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Electric Start

By Michael James, About.com

Definition: Pull start and bumper start are manual or mechanical methods of starting a nitro RC. An electric start system uses an electric motor to rotate the engine and get it started. Electric start systems include shaft starters and on-board starters.

Some nitro models with an electric start system may also be configured to work with a starter box to provide an alternate starting method. When using the alternate bump start, the automatic glow plug igniter (if eqipped) can't be used so you'll also need a glow starter.

As with the bump start method, having a non-pull start engine means carrying extra equipment -- the electric starter as well as its batteries and charger. The on-board componenents of an electric start system also add a little bit of extra weight -- a concern primarily in serious RC racing.

These videos demonstrate the electric starter method for a nitro RC:

Also Known As: rotary start | Roto Start (HPI) | Spin Start (Losi) | EZ-Start (Traxxas)

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