rs670,

Things are progressing nicely with the Kadet. I am having trouble however with the glow driver (sullivan) and have narrowed it down to either the unit or the battery. I have the charger you used the elite by hobbico. Where did you get your battery? I tried to energize the glow driver with a small 9v battery and the unit wouldn't turn on. Any suggestions?

paul

I bought the battery at Tower Hobbies. (Part #LXPRE3)

The battery is a 3000mAh 1.2 volt. (NOT 9 volt)

I have a Kadet Senior with a Sullivan glow driver - it is also a tail dragger. My Sullivan unit is one of the first ones. It had a white wire leading to the plug. The new ones have a yellow wire. My unit would not work with 1.5 volts. So I went with a 4.8 volt made up of 4 1700 mah batteries. That worked well for a while. Then I had trouble again. So I emailed Sullivan and they sent me at no charge the new glow plug connector - the one with the yellow wire. The original one got too hot for the material that they used in the plug and that caused it not to make a good connection. Sure enough as soon as I switched the plug connection the unit has worked perfectly. It has a lot of flights on it now without any issues. I cut the old wire close to the control unit and just soldered the new wire to it.

The old unit has black material inside the plug and the new unit has white material. I also think even the new unit does not work with 1.5 volts. I know their literature says it will. Send them an email and they will tell you. If you have the old style then no way will it work on 1.5 - Sullivan told me that at the Toledo show.

I can fly all afternoon on my set up without charging the driver battery. It turns on just above idle. Your turn on point will determine how long the batteries will last.

Hope this helps.

Todd

Rs670,

I just ordered the battery. I suppose this would explain why the unit wouldn't turn on. Not enough juice in a small 9V battery.

Thanks Again,

I will post some pics when I get her all together.

Paul

The info that sawdust posted is interesting.... I checked the ones I have and they all use the "yellow" wire to the plug but like I posted earlier, I use the 3000mAh 1.2 volt single cell nicad and it seems to work very well. I had it set to turn off just above 1/8 throttle. Sawdust said the smaller volt battery didn't work for him. I'm a little confused.....

Good luck with yours....

Rick

I had the first generation of the Sullivan glow driver - white plug wire. The issues that I posted related to that version. I know that the new version of the glow driver fixed the plug issue. And since you where using the new version I assume that they also fixed the voltage issue. There is no reason other than faulty design that the lower voltage shouldn't work. I may send Sullivan an email and ask them that question. I do know that if you have a separate switch on the battery and that switch is bad - drops voltage across the switch contacts - this can lead to problems. The unit has to sense the voltage when it is first turned on and a bad switch will lower the voltage and the unit will not work properly. I do not use a separate switch - just the switch on the unit. I have to unplug the battery to charge mine. Too bad Sullivan did not design the unit with a charging jack.

Todd

Thanks for the reply.... I believe you're right on everything you stated.

One question though.... Someone asked me once if they could use a 4.8 volt receiver pack instead of the 1.2V like I used. I wasn't sure what to tell them. Does the Sullivan unit regulate the voltage going to the plug? If not, wouldn't the excessive voltage blow the plug?

Rick

I do not believe that a 4 cell 600 mah receiver battery is satisfactory as the current draw from the plug is going to be a lot more than running servos and the receiver. You need to use higher rated batteries.

I am not an electronic expert but I assume that the unit senses the voltage at start up and then sets the pulse rate to the plug. The higher 4.8 voltage should not affect the life of the plug. As the pulse rate will control the heat on the plug.

I have not changed the plug in my OS 70 FS for a long long time. But with that said if you set the unit so that it on at high throttle then the plug life will be affected. I do not believe that this unit senses heat and voltage - just voltage. It could sense both. But from what I am seeing with mine it does not care how hot the plug is. It just keeps on pulsing at the rate set at start up. So it is better suited to low throttle settings. Note it is also designed so that you can just use it to start the motor and then shut the driver off.

Todd

Todd

Guys,

I hate to muddy the water on this issue but here goes. I called Sulliivan today and got an answer directly opposite of what Todd has stated. Sullivan tech support claims the new version of their product has the white wire on it, yep this from sullivan tech support. Also, the power lead from the glow driver is a pair of red & white 16 gauge wires which uses a micro deans connector. Sullivan tech support insists I must use (16 gauge wire) when connecting the battery to the unit which I understand due to the issue of matching conductors etc. etc. However, what I find crazy is that the product literature on sullivans web site shows a yellow wire output to the glow plug and battery connections which resemble typical servo wire leads which I would prefer over the micro deans connected unit. Furthermore, all of the installed units I have heard about on here mention nothing of the micro deans connection or 16 gauge wires. Which leads me to believe that Todd is right when he says the newer updated unit has the yellow wire lead and the servo like battery connections.

i have tried powering the unit up with a fully charged 4.8v 1200 maH battery with no sucess, I think my unit has issues other than just the battery and am going to replace it with a new unit at the very least. However, I have queried several hobby shops and web dealers and guess what, yep they only have in stock the units with the white wire and the micro deans connectors. Now what?

I was wrong on the color of the replacement wire color. When I purchased my glow driver it had a yellow wire going to the headlock. Sullivan sent me a replacement wire and head lock. The wire on the new head lock is white. The head lock on the original units were not heat resistant.

I am sorry for confusing everyone. I really should have looked at the driver before I spoke. Age may be catching up with me.

Here is Sullivan's reply on July 29, 2009:

"We apologize for your problems with the onboard glow driver.

What most likely happen was that the inside black plastic part of the headlock melted and is no longer making good contact with the glow plug.

Anyhow a replacement will be ship to you under warranty.

The new headlocks used teflon and high temperature resistant parts.

Thanks for using Sullivan Products"!

regards,

Alex
Sullivan Products

Sawdust,

This is exacatly what tech support has tod me that the yellow wire units head plug was not heat resistant. I wish I could get the old unit anyway since I am really un-happy with the micro deans 16 gauge wire requirement. I am actually begining to kick myself for chopping a hole in my fuse for this sullivan product which seems to get some rather lousy reviews and thus far my review would be highly negative based on my initial problems with it. If it is supposed to work with 1.2 volts then it ought to. They should spell out the current needed to power this unit and they could dispose with the micro dean 16 gauge power hook up. If you need 3000maH and up then like I have had to you go get it. I will keep you posted.

Paul

Glow Driver Installed and seems to be working. Just a few more minor details to complete and I will be ready to fly. I will include some pictures of the plane soon [8D]

Paul

Guys,

The maiden voyage of my Kadet went like clockwork. Minor tuning issues and throttle adjustments. Thanks to clubmember Tom and all his help today was a huge success. The Plane flew very nicely with no real bad habits other than being bounced around by the wind. Later in the afternoon the wind calmed and made flying even more enjoyable. Thanks to all on this post in assisting me in making this planes conversion to a taildragger a complete success. I will post a couple of pictures of the plane. The cowl is removed for obvious tweaking etc..

Best Regards

Paul

Your Kadet really looks good! I'm glad the maiden flight went well. Are you going to add wing struts later? It's an easy modification and looks great.


Good job on the inverted engine etc.

Rick

W153072 Where did you get the wheel pants? And what size are the wheels and pants I'm having a hard time finding them.

W153072 asked me the same question.......

I ordered my wheel pants from SIG. They are replacement pants for their Rascal 40 ARF
I used 2 3/4 Dubro wheels (smooth)

Rs,

Actually I thought of adding wing struts and maybe wires on the tail. The hardest part was getting a glow driver that worked. I gotta say that glow driver really makes a big difference on low idle reliability. Once I get the engine more broke in I will lean the setting a bit more. As it stands now with the .80 and stock 11oz fuel tank we were getting about 12 to 14 minute flights on her. This should increase measurably once the engine gets broke in. This plane literally flies well at just below and just above 1/2 throttle. I am turning a 13x6 prop now and may change it to a 13x8 later this year. I need to get a different spinner for the plane yet and tie up some of the wires from the radio install and charge the batteries before next Sunday. Can't wait!

Best Regards

Paul

What size Landing gear did you use? I am making a low wing version and yours look awesome.

I used this gear as it was already on hand

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...?ProdID=HAN160

I ordered the gear from http://www.tntlandinggear.com

Check back on page one of this thread. Someone else asked the same question.

Rick

I am building a senior from a kit...made the bolt on wings almost like yours...but when I tried to install the motor right side up it stuck up way to high (OS 70S)...I inverted it and lowered it 1/4"...do u think that will be a problem? I may make it a tail dragger also...I cut strip ailerons from the 5th rib out and took most of the dihedral out...maybe has 2 1/2 to 3 inches now

When changing the engine mounting, the all import factor becomes tank height. The tank must be midways of the needle valve in height

But it wont change any of the flight characteristics? If I leave it where it is I can put the tank on the the bottom of the cabin floor ....12oz. rst)

When I inverted my OS70FS, I lowered the tank accordingly.

IMPORTANT......Be sure to keep the crankshaft on the original centerline if you want the cowl to fit.

Refer back to page 1 of this thread....

when you a talking center line...vertical or horizontal...I am on the vertical line and 1/4" below the horizontal line that the plans recommend...I also replaced original ply with 5/16" ply for the firewall