gasayers

Started running in my 120 sp today. Now have 20 minutes.
Started no problems and runs great so far. Using 10,15 fuel and wand starter as suggested.
Question, the breather on the side of the motor, should I just connect that to a waste tube?
and the end cone on the exhaust has come loose. Does that matter? motor seems a lot louder than I might of anticipated. Is there some way I can silence it better?

Cheers

mboland

Those mufflers will continue to blow apart. The only sucessful solution I found was either an OS muffler (the end cone is welded on) or the flexible exhaust tubes that act as mufflers.
The instructions give you a maximum length for the crank breather tube, and you deffinitely DO want it exiting outside your cowl.

Expect RCV's instructions of 2hrs runin time to be an absolute minimum. try 5 or 6hrs.

How is the motor vibration wise?

I was finding at half throttle that the engine vibrated a great deal.

Whistling Death

When I ordered my 120 SP & 90 SP, I went ahead and got the OS mufflers to replace the stock RCV mufflers. I am still breaking in my 90 and haven't gotten to the 120 yet. I am learning that you can put the stock muffler on there and use it till the end pops off. Then put the OS one on there.
You definately what to put an tube on the crank case vent. The excess oil will make a sloppy mess on the inside of the cowl if you don't. My insrtuctions just said make it as short as possible.
A lot of guys are putting a small tank,including me, on the inside of the cowl to capture the oil during flight then empty it afterward. I just ordered a 1 oz. Sullivan fuel tank to do that job.
You need to make sure you put a good coat of epoxy on every thing around the firewall because it will get soaked with excess fuel and oil.

gasayers

Thanks for that.
Like the idea of a small Sullivan tank. That’s on the list. I'll weld up the pipe when I get around to it.
Regarding vibration. So far I'm very impressed. No vibration there to cause any concern and I gather it reduces although I can't see how or why.
Cheers
I'll report back as I go (which could take several weeks or months.)

Aluminum Overcast

I have two SP 120s of different vintage. The first I ran was purchased from the KMP/RCV booth in Toledo in 07 and is now in a KMP spitfire which Im currently building. This engine had little vibration and not so much mess while running and braking in. I'm using a 4 blade soloprop and the flywheel effect is great. The plane is not flying yet but the numbers on the test bench look good. The other SP120 I have is a few years old (been in the box till this year) and is in a World Models .60 Zero. Break in of this engine has been very different....lots of black oil from the breather and starter bolt seal and tons of vibration in the midrange......so much so that it worked the screws loose on the test bench and shook the muffler loose and worked over the threads on the muffler where it screws to the exhaust tube, ruining the threads of the muffler. It also loosened the pressure nipple off the muffler and the carb. all on just the first few runs on the test stand and 1 flight. To that end, where can I get a replacement for the carb nipple? I'm aware the earlier engines used straight gears for more power but more gear slap and noise, is this true? This older engine is now hard to turn over when cold and makes a loud click when rotating past TDC. Is all this normal for the older Gen engine?

Sparkey

My Feedback: (15)

Hello
> I have a RCV sp120 .
> I bought it at a sale and just know trying it after two years .I got it to
> hand start and run. But the ptoblem is top RPM is about 4500 Max.This
> engine has never seen a plane but it has run before .
> Could you advise on uping the RPM other than leaning out the engine as I
> did thatr for a couple of seconds with no improvment.
>
> If you are going to advise changing the timming please keep it simple as I
> am an old lover not a mechanicLOL
Sparky

mboland

The great determiner of rpm is not just the motor but what it is driving and what with.
You have given no details of the prop or fuel you are using.

How much has this engine run and how long have YOU run it?

Are you measuring prop rpm or crank rpm?

The run in instructions are quite specific for these engines and need to be followed. It takes a loooonnnggg time to bed them in.
Fuel is also quite important to get them running right. RCV state no more than 16% oil, although they have changed their opinion on the oil types, all synthetic now apparently is OK.