Leaky reed

John Goddard Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:12 pm

Ok genius', what symptoms would an engine who's
Reed valve doesn't seal very well/often exhibit?

Ken Cook Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:27 pm

John, I would think hard starting for one. In this case it sounds like the engine is running but having issues. We have what I believe is rye grass which produces these small like seeds the size of celery seeds. They like to get inhaled by the intake which drives me crazy. The engine will be running fine, then the problems begin. These seeds get stuck on the reed and then prevent it from sealing which floods the engine. The engine will be running then shut off for no apparent reason. It also doesn't develop full rpm's. Most of the time starting is really the problem. A distorted reed can also be problematic. I find this to be the case with even the stainless reeds. It appears as though the metal is forming to the underlying hole in the tank and this happens even quicker with the clear Mylar reeds. Needling the engine becomes a gamble as it just doesn't want to respond and when it does, the change is so drastic it typically quits. Ken

John Goddard Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:47 pm

Thanks Ken I suspected as much. I'll post a vid of what I believe is
A running engine who's reed has stopped sealing a little later....
It's the dragonfly tank unit that has a plastic reed retainer and
White Mylar type reed the same as my killer bee that developed
The same symptoms.
Perhaps the Mylar doesn't like heat very much.
I've got metal reeds somewhere, which if any type do you prefer?

Ken Cook Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:13 pm

I've found the Mylar reed to be quite the performer. Unfortunately, it's life is short lived. I also do an air test on the Mylar reed prior to reassembly. I found that they don't always want to seal correctly. Flipping them over has helped that situation. These are with new reeds and not old ones. I've had great repetitive success using the stainless reeds. They perform well but again, they deform as I stated above to where they concave as if they're getting pushed into that venturi hole. This isn't something that readily takes place as I've seen using the Mylar. I also have used the Teflon versions. I had higher hopes with the Teflon and I didn't see any immensely high performance numbers. In fact, I had one engine I placed the Teflon reed in and I didn't notice that two of them were stacked on each other. The circlip didn't engage and during running the circlip decided to come out. That engine was quickly ruined due to this. Ken

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