Flywheel explode

[Dover Power]

ASk the track if their insurance cover the racer if injured by an exploded flywheel?
Probably not running insurance either...

One thing is foresure, you are playing with a time bomb...
Track abd offer any class they want,, if no one enters it do they have a class...

 

[alvin l nunley]

Don't worry about it, very rarely do they explode, chances of it happening to you are very small, take a chance.

 

[Crowe Racing Engines]

Have had 3 explode so far in dyno room. Catastrophic! Entails chipped concrete floor and pulling out of wall. Doesnt look good for the tracks who mandate our drivers to run the stock flywheels knowing that they can/will fail. Simply let the billet flywheel be kept by owner in claim process. If a racer is not willing to spend $100 one time fee for safety of themselves and those near their engine, then they are in the wrong sport. Safety will always come before money to a quality race track & driver.

 

[Trailduster79]

Group of us racing on a backyard track all turning 7K or so and haven't had any problems yet.

 

[Kart43]

 

[W5R]

If the track rules are just ridiculous, you can always run a billet flywheel for saftey then refuse the claim and take the DQ.

Doing that here gets you kicked out of that class for the rest of the season

 

[Flyinhillbilly]

Does anyone have any pictures or video of one that came apart? This is an ongoing discussion on another forum that I'm on.

 

[sundog]

If you take the DQ then that's for the whole season.

Who wants to go to a track with a bunch of exploding flywheels anyway. Can't they just let you run without being scored?

 

[W5R]

Why would anyone want to race without being scored? I don't know about you guys but I don't just race for fun, I race for the competition and to win....to me its not fun unless I'm competing for the win. If I just wanted to make laps I could save money and go to any of the local tracks during the week and make laps for free. Letting someone who isn't being scored race with a class of people who are racing to be competitive or win is not fair to those other racers in my opinion, because usually the ones who are just out there to have fun end up being in the way of the leaders who are racing to win....have seen this exact thing happen so many times and usually ends up being the cause of a wreck that costs a leader the win. In that case it is absolutely not fair to the ones who put in all the time and effort to win only to have it taken from them by someone who is just out there to have fun and is usually riding around in the back of the field , half a lap or more down from the rest of the field. There are usually beginner or amatuer classes just for people who just want to race for fun

 

[flattop1]

^^^^
this is true.
This is also what this class is for, amateur's.

 

[sundog]

Why would anyone want to race without being scored?

Because, after you win so many races you realize it doesn't matter who wins as long as you did your best. I don't have to worry about it because, my track has rules that make sense so, I race for the win. But anyway it goes, still better than getting a chunk of flywheel in the chest so, safety first sometimes means being a rebel.

Sundog

 

[modifiedman]

I would not even race at that track.I have seen them come apart and its NOT GOOD AT ALL.
It will cost you more for the ER then spending 100.00 to be safe.you may get away with it
for a while BUT their is always that one time and God knows what the out come will be.

 

[krtrcn]

Have had several fail on the dyno in the last 4 years. Everyone of them broke below 5,000 rpm and when the magnet comes off it's like a 9mm bullet.

Is this a problem with the magnet, or the flywheel it shelf. I take the tin off after cleaning and check the flywheel for cracks, and never seen a problem.
It's just hard for me to understand how a flywheel can come apart below 5000 rpm. I'm not saying that it can't happen.

 

[Kart43]

You do not see crack visually. There is an entire industry built around fault detection, if all it took was some one looking at a components many NDT technicians would out of work. It requires, ultrasonic, Mag/Dye, Xray etc.

 

[CarlsonMotorsports]

I can definitely tell you it happens.
One I had (early blue Harbor Freight clone) blew apart more like a shot gun through the blower housing, through pegboard on the wall, through 5/8" drywall, R19 insulation, 7/16" OSB and nearly through the vinyl siding on the exterior of our shop in the corner where our dyno room is. It gave no warning and was shortly after I put the engine under some load to build some heat in it around 3000 rpm. (All well documented on this site prior to the server crash.)
My personal belief was that the magnet came out of it and hit the coil first...but honestly, the autopsy of pieces (literally fragments) wasn't going to be real conclusive in my eyes.

Billet flywheels are necessary in these race engines in my opinion.



-----
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
28 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com

 

[mike97760]

I just can't see any reason why you wouldn't let a guy keep his flywheel after the engine is claimed, especially if you let him keep his mountaing plates, clutch, pipe etc.

 

[BaileyMotorSports]

Also....If this is a stock class, out of box racing. Cut oil sending wire, unhook governor. Why is a predator on the dyno. With a $150 claim on the engine.

 

[alvin l nunley]

I just can't see any reason why you wouldn't let a guy keep his flywheel after the engine is claimed, especially if you let him keep his mountaing plates, clutch, pipe etc.

My best guess; the flywheel is an integral part of the engine, whereas the other things you mentioned are not.

 

[alvin l nunley]

Also....If this is a stock class, out of box racing. Cut oil sending wire, unhook governor. Why is a predator on the dyno. With a $150 claim on the engine.

There are going to be variances in performance between mass-produced engines. The differences might be small, but in a controlled class, small differences can be the difference between winning and losing. We race for the fun of it, but racing is competitive and everybody wants to be as competitive as possible. I don't give a hoot for anybody who honestly doesn't want to win. I doubt there's many out there racing who don't care if they win or not.

 

[oldasdirt]

The class we have been runing is a $150 claiming class. hard to invest in a $100 fly wheel and then give it away if you get claimed.

We have the same claim rule but our track mandates an after market flywheel. Our rules stipulate that the engine minus the flywheel top plate (fuel pump optional) or remote tank(optional) clutch and pipe do not go with the claim. Simple wording of your rules makes this a no brainier. Also only top 5 can claim one spot ahead and the claimer has to pay $150 and exchange his engine. This way "Cherry Picking" is not an issue.