jc_catalan

Hi Dan. Thanks for the tip. I will be in the lookout for that. Fortunately I have spares to change immediately should it happen. Also, looks like your centrifugal clutch had it as well. How did it happen? Cheers. JC

Hi. You mention grease. Do you really mean to say grease? The instruction manual for the HE-R120 mentions oil. To be specific it mentions Mouwan Gear 80W90. Where I live I cannot get this exact oil, so I use any gearbox oil rated 80W90. Can you tell me exactly which one you use and what quantity? Also can I use any oil rated at 80W90? My previous gearbox didn't last as much as I would have expected after I started using oil I replenished. Cheers and Thanks. JC

Hi Gary. I wrote to manufacturer before I posted the initial question on this forum. I received no reply. Today, I wrote again. I received a reply from them less than an hour ago. They said grind the crank shaft 1 mm without removing the clutch and its holding nut. So I will follow that advise. Writing on this forum means I can get feedback from others who've had this issue before. It's always good to find out from others who've had the same issue and see how they fixed it and what if any side effects they had as a result of that. Isn't that the spirit of a specialty forum like this one? A big "THANK YOU" to everyone who posted replies on this issue. I appreciate your feedback. Cheers. JC

The clutch is properly sitted so I cannot push it in any further. In regards to grinding the crank shaft 1 mm, sounds simple enough, but I have the same thought as Pete. Maybe it'll solve the crank shaft touching the "bell", but that'll also move the clutch closer to the bell so MAYBE it'll be enough for the clutch to start touching the bell, thus creating another problem. In regards to spacing the whole unit, the 2 options that come to my mind is putting a metal ring on each screw (3 screws) to keep the unit further away by 1 mm, but I think having the remaining part of the unit not touching the engine block may cause added vibrations and could even damage the reduction gear unit. The other option to space the whole unit out is to build a metal gasket of 1 mm width. This is why I want to know if someone had this issue and how it was solved. Grinding the crank shaft sounds like it is the best method as long as it does not cause another problem. I'm sure this problem is not an isolated case. Surely someone who replaced their reduction gear unit, from an older silver one, must have had to solve this problem. Cheers. JC

Anybody had to replace the reduction gear from the silver model to a new coloured one?. The new red reduction gear doesn't fit correctly. The crank shaft touches the reduction gear not letting it turn. Anybody has had that problem? How did you fix it? Did you put a spacer? or shortened the crank shaft by grinding the tip off? Please your feedback. Cheers. JC

Hi Pete. Thank you for clarifying the crank shaft. The whole assembly is factory setting. If I install the original Silver reduction gear, it fits ok. Actually it barely touches "the bell", but just barely. If you look closely the photo, you can see the markings of the crank shaft barely touching. But with the new Red reduction gear, it is about 1 mm less deep (the bell is slightly closer to the crank shaft), so has a hard contact with the crank shaft preventing the reduction gear from turning if I tighten the nuts that hold the reduction gear in place to the engine assembly. Unless I put a spacer or wear off the crank shaft about 1 mm shorter. So I wonder how others have solved this problem. Pierre from H&E mentioned something about this on the phone, but I could hardly understand since there was a lot of noise on the line. I sent him an email asking again, but haven't received reply yet.

Hi All, Some help needed on my R120. My Silver reduction gearbox is crappy now and just last week I received a brand new Red reduction gear box. Just by looking they are about the same. except that now the bell, where the centrifugal clutch makes contact, touches the rod that rotates with the engine (I refer to the rod where you install the centrifugal clutch that will make contact with the bell on the reduction gear box). Has anyone replaced an old reduction gearbox with a new one and had this problem? How did you solve it? ps. The "bell" as I call it, is the "cup" where the centrifugal clutch makes contact with the reduction gear box. The rod is what I refer to that metal piece that turns with the engine and where the centrifugal clutch is put on or installed. It is fairly clear I have no idea how these things are called. Hopefully you will understand what I mean. If you know how they are called, please tell me so that I don't have to do this explaining next time I need help. Your answers are appreciated in advance. Thanks. JC

Read again your original post and realized you checked your belt tension. So, back to the drawing board. Have you changed your prop by any chance? If you have a new prop, then a bigger or smaller hard angle may not be appropriate for your engine.

If the engine is reaching full revs and you still don't feel enough power, maybe it is slipping. Meaning your engine is going fast, but your prop is going as if the engine was reving much less. If you have centrifugal clutch, then check it is not worn out. Could be slipping there. If it is belt, I imagine you can do a similar check on the belt. Maybe needs the belt adjusted tighter.

Forget the GPS and the anemometer. Just turn the engine off if you like landing with engine off or put it at idle if you prefer the engine running. Then start making tight circles and look straight down to the ground. You will know the wind direction by the drift you will notice on the ground below you. I do that whenever I don't have a windsock indicator and it works. Best of all it is free and is very accurate. Cheers. JC

What do you mean there's no cutaway option? Isn't the quick release readily available and used in paragliding the equivalent of the cutaway? Look at these videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOe4DCpK9S

ok Pete. I'm happy with that answer as for round canopy. It is now clear that my current round canopy with max range of 110 kg will leave me on the ground in bad shape. Hopefully alive since that's all I have for now. But that'll change soon. So now it would be good to know about the rogallo. I want to be throurough in this discussion. Any recomendations for or against using these type of reserves?

Thanks for the advice. I would have thought using a tandem rated (200kg) reserve for mono flying is a bit much under weight and could cause oscillations while falling. So maybe it may be better a round cannopy rated for 160kg instead. Am I right with this? Or still better going for the 200kg reserve. On the other hand, any paramotorist has had any experience throwing a reserve with a paramotor on your back? I'd like to hear what reserve you had at the time, your full weight during that throw, and how it behaved during that throw. No one has mentioned anything about a rogallo. I would think it would be a better choice for paramotoring. Am I right? Cheers. JC

Thanks. I missed to include the weight of the wing which is closer to 8 kilos plus the weight of the reserve and front container which should be close to 3 kilos.

Hi, I am currently flying with a front mounted round APCO Mayday 18 which is for 110 kilos. The web page says it's for 120 kilos, but the briddle on my reserve says 110 kilos. Anyway, I weight naked around 86 kilos, my HE R120 paramotor dry weight is 27 kilos, plus clothes, helmet and boots. I should be around 120 kilos. Add a full tank of 9 litres and I'm around 129 kilos. Way too heavy for my reserve. So I think, it'll still save my life, but I'll break a few bones. Do you agree? Anyway, I want to get a proper reserve for my paramotor needs. I normally fly 200 or more metres from the ground. What do you suggest I should get? Is a round cannopy reserve more appropriate or should I get a guided rogallo type of reserve. And also for your suggestion, flying with normal carabiners is ok or it is best to use quick release type. Why? Also for the choice you suggest, and considering I'm fully fueled at close to 130 kilos, what max range should the reserve be? Any other comments? Sorry for so many questions, but I want to make sure I don't make a mistake in the equipment that could potentially save my life. Regards and Thanks. JC

Thanks for that info. I already cut the wire after the 4th turn, but I think I left enough for a 5th turn. I won't cut it any further. Cheers. JC

Yes. They seemed too high. Towards the beginning of the flight, I was reaching around 9000 rpm at full throttle and when I brought down the revs the cound would go down, say to 5000 or less. But towards the end of my flight I noticed a little over 9000 rpm at full throttle, but when I brought down the revs, the count would stay high above 8000 rpm and I expected something like 5000 rpm readout. I didn't give it much importance since I thought I just needed to play with the wounding around the spark plug cable. So since I had 4 turns, I decided to try next time with 3 turns. By the way, I don't have a belt on my paramotor. It is a centrifugal clutch. Cheers. JC

I mounted it on my left shoulder looking towards me. So while flying, all I need to do is look to the left to see the revs count on my engine. I will try it with 3 turns next time (I have 4 turns now) as I did not trust the values I saw after about an hour of flying. Cheers. JC

I'm now flying PPG with a reflex wing (DUDEK Synthesis) and will definitely not go back to paramotor flying with PG wing. Certainly the reflex gives me a new sensation of flying that allows me to relax hands free. Something I could not do with my other PG wing. So for paramotoring I will not go back to a PG wing. Luckily I am keeping my PG wing for free flying which is designed for that purpose. Cheers. JC

I have a feeling it is also pre erected in order to allow an individual with no flying experience take off and land safely. If you see one of the videos on that page, one of the requirements of the design was for someone with no flying experience to be able to fly it. Cheers. JC

Thank you guys for all that information. It sure helps me a lot. Best Regards. JC

Thank you Fanman. Mine is manual start only, so I'm wondering if that applies to both manual start and electric start. Cheers. JC

Thank you Dan. I will follow your advice by the letter.

If you need help to translate emails, let me know. Cheers. JC

Hi. I just received a tiny tach that I want to install in my HE R120 paramotor. One thing I have clear is to wrap the red wire 3 to 4 turns around the spark plug cable. But where do I attach the white cable? a) I was thinking maybe on one of the screws on top of the motor cylinder (those that protrude out of the carbon fibre heat protection over the engine head). Or b) Anywhere on the frame of the paramotor. Mine is made of stainless steel. Can someone clear this up for me. Better still, can someone put pictures of how both wires were installed. In regards to the display unit, I'm thinking of putting it on the accelerator hose close to my hand. Any pictures of how this was installed as well will be very much appreciated. What I have in mind may not be as good as yours. Thanks in advance. JC