Engine Test Stand

Any one have a picture of a simple home made engine test stand.
I need to run Cox .049 with a external tank, Cox GB as well as a Fox .25. I have a old wood E-Z mount but it is hard to adjust the needle and hold the tank up above the NVA.

A picture is worth 1000 words and then some.

I do this on the cheap, but safe. I typically run piped engines, P.A.'s and TT .36's. I use a hardwood board about 9" X 18" with a "U" shaped slot cut in it the width of the engine to be mounted. Drill 4 holes and mount your engine as you would on engine bearers in a plane. Drill some holes to run some wire ties through to strap down an RC tank. I put a cut down old mouse pad under it to minimize vibration. Then I tie the rear of the pipe down on an old piece of silicone tube and another tie wrap. You can cut a slot on each end for two different engine sizes. 1/2 A's are best screwed directly to a vertical surface. So add a piece of wood somewhere on this contraption to screw your engine to. When it is all set up take it into the yard and screw the whole contraption to a couple of wooden horses. This eliminates the clamps that get in the way of the needle valve in most test stand cases. And it's cheep! I'll try and include a pic in this post! Sorry, had to really crop down to get it to upload!

Ward:+

Does the tank need to be mounted above the NVA?

The tank centerline can be either above or below the center of the of the needle valve without causing a major problem when using a test stand. It is necessary to adjust the NV to get a good fuel flow, then readjust it when the engine is mounted on a plane with the tank C/L in its normal place. Be advised that if the tank is too low, one may not be able to adjust the needle out far enough to draw fuel to the engine.

I usually mount mine in the manner shown in the photo above and turn the needle in from its normal setting to keep the engine from running too rich or flooding itself out completely.

Thanks for the info.

My home made test stand is fondly referred to in our club as "Eric's bucket of bricks". It's similar to Wards, except I use a Tatone mount bolted to the plywood, and the plywood is mounted to the lid of a 5 gal bucket full of bricks. It's even portable and comes with a convenient handle!

I'll know I've got a real winner on the stand if the bucket ever starts to move!

One of the handiest I ever had was a Tatone aluminum Test Stand bolted facing to the rear of a two-step ladder with a concrete block on the lower step. I coated the entire ladder with polyester resin. I installed bolts sticking up a few inches to keep the concrete block from shifting while the engine was running.

Light, portable, and a convenient height.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-10-04 AT 05:21 AM (CDT)
 
I use a setup similar to Ward's.

In Oz we have a folding saw horse made from a couple of folding steel legs and a piece of 4" x 2" pine for the top. I use separate pieces of Aussie hardwood for each motor size, screwed to the saw horse. I use a 2oz Sullivan tank which means a lot of refilling with big motors.

I also have my 'bucket of bricks.' Mine is just 4 bricks with holes through them big enough to stick the legs of the horse through. We 'shoe the horse' before we run a 40-size engine.

So far, breaking in with the horse sitting on grass, we have run an OS FP 10 and an OS FP 20 without movement problems. Its all too simple.

If I suspect that noise might be an issue with the neighbours—I stopped breaking-in when all the kids turned up for the next-door neighbour's kid's birthday party—I set Justin loose on the lawns with the mower.

You cannot hear a 40-size motor without a muffler under the noise of our locally accepted lawn mowers.

Smile