Hobbico Power Panel problem
03-05-2005, 02:56 PM
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Hobbico Power Panel problem
I've a question.......or concern.......about a Hobbico Deluxe Power Panel II.
The first one had a problem in the refuel circut was working only in one direction, not a real problem, as the electric pump I use has it's own fuel/defuel switch. I had checked the battery voltage at the 12 volt outputs for the pump, starter and the glow charger nipple and had the proper voltages. When I checked the glow heat output voltage, which should be approximately 1.2 volts, it's reading 11+ volts. I used another volt meter to verify this, receiving the same readings all around. I called Hobbico and they sent me another, w/o question.......the only problem, the glow heat output voltage on this one is also 11+ volts........no matter the position of the dial for the position. I haven't tried hooking a glow plug to it yet, not wanting to selfdestruct one just for the fun. Any suggestions?
Clint
The first one had a problem in the refuel circut was working only in one direction, not a real problem, as the electric pump I use has it's own fuel/defuel switch. I had checked the battery voltage at the 12 volt outputs for the pump, starter and the glow charger nipple and had the proper voltages. When I checked the glow heat output voltage, which should be approximately 1.2 volts, it's reading 11+ volts. I used another volt meter to verify this, receiving the same readings all around. I called Hobbico and they sent me another, w/o question.......the only problem, the glow heat output voltage on this one is also 11+ volts........no matter the position of the dial for the position. I haven't tried hooking a glow plug to it yet, not wanting to selfdestruct one just for the fun. Any suggestions?
Clint
03-05-2005, 10:56 PM
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RE: Hobbico Power Panel problem
i am quite sure you will find a 10 ohm resistor inside the panel. this makes up a constant current source of about one amp. every thing ok
03-06-2005, 12:15 PM
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RE: Hobbico Power Panel problem
The glow driver is pulse width modulated. It drives the glow plug with the full 12 volt source voltage. (less a small drop due to the electronics in between the battery and the glowplug), but does so only in short pulses. The net effect is the same as driving the glow plug with a constant 1.2 volt source. It is more efficient to do that than to use a big wooping resistor (would would have to disipate something like 20W to drop 12v down to 1.2 for 2A load), or a big voltage regulator that would also have to dump large amounts of heat... and probably wouldn't last very long as result.
I can hear my Hobbico Accu-Glo buzzing when I connect the glow driver output. The buzzing is the glow driver circuts switching on and off.
I sounds like you got yourself two good panels for the price of one.
I can hear my Hobbico Accu-Glo buzzing when I connect the glow driver output. The buzzing is the glow driver circuts switching on and off.
I sounds like you got yourself two good panels for the price of one.
03-06-2005, 03:54 PM
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RE: Hobbico Power Panel problem
Mr. Trainer is correct, the output to the plug is a 12 volt pulse approximately 1 millisecond wide followed by a 9.0 millisecond period where no voltage is at the plug. When you vary that control, it just varies that 10 millisecond wide puse a bit to change the effective voltage on the plug. If you have access to an oscilloscope, you can see the pulse quite clearly.
