Glow igniter with meter
 

I've been using a Great Planes glow ignitor with the meter on the top and found it very useful for indicating if the plug is bad or flooded or ?? However, the meters crap out in less than a year and start getting inaccurate long before that, probably from vibration. The batteries last longer than the meter. I'm tired of buying new meters so am looking for an option, preferably one with a digital meter so it will likely use a LiPo battery. Any idea where I can get such a thing?

RC Cats

sorry it is Rcats from Central Hobbies, pricey but likely the last one you will need to buy.

Ouch! I can buy a lot of meters for $125!

http://www.radiosouthrc.com/closeup....d=789&offset=0

Or this one at a hundred bucks.

Thing is you asked for anything better than the venerable and ah, well worthless metered pocket single cell ignitors. Don,t get me wrong I do not mean the unmetered single cell ignitors its the meter feature that is the worthless and costly feature. A feature that is certain to fail sooner if not later.

So both the Radio South and the Rcat are appropriate ansewers to what you asked they both have all of the capability of the simple single cell metered but with a whole lot more and they will take abuse for many, many did I say a bunch? years. I can testify to that fact with the Radio South.

So how many more busted single cell metered ignitors does it take to pay for a Radio south or an Rcats?

John

Well, I guess I need to go back to what I did before. If it doesn't start on the second or third flip, it's either the glow driver or the plug. Pull out the other glow driver from my belt pouch and try again. If it doesn't go, it's the plug. Simple and cheap. Since most of my planes now have on-board glow, not worth the investment. Should have thought this through first before leaving myself open to critical posts!

No intent to be critical of you and actually what you Just described with two pocket ignitors is what I still also do for much of my flying but it is the metered pocket variety that I am critical of. They often will simply not survive just one fall off a starting table before the meter is of no use.

The drivers that we have talked about earlier which indeed are expensive but do have their place for instance in lots of competive events the engine starts must happen with a limited time and there is not enough for trouble shooting of any kind a failed start can result in zeroing out for that round. The electronics in both types linked earlier have the ability to in a micro second sense a fouled plug and ramp up the total current provided to the plug to burn out the flooded plug and almost instantaneously but also back right off just as fast therefore not burning the plug.

Another feature that is becoming most popular with those who are using the big fourstrokes and some which are noted for backfire and difficult starting safety. This is the delay start and that is an electronically slow ramp up of normal starting current which prevent all manner of dangerous starts throwing props and backward running.

They have their place but hey ain,t nothing wrong with the unmetered pocket ignitors either and my favorite is the Hotshot 2 which is a non replaceable cell. Those last extremely well especially when used on an almost daily basis. I am not a fan of the replaceable types with the screw cap as those seem to over some reliability problems.

Out of curiosity when you first posted I checked one well know brand with the replaceable screw cap and is the metered version, they now sells new caps with meter for ten bucks. No I think I will pass on those as just more money down the drain. Ya I know just my opinion:)

John

I love my Radio South driver. Yeah it's expensive but the meter won't crap out because it's not being vibrated by the engine. I've had mine since 2000 or 2001. I've had to replace the battery pack once. There is one thing I've seen consistently in my many years in this hobby. People who try to get by on the cheap have a lot of problems with their planes and equipment. You can still buy quality stuff, but you just have less of it.

Here is the old Radio South driver that I beleve CafeenMan is also talking about. Mine is set up for either the alligator clip or the sleeve type connector and I do actively use mine for certain types of airplanes and flying. All the others I use the sealed Hot Shot :

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1995091http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1995092

John

I have a panel meter on my flight box that has been fine since 2000 or so. The clip-on glow drivers are handy, but expect them to last about two years.

Hmmm. You gave me an idea. I have a small 5A meter from a previous project. Put that in a box with a NiCad, add the glow plug cable sitting in a junk box and I'm good to go. The nice thing about the clip-on glow drivers is that you don't have the cable hanging out there to get caught in something but all of these proposed solutions have a cable. Another option is to put the mini power panel I won on my starter box. Thanks.