- Glue a 3/4" high x 1" wide wooden slat to the storage table, and set the unit so that the front of the frame sits on it. That leans it just a bit and seems to really do the trick.
- Take the harness off.
PPG Problem Spreadsheet
Frame
Prop & Cage
Harness & Foot Bar
Throttle Cable
Block & Cylinder
Engine
Muffler
Battery & Charger
Starter & Electric
Fuel Tank
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Easily tips in use. | Scoot the seat of the harness under the machine a bit. | Tom Ouvry ouvryt@karmanos.org | GT, Plus | |
| Hair line cracks develop below where the harness clips in at the frames cross members. | Welding friend reinforced my frame. | This is the single most common location for stress cracks to develop during hard landings. | equinox@bignet.net | Plus |
| Easily tips in storage. |
|
|
Tom Ouvry ouvryt@karmanos.org | GT, Plus |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Redrive breaks off case when props hit ground. | Ground strikes with wood prop will shear the redrive off the case. Doesn't happen with the powerfins as they are the weaker link. | Scott Fisher skyrider@cfl.rr.com | ||
| Prop tip hits edge of cage. | Add a Velcro strap from each side of the frame to the inner portion of the prop cage. | This adds an outward flex to the cage keeping prop tip clearance a bit further away from the cage. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
GT |
| Leading edge of blades are worn or damaged. |
|
http://www.devcon.com | Mark Cross markj@optushome.com.au John Phillips |
|
| Tip of prop is broken. | Make a template out of cardboard from a good one and stick it on the broken one with scotch tape and fill with superglue and a grain or 3 of baking soda. |
Warning: Although highly unlikely, repairs of this nature have been known to fly off and damage the risers. | Terry onebigfly@hotmail.com Alastair |
|
| Cage and mesh are dirty from muffler exhaust. | Use WD-40 to remove the soot. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Frame wears through harness on hard points. |
Add a piece of "craft leather" the kind that you get for kids
projects or at a hobby shop to the back of the harness. About 8 by
10 inches and use double sided tape to stick it on.
Move and remount ignition coil, module and starter solenoid. |
Gus grant4ever@aol.com Neil France n.france@ntlworld.com |
||
| Foot rest is in the way or falls out on take-off and landing. | Attach velcro on the middle of the bar and on the seat. | Maurice "Mo" Sheldon ppgmo@inorbit.com |
||
| Foot bar can work its way through the cage into the props. |
|
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Red velcro hand strap on throttle breaks at the heat-stitch. |
Attach a piece of velcro to the throttle grip and a piece onto the palm of
your flying gloves. This has proven to be more comfortable than the
strap, stays in place better, plus its easier to handle the toggles and a/b lines during take-offs. |
Mark hopster_x@yahoo.com |
||
| Throttle cable can work its' way back through the prop cage lines and into the prop. |
|
On longer flights I'll let go of the steering toggles and rest my hands on my lap. When I do this there is enough slack in my throttle cable that it can work its' way back through the prop cage lines and into the prop. This can also happen when doing steep turns to the right and the toggle has been pulled down to waist height. |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Spark plug threads in the aluminum cylinder head stripped due to high CHT. |
|
The plug blew out (in flight). Taking a wrench to a hot spark plug/cylinder head can weaken the alum threads in the head and start a strip-out, which can blow a plug later. Also, it is the weak link, so it will generally blow before the engine is damaged from running it too hot (lean, out of gas, etc). Last summer, a guy who never checked his spark plug during pre-flight blew out a plug, but the stripped threads were limited to those blown only after the plug had rotated out many turns. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
GT |
| Crankshaft oil seal behind the pull start coil is leaking oil. | Unknown | Using Silkolene Pro 2 fully synthetic oil. | Ed Cartwright edcartwright@ntlworld.com |
1999 GT |
| The nut on the back of the crank shaft behind the pull start comes loose and allows the magneto to spin which shears off the little half circle key (Wood rough key?) which sits half in the crank shaft. | Replace the Wood Rough Key and tighten the nut. | When this happens it allows your magneto to spin freely, thus your pull starter won't be functional and you would never get it to fire anyway. | Mark Cross markj@optushome.com.au |
|
| Choke lever breaks off after age. |
|
Be careful not to tighten the air filter bolts too tight. | Roger Messerly aldude222@yahoo.com |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Engine reaches 6200-6300rpm but no initial thrust at full throttle for first few moments. Sputters bad at all throttle settings, replaced plugs, changed gas and oil, checked compression. Problem getting progressively worse for approximately 21 hours. | Belt slipping? Fuel line leaks? Dirty carburetor elements? Walbro carburetor should be tuned, cleaned and have the membranes changed yearly. Metering spring weak? Weak spring causes pop-off pressure to drop. Strong spring pop-off pressure will increase and mixture will be lean and prone to overheating. Sputtering indicates mixture is rich. Loose muffler lining? Internal lining | Alex Varv alexvarv@ameritech.net
|
1999 GT | |
| Engine power varies minute to minute, followed by sputtering, reduced RPM and no power. | Loose muffler lining? Fiberglass internal lining came loose causing back pressure. Check by taking muffler loose and shaking it by hand. Another indicator was greasy looking residue, not just fine oily exhaust mist. | Gus grant4ever@aol.com |
||
| Upgraded GT to GTO using Tennessee Propeller 48x24 wooden prop. RPM's seem to drop from 6250 to 6000 from heat. |
Second, overheating is a known problem in all GTO configs. Use
large head if available.
|
John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
||
| Carburetor has a surge problem although being tuned. | Obtain a product called Sea Breeze from NAPPA auto stores and add it to your fuel and cycle it though. This cleans the varnish and build-up in the motor and carburetor. Use 3 oz. to about a 1/4 tank of gas. | Scott Alan salan@cfl.rr.com |
||
| Engine will kill at high RPM's until you let off on the throttle, then problem would reappear a few minutes later. |
|
One of the baffles inside the muffler broke free and allowed a small
piece of the insulation to block the exhaust and kill the engine unless
you'd back off on the revs then the blockage would clear, to reappear some time again soon. |
Mark Cross markj@optushome.com.au |
|
| Motor will stall just as if it ran out of fuel when running below 3,000 RPM's. | Possible air leak. Locate leak and fix with high temp gasket sealant. | Higher than normal RPM's could mean fuel/air mixture is leaner. If there is an air leak maybe there isn't enough draw at low Rpm's to pull fuel in the carburetor. The air leak may be located right where the black plastic carb manifold/collar meets the engine block. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com Scott Alan |
|
| General rough running | Verify head nuts are properly tightened so there are no air leaks. | Great Pumpkin thegreatpumpkin@cfl.rr.com |
||
| Dieseling when shutting down from a flight | Improper spark plug gap. | Switching to Amsoil somewhat helped the problem also. | Scott Alan salan@cfl.rr.com |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Clamps that hold muffler on break. | Cable tie the back of the clamps to your frame and/or replace clamps with stronger ones. | This way even if they break they will stay fixed to your frame and not
go through the props!
Clamps can come from truck supply companies that use clamps for exhaust pipes. They have spot welding, bolts with nuts, remove spacers that come with the clamps since they are twice as thick. |
Mark Cross markj@optushome.com.au |
|
| The tack welds that hold the core of the muffler come loose from vibration and allow the inside of the muffler to fall loose. | Having the muffler rewelded and doing a prop balance job eliminated the
problem. |
It couldn't go anywhere but did cause a loss of back pressure and lots of noise. This can be detected by visual inspection of the small tube that exits the muffler by looking for cracks. Also look for small oil drops leaking from the tack welds. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
GT |
| Oil and dirt are messing up the cage mesh from the muffler exhaust (stinger). |
|
Make sure to have a professional do this so that the piece doesn't break
off into your prop.
Scott Fisher (skyrider@cfl.rr.com) recommends against this modification due to the problem with the inner core coming loose. See above. |
Neil France n.france@ntlworld.com
Mark Cross Don Jordan |
|
| The stinger (small pipe leaving the muffler) breaks loose between 50 and 70 hours of use. | Weld it back on but also check the inner welds that secure the core of the muffler. | |||
| Cracks keep redeveloping in muffler assembly. | Vibration caused by prop imbalance. Balance the props. | tisme@post.com |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Battery no longer takes a full charge. | Use a 12v automotive bulb to fully discharge their batteries once in a while. Not all the way to 0, since battery can reverse polarize. | |||
| Battery charger fails |
Caution: Older batteries may destroy chargers when new batteries do not.
You can charge older batteries with a regular car battery charger, but you must be careful when doing so, leaving on too long and it blows up! It will only bring the charge up to 12 volts, vs. the 14.4v it started with, but that just means fewer starts. You have to monitor the charge process closely, and turn it off when the battery gets pretty warm. You can also check the battery with a voltmeter to see if you have the full 12 volts. Nicad discharger and find that a 3 yr old battery still cranks and gets over 14 volts when charged after discharging it. |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Starter ring has cracked across one of its ''spokes'' (between two lightening holes) |
Replace component. | Neil France n.france@ntlworld.com | ||
| master switch is too inaccessible. | Replace with a metal aircraft type toggle switch on a new bracket. | Locate in same place, so if you reach back and feel the petrol filler cap, the switch is touching your hand. | Neil France n.france@ntlworld.com | |
| master switch comes loose in its mounting. | Rebuild with a new type of toggle switch. | Most people lose the small spring necessary to put this back together. | Phil Carlos para_pilot@hotmail.com |
|
| Kill switch and/or master switch is not functional. |
|
Kill switch malfunctions when master switch has fallen apart. This
is probably due to a microscopic spring in the on/off switch that is not
positioned properly or is now missing.
The master switch has three terminals. A center or common terminal and two poles. Both poles are switched on (closed) or off (open) at the same time. The pole on the kill switch side sometimes fails and is always open. |
Mark Cross markj@optushome.com.au John Phillips |
|
| Tiny tach does not report correctly. | You probably have a "2C" model, which is for the Tanaka 250cc twin cylinder and old Solo's, as it is for one spark per revolution of the crank. Whereas your GT sparks once near top dead center and once again at about 180. You need the 1C model. | Some are intended for four-stroke engines and will not work well on out two stroke models. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com Scott Alan |
|
| Spring that pushes pinion gear back after engine is started is worn. |
|
Scott Alan salan@cfl.rr.com |
||
| Starter button is not working | A broken wire midway down the throttle assembly was causing a continuity loss. Replace the cable/wire. | Gus grant4ever@peoplepc.com |
||
| Neither start or stop buttons function. | Probably a common ground wire failure. Replace the master switch with a 3-pole switch. | See detailed notes. | Scott Alan salan@cfl.rr.com |
| Problem | Solution(s) | Notes | Source | Model |
| Cylinder head can get dangerously close to the fuel tank. | The top bolt that holds the tank has room for a few washers that can act as a spacer to push the tank a bit further away from the hot cylinder head. | If you have had a few hard, on your butt, type landings. The frame may not be as straight as it was originally, after this impact. This modification makes it a bit of a pain to remove and put on the gas cap, but the added aggravation may be worth it in increased safety. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
GT |
| Gas spills out when unit tips. | Add a check valve to the fuel line to stop the gas leakage when this happens. Available from Paraborne Aviation for $5. | John Phillips johnp@ceinetworks.com |
GT | |
| Fuel capacity is low. | Order a larger fuel tank. | Can extend flight distance to 35-40 miles! | Mark hopster_x@yahoo.com |
|
| Cannot monitor fuel tank while in flight. | Mount a small convex mirror on to throttle grip. | Use caution to not allow throttle cable back into prop! When you are not holding the brakes in your hands it's possible for the throttle cable to work it's way back through the cage into the prop. | ||
| Fuel leaks from vent hose when standing up. |
|
This page was last modified on Sunday, March 12, 2006 .