aljken

The description above does not fit with a clutch issue. The clutch will not engage until about 2500-3000 rpm, but you can't even start the motor. You are pulling the starter cord, and it is turning over the engine (as expected). First makes sure it's adequately primed, push down the carb diaphragm tang and squeeze the priming bulb. Squeeze it all the way to the carb, then I do one extra reasonable squeeze which usually means enough fuel is in to start. Your style of pulling with the flash starter should be pull short sharp (but gentle pull) until the starter engages and you get significant resistance (at this point the starter pawls/fingers have poked out sideways). Don't pull against this resistance, back up about 1cm (a tiny bit) and then pull firmly and constantly to turn the motor over, and it should start the motor within about 3 attempts. Remember with each attempt you are drawing more fuel in, so resist the urge to reprime as you may flood the engine - just do it right the first time. If you cannot turn the engine over and the starter does not meet resistance at any point, you have a flash starter issue. It doesn't sound like this is the problem. You describe the motor turning over. I would suggest doing easy things first - check and change the spark plug (BR10EIX is probably best for you). Check the plug sparks - you'll need a friend to help you do this. Make sure you are priming correctly. The spark plug shouldn't really have a little washer under it (the one it comes with) if you are using a brass CHT gauge, but it probably doens't make much difference if it does to be honest. Also the carb's choke should be off, it doesn't do anything for the thor 130, but you can try with it both on and off if you like. Try all these things first... then I would look at other things like carb screws, pressure tubing (from cylinder to underside of carb) and anything else some one sensible suggests on this forum. It really doesn't sound like a clutch issue to me though.

I use wire hose spring clips - something like this (just for illustration, I've never bought this particular brand) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mikalor-Double-Wire-Hose-Spring-Clips-Silicone-Pipe-Air-Fuel-Band-Tube-Clamp-/222287989370 I've never had any problems and have replaced my fuel line quite a few times, and used new clips. They will give you a much better seal compared to cable ties - although I've heard if you do use cable ties then be sure to go round twice.

Thor 130 (Polini). Oil is Elf Moto Gear oil 10W40 (2T) - you can see an example here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elf-Moto-Gear-10W40-Litre/dp/B009PLX3AY I'm talking about the gear reduction oil. It's done this for about 3 years, perhaps it's just my engine? Does it mean anything?

Gear oil goes in transparent. you fly with it for just an hour or two, check it and it's already dark black. What's the black colour from? is it little bits of clutch, heat change with the oil, ground off bits of cogs?

Well, I'm happy to report that these seems to work well. Positives: They look really good, and come in a variety of colours. They feel solid, no drooping Easy to fit - they come with new screws if you need them, and direction on which parts to fit first. They could also be removed easily if necessary. They fit the thor 130 fine - but you must specify that it's a Polini (see this http://www.southwestairsports.com/PPGTechInfo/top80/hrservicenotes/mounts/mounts.htm which has now been resolved if you order Polini PPG mounts). Vibrations feel exactly the same when flying (no more or less that I noticed). The seller is responsive to emails, and ships them out quickly. Negatives The vibrations are the same as before (no more, no less as far as I can tell) Expensive for what they are $80 ish I think, compared with about £12 to 18 for replacement rubber mounts. I'll feed back more when I've been flying around more with it, but these are my initial impressions. Going back I'd definitely order them again, but I can understand that replacing your paramotor mounts isn't high priority for most people!

I would store it out the house like Simon said. However I'd definitely fit some sort of fixed point or anchor into the wall or ground to lock it to. I wouldn't want anyone running off with it.

Well I flew back to the field taking it mellow. Landed and the engine did seem hot all over. Not sure if it was abnormally hot though, as I don't generally go feeling my motor all over after I've been flying. Spark plug looked fine - a bit of oil on it, and coffee colour on the white central area. The flash starter had fallen apart (again, I think this is the 3rd Polini flash starter to fall apart). One of the starter pawls was jammed in the fins of the magneto cooling fan. I'm not sure if this had jammed the fan or not. I'm not sure it it could to be honest, but it is possible, and may have damaged the fan. The temps on the CHT / Polini DRS took a while to come down, but did come down. I've looked down the spark plug hole and the piston head looks ok to me (although I am no expert). Rotating the fan moves the cylinder head up and down - so presumably the fans OK. I looked up the melting temp of aluminium - about 660 degrees. Well there's no way the polini temp gauge is calibrated up to that range, and my engine didn't seize.. So it's either: 1. Faulty temp gauge. 2. Broken fan. 3. Something else running it lean????? My plan is to get a new starter and then I can start it and run it to see if it's all OK. I'll let you know the final outcome, I'm hoping you are all correct at it's the temp gauge. All in all, a typical day paramotoring!

So this happened today.... Flying along, have been for an hour. Engine running well. Recent problems in the last month (all fixed) with the motor include welded exhaust crack (no issues since), pull starter fitted cos last one fell apart (classic polini), resoldered wires for earth (to cut motor) and resoldered CHT wires (wire carries power to the digital display gauge). Also changed bent paramotor mounts (attaches motor to frame). New spark plug recently too. The CHT climbs to 230, (usually its 140 to 180). The red warning light flashes. I come off throttle instantly (now on idle). Temp rises to 330, 660, 880 over a min while on glide, then drops rapidly again to 140 to 180. a little bit more throttle causes displayed temps to jump rapidly again. Then they drop. Engine feels fine to fly, no funny noises, good performance. Do you: Ignore gauge - its wrong probably cos the temps are ridiculous. This happened instantly. Land immediately - requiring 40 min walk back to field with gear. Fly to take off taking it easy on throttle and temps - less than 5 mins flying. I'll post what I did and actual cause when people have had a chance to respond...

I would phoneup and ask the school if i were you. The last time I looked you could type in your postcode on the BHPA website and it found a school near where you lived. There's other non BHPA schools too, I suspect there will be a list of them on internet too somewhere. I wouldn't advise anyone who's never flown to commit to buying any equipment until they have qualified. Where do you live?

Yep I definitely think your last sentence sums the situation with paramotors up nicely! There's quite a bit of my motor which is not original now, but the good thing is that it's easy to replace and the motor works way better than when I bought it.

I see what you mean - you have the added hassle of having an O-ring. I have fitted soft shackles to reserves and O-rings to maillons but never needed together, but I think this will work if you use paraglider string or cable tie: Basically you'll have to put lines through an O-ring, so it's just sat above the lines with them all passing through it. Next thread soft shackle through all line loop ends (for the 1st time). At this point thread spare piece of paraglider string so it also passes through the line loop ends and you have paraglider string plus soft shackle passing through line loops. Now bring down the O-ring and fit it so that the lines cannot move along the soft shackle -i.e so the O-ring has the 2 twists in it (like you see on a maillon. Next you need to thread soft shackle (but not the paraglider string) through the riser (the 1st time). Then pull the soft shackle then back through one side of the twisted O-ring, the line loops (the 2nd time), then back out the other side of the O-ring - you'll need to use the paraglider string to help lift the O-ring up for this. Then fix the soft shackle together and pull tight, like shown in the video. When you remove the string or cable tie, do it really slowly - you don't want to pull it through fast and burn the shackles. Let me know if this works. Cheers, Alex.

Ah sorry, just seen your problem is mainly the O ring with the lines. Is it not possible to do it the same as with a metal maillon? It does sound like more faff.

Gin does one for the reserve bridle attachment. It's super easy to follow. Are the soft links on the riser similar? http://gingliders.com/harnesses/harness-accessories/carabiners/gin-soft-shackle/

I'll feed back what I make of them when they get here. It seems like he's corrected some of the previous issues (which included the originals being slightly too fat for Polini's). Robert's easy to contact via his website at www.vikingppg.com He's very responsive and I'm sure he'd be keen to hear from you about getting a set to review. I don't know him personally though!

This is for a Polin Thor 130. Thanks for the info about ceramic coating Simon. I doubt anyone actually knows if it will increase performance in a 2 stroke engine of not then? From what I understant then, ceramic coating a muffler would probably increase the heat of the exhaust gases. Who knows what this would cause? I think increasing the heat of a gas increases it's viscosity. Also increasing it might increase the pressure within the exhaust - who knows what effect this would have on the engines performance (and a crack in the exhaust). Maybe in the future this will become standard on paramotors?!

Well I got it rewelded today. tested it out this afternoon and no little leaks after 1 hr of flying. I'd still be interested to hear of others experience and the coating of the exhaust with ceramic. Cheers, Alex

Well my exhaust muffler finally cracked. It's a vertical crack 7 to 10 cm long, not all of it going right through the steel muffler I don't think. I got it welded for £20 which has fixed most of it, except a few tiny spots where oil can be seen to have escaped after a flight (of 30 mins or more). The level of oil leak is now tiny (especially compared to the leak I used to get from where the muffler joins the motor (with springs holding it on, until that gunked up and stopped leaking). The welder's kindly offered to reweld it for me for free. This got me thinking: Is it a problem flying with a muffler with a tiny crack in it? Surely the power is just a tad lower in the engine, or does it have other effects? Does it lean it out? I realise it must be a weak spot while it's leaking a little - so probably worth fixing properly. What would others do? fix it via welding, buy a new one (new one is about £270)? I've heard of getting the muffler coated with ceramic, has anyone else heard about his or tried it? I'd appreciate your advice or opinions. Cheers, Alex

Well I'm gonna give them a go. Robert the inventor and seller was very helpful. He advised me I needed the narrower version for the polini thor 130. They get shipped from usa. I'll report back on how they are.

If you do choose a side mounted reserve on a paramotor, choose to fit it to the opposite side the prop spins to counter the torque effect otherwise you are adding to it. Most props spin anticlockwise, so torque you left, so in most cases putting the reserve on the right side makes more sense (but this will depend on your machine and also your throttle hand). Also for attaching a reserve to reserve bridles, don't forget to make sure the maillons don't slip about on the reserve bridles. I've found self sealing silicon tape to be brilliant for this as it doesn't leave any residue or seal to the bridles themselves. I've always been warey of putting electrical tape or something similar around the maillon-bridle connection and sillicon tape really solves this issue. It's also thermal resistant and water resistant so I have used it on other parts of my paramotor (like my throttle cable which also has electrical wires and has previously been burnt through when rubbing against the exhaust). Usually £5 to £8 a roll so not super cheap.

Anyone tried any of these? Viking PPG motor mounts. Apparently they reduce the vibration a lot. They also last a lot longer. http://www.vikingppg.com/ Thinking of giving them a try.

There's a good account in skywings from this month about a paramotorist flying a few thousand feet up, trimmers fully open, on full bar and getting a big collapse that started to rotate. He threw his reserve and survived. They aren't exactly difficult to attach properly and check.

If you are very local to your site it is actually useful to have a weather station with wind meter recording values (ave & gust every min), which are logged (usually easiest by uploading to a weather site). That way you get trend data which is far more useful than single one off measures. You'll be able to tell if the wind is dropping, changing direction, etc. 100s or 1000s of readings plotted on a graph are way better than a hand held anemometer. If I see a trend of the wind dropping on my weather station then I will go to my local field before it's actually flyable as I can be more confident that the wind is dropping. You also really start to understand your local conditions better. The limiting factor for me isn't that I can't take off in the wind, cos on a small wing at ground level you can usually take off, it's just fairly unpleasant when you're in the air! You'll work out your own speeds over time, and then when you reflect over the last few years you'll realise your personal ones will have changed a bit, and you'll be more certain about your own judgement.

There is a method of leaning out wg8 using high jet: http://www.southwestairsports.com/PPGTechInfo/Top80/HRServiceNotes/WalbroWG8/carbmodification/jetmod.htm has anyone else had a problem with the eos 100 running rich?

Hi all, We have started a paramotoring group in South East Wales, where we chat about where to fly, when to fly, share photos, etc via Telegram (an instant messaging app likes What's app). Anyone is welcome to join, no one refused entry to the group. You just need to download Telegram on your android or iphone and email (sewpower10@gmail.com) with a join request. I'll send you instructions and add you then. Happy to collaborate with others and you are welcome to add your other flying mates. Cheers, Alex.

Make sure the choke is not fixed on/open (if there is one on the carb). I have seen this before where the engine just gets flooded after a few mins. Also check the pipe attached from engine to carb, which transmits pressure changes. This gets worn out / cracked after a period of time.