. AUSTRALIA P.L. as follows for service. They may further request to send in the engine to them if necessary. Sorry for the procedure. ACEHOBBY DIST. AUSTRALIA P.L. Tel: 61-2-9602-6153 Fax: 61-2-9602-6298 E-mail: steven@acehobbyaustralia.com.au Web: www.acehobbyaustralia.com Contact person: Mr. Steven Burgess Best regards, Customer Service Thunder Tiger Corp. [ Simon ]
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