2 Volt Battery for Glow Plugs?
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- Dane McGee
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:57 pm
- Location: Greenville, Texas
2 Volt Battery for Glow Plugs?
I have a 2 volt battery that I bought some time ago for the purpose of lighting nelson plugs.....never used it but I am thinkin on rigging it up with a kwik clip.
Is 2 volts OK to use on regular glow plugs without burning them out?
Thx,
Is 2 volts OK to use on regular glow plugs without burning them out?
Thx,
- Dane McGee
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:57 pm
- Location: Greenville, Texas
I did a little diggin on the net and found this document about glow plugs: http://www.srcsclub.com/pdf/GeneralGlow ... mation.pdf
It suggests that "Most hot plugs can take up to 2.0 volts starting power without burning up, while most cold plugs prefer
1.2 to 1.5 volts starting power."
I am still wondering however if anyone uses a 2 volt igniter with good results?
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It suggests that "Most hot plugs can take up to 2.0 volts starting power without burning up, while most cold plugs prefer
1.2 to 1.5 volts starting power."
I am still wondering however if anyone uses a 2 volt igniter with good results?
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- Dane McGee
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:57 pm
- Location: Greenville, Texas
2V will burn out a lot of standard plugs. Fox used to sell 2V plugs for guys who liked to use a lead-acid cell. I would think they wouldn't have bothered if the "normal" plug could take 2V. To drop the voltage you need a voltage regulator, or you need to know the current draw of your plug. That's easy if you use the same style plug all the time but if you change it, it gets cold/hot out, etc. the current draw will change. V=IR, the resistance of two resistors in series is the sum of their resistance. So if you know the current draw at 1.5V (measure it) or whatever "baseline" current you want to use, plug it into the equation, now using 2V, and you can calculate the additional R you need to add in series. It will have to be a high-wattage resistor. I used to use a nice variable resistor that I could slide the contact along until I got the desired 1.5V at the plug. Then I got a power panel and it was much easier.... Bob Loescher should have some suggestions, he was a physics teacher plus an old-school modeler so he should know how to solve this problem!!!
The old GloBee Fireplug used these same 2V cells. It has a variable, wire wound rheostat with a slide lever to be able to vary the output. Glen Wells (a C/L supplier) used to make his own, home-made GloBee's. I think Glen lives out your way, Max. I have one and it uses a knob-type rheostat for the same purpose. I'll bring mine to the contest so you can see it. He built them using parts from Radio Shack. World F2D Combat champion Mike Wilcox uses this battery "straight". He has one in his pocket with the glowplug leads already attached. I have never noticed any voltage step-down device, although he may have a resistor in series with one of the leads. In F2D, we use Nelson-type plugs exclusively, so that may be a factor. Like you said, you originally bought the cell for lighting Nelson plugs. They like a little more voltage.
Typically, a glowplug should pull about 3 to 3 1/2 amps. E=I*R We should be able to figure out what size resistor to use from the basic equations, but a variable rheostat would be a lot better.
Sometimes you can find GloBee's on eBay or at swap meets. Tim Soukup (F2D flier) has some. I'll have him bring them to the contest so you can see if you want to buy one from him. He lives in Bedford. Usually, you just replace the old, worn-out cells with new ones and you are good to go.
Typically, a glowplug should pull about 3 to 3 1/2 amps. E=I*R We should be able to figure out what size resistor to use from the basic equations, but a variable rheostat would be a lot better.
Sometimes you can find GloBee's on eBay or at swap meets. Tim Soukup (F2D flier) has some. I'll have him bring them to the contest so you can see if you want to buy one from him. He lives in Bedford. Usually, you just replace the old, worn-out cells with new ones and you are good to go.
- Dane McGee
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:57 pm
- Location: Greenville, Texas
Here is a link to a glow driver and alot of technical info.......maybe someone else can read it and give me their spin.
http://www.clcombat.info/drivers.html
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http://www.clcombat.info/drivers.html
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Yeah, that's my buddy Howard Rush. He is FAMOUS (and infamous) in CL Combat for doing "interesting things"... Lee Liddle and Pat Wilcox know him well. He designed and built the famous Nemesis II combat plane as well as the "Snort", "Son of Snort" and various other unusual things. He cures tapered, tubular carbon spars in his wife's oven. He had to make a special door for the oven so that the spar would fit. One time he flew at a major contest wearing a clown suit [:o)] Howard is one of those people that you are glad to know because he makes life more interesting.
He played around with such things a lot in the past. A person can take the basic layout of the 4-engine glo driver and make a single version. I'll bring my Glen Wells Glow Driver to the contest and you can take a look at it. Glen lives in Live Oak, TX.
He played around with such things a lot in the past. A person can take the basic layout of the 4-engine glo driver and make a single version. I'll bring my Glen Wells Glow Driver to the contest and you can take a look at it. Glen lives in Live Oak, TX.
Dane here is that clip set up I was telling you about. It is simply an L.E.D. (which works on 3v nominal) across the leads. It will be lit to let you know your battery is hot. When you put it on a plug that is good the voltage drops to below that required to light the LED and it goes out; if the plug is blown the LED stays lit.
As far as the 2v working on “regularâ€
As far as the 2v working on “regularâ€
- Dane McGee
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:57 pm
- Location: Greenville, Texas