STS .30 rev2

[Memnoch]

Supertib, I have a question about the STS 30. How easy (or hard for that matter) are they to tune compared to other motors? I was talking to a guy who is sponsored by STS at our local track and he said they were rather difficult to keep tuned up correctly. Of course he also said that once you do get them tuned correctly they were absolute screamers. Considering the performance of his Losi 8ight buggy and 8ight Truggy I would say he wasn't kidding. However what I want to know is if it worth it to go with the STS 30 for the Average basher. I have no problem running 10 -15 tanks through for break-in, I just wanted to know if you think it would be possible for someone without as much experience to keep one of those motors running at optimal performance or at least close to it.

I'm not talking about a novice, just a average Nitro Junkie! Thanks.

 

[Jeremy]

I have found that the mill is a little on the touchy side (at first ) its a must that u seal these engines airleakes will screw w/ them badly .. also the sts pipe is really what u need for these to run at there best !! as far as tunning, I might be getting used to it or real close to the sweet spot but on my last runs I never had to touch the needles (about 7 tanks) I let the sts do her thing... Its not that hard to turn just NO AIRLEAKS, and seal the lsn w/ teflon tape u will be just fine !!!

 

[Supertib]

i find these motors easy to tune... But alot of people seem to have problems... the key is to be patient and take your time tuning it... the tune wont settle down till it reaches full break in, at about 1.5 gallons... I find that once you do get them dialed they almost never have to be touched or altered, we raced a whole weekend without even having to touch the needles...

But as I say don't expect miracles for about 1.5 gallons, till that point the tune may be unstable and erratic, and as Jester says STS pipe is a must, removing shims is needed( can burn down piston if you don't) and truthfully the older looser STS 30's don't like 20% nitro. everyone who is having issues is trying to run 20%, 20% nitro with all the shims will cause major hot spots on the piston and eventualy cause damage.

Jester is your 30 the new one with ultra tight pinch ?

 

[SSSavage25]

what % nitro do u suggest using?

 

[Supertib]

what % nitro do u suggest using?

30% nitro.. the engine will run cooler , tune easier and last longer.

head shims are something that cannot be ignored, people not doing this are asking for problems.

 

[Xjeepguy]

I have both mills apart on the bench a 4.6 and a Axial 28..sleeve is 100% identical, same timing, same porting... the cranks are slightly different, but identical timing, the Axial has a crude turbo crank, the 4.6 doesn't... The difference in the dyno is from using different glow plugs more then anything...I am sorry to say but a Axial 28 is truly just a slightly touched (and I mean slightly) K4.6....I have modded quite a few Axials, and have several hours of video of them running as well....Not knocking it, but it is what it is..An Axial 28 would be a waste of money to upgrade to from a 4.6 IMHO, give each motor equal squish clearance, equal fuel, and equal plugs, and the dyno results would be identical...... I have measure the sleeves and cranks of these two mills with calipers so I am not making this up.

I don't know what sleeves you have, but ours are different. Our K-4.6 is out of an original 4.6SS kit bought almost 2 years ago, and our axial sleeve was only 4 months old and was the original one that came in the motor when the guy bought it. He ran it very lean and burnt it up. The axial has larger ports of the same shape, and the edges are smoothed, versus the HPI's rough cut ports. Theres no comparison between the workmanship on the 2 sleeves.

I will try to locate the dyno charts I was looking at. They are not from any engine manufacturer, and both engines were run on the same plug, with the same fuel with no bias whatsoever toward either engine. The axial made ALOT more power than the HPI. I am not going to argue this any further. They are simply not the same motor, period.

There is going to be some changes on this site very very soon. I have received quite a few complaints of people not feeling welcome, and getting tired of hearing about all of this, and quite frankly so am I. Hop has put this in my hands, and I will handle it anyway I see necessary.

 

[Supertib]

here is the site you were refering too

http://www.nitrodynesystems.com/HPI 28 Axial 28 compare.htm

and they used different plugs, and each motor had different squish tolerance during testing.

No need to argue, I will post pics of an Axial 28 beside a HPI 4.6.. I own both motors so its not a big deal..... workmanship is identical, if your 4.6 was rough maybe it was a bad one from facotry, or possibly the 4.6 has been updated since the original... As a matter of fact there is a post on SC somewhere with 2 different 4.6 sleeves, one was different with slightly smaller ports.... So maybe its possible the 4,6 has been changed at some point in the game..

As my own Axial 28 and K4.6 are nearly twins, i would not lie about this, as I work on alot of Axial mills.

also to add, the owner of that site and dyno was employed on a consultant basis by Axial engines... The Axial tuned pipes they used are designed by him..

either way the Axial 28 is a 6 port motor and with mods can be made quite potent....

 

[Xjeepguy]

All I am saying is I know what we compared here, and they were definatly not the same. We have run one of our ax's right along side our K-4.6's and there is a notable difference between the two. No need to post pics, If you have the same sleeves, you have the same sleeves.

 

[[hs] darkshine]

each to their own and different strokes for different folks. one engine may feel faster to someone, another to someone else....

 

[SAVAGESMASH]

Ok so I whould go to 30% nitro with my sts 30 rev2 and what should I run for shims in this motor?????? I am ordering the sts pipe as we speak!!!

 

[DOOBEEWHA]

Whats wrong with Blue Thunder?

 

[oregonmud]

The sport formuls has too much cheap oil in it. It will gum up the inside of your tank and dye the inside of your engine blue. I hear the Platinum formula is OK but after my bad experiances with it I wont try it again. I also went through glow plugs like crazy with the BT.

 

[DOOBEEWHA]

Hey, thanks for the opinion, OregonMud. I'm running a 4.6 ss going into my 3rd gal. and was using Eliminator 30% When my bud gave me the the last of his unused gal. I asked him what the blend and age it was and he said it was the same percentage and has only been around for a "little while", which was my first mistake. Like a fool, I accepted the extra supply and mixed it with my on supply and had a heck of a time fine tuning my previously "running fine" engine for the next ten tanks. Into my second tank, I asked him again what the hell he gave me and he insisted that it was what he said it was, so I continued to try to troubleshoot my,what I thought was a tuning issue due to the trust factor. Well, after the last tank of the blend in question was spent, I was sure that the fuel I accepted was %$#! and went through my trash to find the bottle I recieved to see if I could makeout the info in print.......20%....%&#$. With more questioning, I found that the fuel was actually over a year old. What a dweeb I was. I know my bud would'nt pull this kind of thing for fun or something. At least, this is what I choose to believe anyway. SO..... After a few apologies later, I dumped some of my friends fresh supply of Blue Thunder 30% Sport in and WOW..., my motor was back in the game and with some fine tuning, it is now running like normal. MORAL OF THE STORY.....Beware of friends barering liquid gifts! Needless to say, I was so happy to see my motor come alive again, I felt a thankful liking towards BT because it was there for me, so to speak. I understand that HPI recommends a 25% blend max for the 4.6. Does anyone have a recommendation on what is the best fuel for the HPI 4.6 in regards to a bashing and racing combo application?.. Thanks to all who reply. -DOOBEEWHA

 

[DOOBEEWHA]

CLEARLY... WE HAD A GENTLEMAN HERE that has a tried and true reason to express his experience and knowledge in a calm, defendable manner. SOMEONE WITH THIS LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING IN THIS SUBJECT, may justfully experience some impatients with those who find the bigger picture of high proformance nitro abit beyond them. HOWEVER, allowing this NOW FORMER formum member to stretch his wings in this light, SHOULD HAVE BEEN WELCOMED. The fact of the matter is that a good percentage of our forum members are in it, say "for the fun of it all", (and thats OK) yet, they may not have the capacity to accept the raw knowledge that could verywell be thier ultimate goal to begin with. Thus, interferring with a much more rewarding nitro experience for all of us. OPENMINDED INDIVIDUALS ON THE OTHER HAND, HAVE THE ABBILLITY TO PUT THIER SELF-PRECIEVED REPUTATIONS AND OVERBEARING PRIDE TO THE WAYSIDE. AND FURTHERMORE, ANYONE WHO THINKS THIS GENTLEMEN has nothing better to do than to share his accurate accounting of nitro engine atributes and break-in procedures to the stuborn, MUST BE SWIMMING IN A POOL OF IGNORANCE. SUPERTIB can advise me about nitro anytime. -DOOBEEWHA

 

[Lunar Wolf]

...removing shims is needed( can burn down piston if you don't) and truthfully the older looser STS 30's don't like 20% nitro.

Hey Max,

i got a v2 STS30, just started breaking it in today, did 10 heatcycles and got through 3-4 tanks.

I'm running 25%, and i gather .4mm is the shimming for that. My question is when do i start removing shims?

 

[Jeremy]

Hey Max,

i got a v2 STS30, just started breaking it in today, did 10 heatcycles and got through 3-4 tanks.

I'm running 25%, and i gather .4mm is the shimming for that. My question is when do i start removing shims?

Hey bud he is no loger a member here anymore.....

What I did w/ mine was ran a gallon or more out then started removing the shimms

 

[DOOBEEWHA]

What kind of fuel? With temps of 200 I was pretty sure it wasnt lean anyway. Lets cut to the chase, if your using Blue Thunder, dump it out dude.

Just wanted to ask you about this Issue with Dynamite Blue Thunder. I know there's higher end fuels out there on the market but it would be cool to get a good opinion on what is a good choice for Bash/Race level fuel. I've wittnessed for myself that my buds going through plugs too quickly with his Dynamite mach 26 installed in his Savage 25 Limited w/ stock pipe RTR using Dyna's sport blend 30%. At the same time, I'm using the exact same fuel in my HPI k4.6 with no problems at all. In fact, I think my plug that's currently in the engine now hasn't been changed for along time. By long time, I mean like 12 to 14 tanks and it's still going strong compared to my buds rig that's going through them like every 3 tanks or so. He's not an Idiot or something and is obviously uptight about this consern. After giving it some thought, the noticable comparatives are as follows: His engine was broke in on blue thunder and seems to wind up quicker, It seems to have a good pinch. I'm not sure but, I think it's max rpm is rated at 38,000. It's hard starting after it's warmed up. I believe he's just about to complete the two gal. mark and I feel the motor has a good touch on the sleeve seeing that it came from an RTR. I'm running the 4.6 into my 3 1/2 gal. mark and feel my mill is as standard as they come. Max revs. at 34,000 rpm's, with no frills to speak of other than the fact that it's pipe is matched for HPI's 4.6 ss kit ver. I have no starting issues and my engine is running at what appears to be peak proformance. We are both using McCoy no.8 plugs I guess what I'm asking is why is my engine able to not be effected by this glo-plug problem, while my friend who has a Dynamite engine, has trouble with Dynamite fuel? I know there's alot of variables here but, if you can shed any insight on this subject, it could be a great help. Thanks for time and any reply, OregonMud. -DOOBEEWHA