As we know the most tedious part of nitro racing has always been breaking in a new engine. It takes hours of your time, wastes fuel, and it’s easy to make mistakes. So Tekno RC created a proprietary automated process to ensure each engine is broken-in properly. Not only does an oil bath break-in save you time, but with proper maintenance, your engine will also last longer!
This process previously only available to our team, is now available to you.
Oil bath is regarded as one of the best ways to break-in a nitro engine since it reduces stress, improves engine life, and only requires a few short heat cycles before it is ready to race. Often it is recommended to replace the connecting rod after a typical “fuel” break-in due to stress; with the oil bath break-in, this is not necessary. When using an oil bath and proper care, engines last longer and stay at race speeds for many gallons.
With the oil bath break-in, the engine is completely submerged in over 180 degrees Fahrenheit oil and driven by an electric motor with temperature, and speed adjustments made at specific time intervals. Varying the heat allows the piston and sleeve to break-in and seat at different positions, ensuring a more thorough break-in. The key to a proper break-in is finding when to make those adjustments and doing them at a precise time. Typically this is a time-consuming and tedious process as most break-in systems require manual intervention to adjust the temperature and speed. Furthermore, performing these tasks manually increases the chances for errors and inconsistencies from engine to engine.
Not only does Tekno RC‘s new system save time and eliminate the “human factor” but it also records data such as; the commanded speed and temperature, as well as the actual speed and temperature. Most significantly, it collects the pinch which is difficult to measure accurately. What we refer to as pinch is the torque output required by the servo motor to turn over the engine at top dead center. We tested many different methods to measure this before finally settling on one that is accurate, repeatable, and doesn’t generate additional heat.
With this data, our system then produces a graph and a report that we include with each engine. This report details the speeds, temperatures, and maximum pinch values so you can be confident the break-in was done correctly.
Source: Tekno RC