FAQ/Downloads

Website

1. The old website used to have dimension drawings for each engine. where can these be found?
New dimension drawings are now live for all of our single cylinder engines. If these are not showing on your computer be sure to refresh the product page to clear any old cached version displaying. If the images are not very clear right click and save image to your computer. Google Chrome users can also right click and open in new tab. Drawings for V twins are still a work in progress with only the 160 and 200 to go.

Carburettor

1. Can the spray bar be moved to put the inlet nipple in a different position?
No. The spray bar is a fixed item. Attempting to move it will damage the carburettor and move the fuel jet preventing the engine from running.

2. What are the needle settings for the carburettor?
There are no ‘correct’ settings for the carburettor. Each engine will have to be tuned to suit the specific installation. Other factors that affect tuning are propellers, glow plugs, fuel and atmospheric conditions. As a base setting set main needles to 2.5 turns and slow run needles to 6 turns on large single engines (120, 150, 155, 180) and 7 turns on small engines.

V twins should have both slow runs needles opened 6.5 turns from closed and main needles 2.5 turns. The engine can then be started and needles re set with the engine running.

Cooling/installation

1. Are Laser engines ok running inverted?
All laser engines can be run at any attitude. Due to the design of our intake tube the engines will not flood when inverted.

2. Can i use an on board glow system for improved reliability?
On board glow systems are not recommended as they can be the cause of unreliability by masking tuning errors. All Laser engines will run reliably without on board glow if the carburettors are set correctly.

3. What engine mounts should i use?
There are a wide variety of engine mounts available and most are satisfactory for use with Laser engines. We do not recommend the use of metal mounts or so called ‘vibration reducing’ mounts as they often cause problems. A glass reinforced nylon mount is the best choice. We do not recommend the use of hardwood bearers on engines larger than 100.

We now have engine mount kits available. Click here for details.

Propellers

1. Can i use a wooden propeller?
On the 70-160v we recommend glass reinforced nylon propellers but wooden props can be used under certain circumstances. Due to greater inertia the 180-360v can be run with wooden propellers but prop nuts must be regularly checked for tightness. if you are unsure give us a call.

2. Can 3 bladed propellers be used?
A 3 blade propeller will not harm the engine but we do not recommend them as they tend to place a high load on the engine and are less efficient. In flight the disk of a large 2 blade propeller will look better and provide better performance. For static display a dummy scale prop can be used.

Other

1. I have bought/am thinking of buying a second hand engine. How can I tell the age of the engine and if parts/servicing are available?
We currently supply parts for all current production engines and engines back to 1992. We are working on a page for the website to give tips on engine identification. In the short term a photograph of the engine should be sufficient for an identification to be made.

 2. I would like to run my Laser engine on petrol and have seen petrol conversion kits online. Is it possible to convert the engine?
We do not recommend customers attempt to convert their engines to petrol. We have had numerous engines returned for repair following failed conversions. Through our own testing we have found the carb’s supplied in these kits do not give satisfactory performance and engines are often very unreliable and down on power. There have also been engines suffering mechanical failure following conversion. We recommend the engines be run on glow fuel with 5% nitro and 10-15% synthetic oil.

3. I have lost my cam timing during maintenance, how can i reset it?
Please see https://www.laserengines.com/cam-timing/ for details. If you are unable to get the timing correct or are unsure please return the engine for service.

 Ordering

1. The item i want to order is out of stock, can you let me know when it will be back?
Unfortunately we are unable to give definite lead times on items out of stock and so no longer quote them. We are also unable to notify customers individually when items are available again. Long term there is a plan to address these issues but for the moment we ask that customers consult this page for more information.