After several gallons of fuel have been run through my T-Rex 600N, I started to notice an intermittent, metallic rattling noise which seemed to be coming from the Align pipe. Some research on the forums led me to believe that the baffles were prone to failure in this pipe so I began to look into alternatives.
I had considered purchasing a Hatori pipe, since others have reported good luck with them. Still, I wanted to keep some options open, and I knew that Outrage RC, manufacturers of the G5 and the upcoming Outrage 550 electric helicopters, and the Outrage series of Lithium Polymer battery packs, had just released a new pipe designed for .50 size nitro helis.
Called the Hyper Rage 50, the pipe is designed as a direct bolt-on replacement for the Align pipe and as such, it made sense for me to consider this pipe for my heli. After dropping the folks at Outrage RC an email and asking a few questions, I was contacted by Steve from Outrage RC, who patiently answered my questions and gave me a little insight into the Hyper Rage 50 pipe.
They (Outrage) are aware of the issues some folks are having with the Align pipe’s baffles blowing out, and Steve mentioned that in the early stages of its development, the Hyper Rage 50 had similar issues. I was told that after a few redesigns, Outrage has managed to solve the issue. Steve also mentioned that the Hyper Rage was quieter than the Align pipe while managing to produce more power. Steve also agreed to send me one for review.
Initial impressions / What’s In The Box
After a few days, the pipe arrived, having been drop-shipped from Outrage’s U.S. distributor, HeliDirect. Contained within the box was the pipe itself, wrapped in a thin layer of foam sheeting and placed in a plastic bag, to keep the chrome finish from being nicked or otherwise damaged. Also included was a small bag containing the mounting bolts, split-ring lock washers, brass pressure tap fitting, silicone exhaust deflector (AKA barf tube), and a zip tie to fasten the redirector to the pipe.
No gasket was included with the muffler, and I personally prefer to run one between my pipe and my engine, but some guys do not, preferring instead to either have no gasket or to use a thin layer of RTV silicone. For this reason I understand why they didn’t include one. Luckily, I had an extra gasket that came with my engine. Just a quick note, if you choose to use RTV for an exhaust gasket, be careful not to use too much, since small bits can break off inside the motor and get sucked into the combustion chamber, where it can then foul the glow plug, rendering it useless.
The other main component included was the exhaust deflector. The last time I had seen this design was at IRCHA, where I believe they were introduced. Molded from fairly thick silicone, the included deflector is unique in that it incorporates a built-in plug, which can be conveniently folded back and secured to a molded-in standoff for flight. A very useful and unique idea, in my opinion. These are molded in several different colors and are also available separately from HeliDirect. I was sent a yellow one, and though I would have normally chosen black, it doesn’t look too bad on my heli, and even fits in with the yellow color scheme of the canopy.
Assembly
I took care of the rudimentary assembly of the pipe, which consisted of installing the exhaust redirector and the pressure tap into the hole on the top of the muffler. You must be careful when installing these brass fittings, They are VERY easy to overtighten and break off. I’ve done this before, and luckily was able to remove the broken stump that was left in the muffler, but I can’t count on being lucky every time. A little extra caution here never hurts.
At this point, assembly is pretty much finished. I did take the mounting bolts and thread them into the threaded holes in the pipe to chase them, and it was a good thing that I did. One of the holes was fine, but the other was a bit clogged with a gritty, black, dirt-like substance which I’m assuming is dried up plating liquid left over from the plating process. It was really no big deal to remove though, as a toothpick and a coupe of bursts of canned air cleaned the hole out neatly. Perhaps a pipe cleaner probably would have worked better, but I didn’t have one (a PIPE cleaner…..get it?…. um, …. nevermind).
With only one thing left to do, I started packing up my stuff to head to the field. No, I didn’t mount it to the heli yet, because I was planning on testing Steve’s assertion that the Hyper Rage 50 was quieter than the stock Align pipe. To do this, I would need to take a reading with my club’s decibel meter to get an idea of the sound level of the Align pipe first.
Sound Tests
At the field, I set everything up and started up the engine with the Align pipe still mounted. Measurements made at 10 feet showed that the Align pipe produced 68dB at idle, and at full, governed 2150 RPM on the governor (at 0 pitch on the ground) I was reading 97dB. For reference purposes, a passenger car at 30 feet produces between 60 and 90dB. Hearing damage due to long-term exposure can occur at 85dB. Thus, you wouldn’t want to stand 10 feet from a nitro heli at full throttle for several hours straight.
After those tests were conducted, the heli was shut down and I removed the Align pipe, replacing it with the Outrage pipe. As previously stated, I prefer to use a gasket between engine and pipe, so I installed the spare gasket, and the pipe went on without any trouble whatsoever. Upon reconnecting the exhaust pressure line for the fuel tank, I noticed that the placement of the pressure fitting on the new pipe caused it to contact the edge of the canopy on the T-Rex 600N. Theoretically, this could cause the line to be damaged due to vibration, but it’s easy enough to inspect regularly, and as part of my planned maintenance of this heli, I will be replacing all the silicone lines every year.
Upon examination, I also noted that the rubbing is happening very close to the pipe itself, so simply re-routing the tubing probably would not alleviate the issue. I’ll let it go and continue to monitor it, and report back any further developments should there be any. I hadn’t really noticed before, but when placing the Align pipe next to the Outrage pipe, I realized that the Outrage pipe was a bit smaller than the Align. You can see this in the picture above.
The heli was fired up, and I let it idle for a few minutes, long enough for the pipe to get up to normal operating temperature, then re-tightened the mounting bolts while the pipe was hot. I then placed the heli at the 10 foot mark, where I’d measured it with the Align pipe on it and repeated the tests. The Outrage pipe did indeed prove to be quieter that the Align pipe as measured by the decibel meter.
The readings a idle for the Outrage pipe showed 58dB while at 2150 RPM, it read 89dB. This is a marked improvement. Also noted was a subtle change in tone between the two. While trying not to sound like a wine reviewer, the Hyper Rage 50 was a bit mellower with a slight reduction of raspiness. The sound of the Align pipe has been complained about by some as being a bit harsh, but to be honest, it never really bothered me. While not a huge difference, I will say that to my ear, the Outrage pipe is indeed more pleasant sounding.
Flying The Pipe
The next test, conducted immediately, was a flight test. In addition to the improvement in sound, Steve mentioned to me that the Hyper Rage 50 was designed to produce more power than the Align pipe. While I really have no way to measure the power output I can only rely on my own impressions in flight. Having put about 4 gallons through the heli with the Align pipe on, I’m pretty familiar with the way it flies. As I went through my normal routine of fast circuits, loops, rolls, flips, and tic-tocs, I began to realize that my maneuvers were not as precise as they normally were. Apparently, I was used to the way the power was used on the engine at various parts of the maneuvers, and adjusted my collective to compensate wherever the power varied.
It soon became apparent that where power had sagged and taken time to recover, there was less sag and the heli recovered more quickly, and thus, I was now over-correcting. This was making my loops a little cork-screwy and I was gaining altitude on my flips, which made them take up much more sky. My stick movements were the same as before, but the results were different. In light of my observations, I can only conclude that the engine was indeed producing more power.
To verify, I performed a bit of pitch-pumping to see if the head would bog. It did not, and seemed to jump up dramatically as the stick was raised. another observation was a marked difference when switching between Idle1 at 1850 RPM governed and Idle2 at 2150 RPM. I previously noted a very slight difference in RPM when switching between these, but it was much more pronounced now. It appears as if the new pipe is allowing the engine to produce more power at the top end, which would explain these observations.
I also tested various mixture settings to see if they affected the engine’s performance and found that it took two clicks to produce a significant change, where before, it only required one. Therefore, it seems that the new pipe is also causing the engine to be more tolerant of minor mixture changes, which to me, is a bonus. After flight, the engine temperature was it’s normal warm-but-not-too-hot and the heli had less of a tendency to “hang on the pipe” as it did on the Align. On hitting throttle hold, the RPMs dropped back to idle a bit faster than they had ever done before. This isn’t really too big a deal to me, but it was an effect that I noticed.
Final Thoughts
Put simply, I really like the Outrage RC Hyper Rage 50 pipe. It mounts up to the OS 50 Hyper engine with no issues, it is quieter and more mellow sounding than the Align pipe, it produces power, and is very affordable. I can’t comment on how it compares to other third-party mufflers, since I’ve not used them, but I can say that this is a definite improvement over the stock Align Performance Muffler.
Other than the issue with the pressure line rubbing the canopy, this pipe is a pretty much perfect bolt-in replacement. I can’t speak to the longevity of the pipe, since its only got a couple of flights on it, but hopefully Outrage has indeed managed to engineer out any tendency for the baffles to loosen up. On a side note, after having taken off the Align pipe I shook it vigorously to see if it would rattle, an indication that the baffles were indeed going bad. It did not. However, I did notice that the pressure tap on it was loose in its hole. The pressure line on the fitting would have been sufficient to keep it from unscrewing itself and falling out, but I think that this may have been the source of my rattle, which only happened when the pipe was cool.
This is the first item produced by Outrage RC that I currently own, but I will say that I’m happy with the quality and performance. Being less expensive than even the Align pipe, I believe that Outrage has a winning product here with the Hyper Rage 50 Pipe, and if their other products are anything like this one, they have a great foot in the door in a very competitive market.
One of the best features of this pipe is it’s warranty. Outrage RC is offering a 50% crash replacement warranty on the Hyper Rage 50 pipe. If you crash and damage the pipe, Outrage RC will replace it for you at 50% of the original price! Hard to beat that!
The Outrage RC Hyper Rage 50 Pipe is available right now from HeliDirect here:
and should also be available at any of Outrage’s other distributors listed on their website here:
Questions can be asked via email to:
Current retail price for the Hyper Rage 50 pipe is $64.99 USD
Oh, and just as a little tidbit for all you .90 size heli pilots… a little birdie told me that Outrage is currently working on a .90 sized pipe for you guys!
This review has been reprinted from The Heligeek Blog.
Be The First To Comment
Related Post
Please Leave Your Comments Below