I got a Tower standard glo-starter, rechargeable. How many starts can I expect from a charge? Am I kidding myself by trying to avoid buying a field battery/electronics?

I never counted but a full charge will last quit a while. Alot depends on how hard your engine is to start. If it starts real quick you will get more starts.

It should be good for a whole day at the field then?

Thanks.

No you are not kidding yourself, going completely portable is quite practical and preferable for many of us. This includes starters and fuel pumps. In the case of the pocket ignitors, most will carry two as a matter of SOP. Most pocket ignitors come with a 1300 mah Nicd and you can also get 2600 Nimh cell to put in the replacable types.

Another popular item for ignition with fans of going portable are the portable glow drivers, my older one has a four cell pack internal and provides automatic instant variable current to the plug for clearing floods without destroying the plug.

John

if you have a decent starting engine it will last you a day at the field......mine is uncharged for a week or more at times but i don't use it all day.

Yeah an ohnery engine can run one down pretty quick. I carry two. I would get a field battery and an electric starter. the avoided aggrevation is priceless! If you use a power panel and field battery the panel has a glow plug driver for a wired type and that is a good back up too.
Field panels and flight boxes can be had cheap if you ask around for used ones but get a new battery.

"FatOrangeKat", I haven't carried flight line electrics for many years. I use a battery-powered glow lighter that will last a full weekend on one charge. I use a manual crank fuel pump that delivers about 1/2 oz. per crank. All my engines are tuned so they will start with a chicken stick, so I don't need the big electric starter and battery, either. Anything you can do to lighten your flight box and carry less out to the field is a big +.

Dr.1

Radio South makes a pretty nice glow driver. It has LED's that show if you are connected and, after gaining some experience with it, you can tell the condition of your glow plug by the number of LED's that are lit. But the most important thing is that it shuts itself down when disconnected. You hook it up, push the button, watch the LED's. If glowing, start your engine. When you disconnect it, it, well, disconnects. (they all do this, I know.. but this is one that shows you what's going on rather than one that you don't know until you try to start).

Anyway, it has an internal NiCd battery pack (as most of them do) but with a pretty good capacity. I recharge mine about every third time out to the field, and use it "all day" starting perhaps 5 or 6 times.

CGr.

A well charged glow driver will start a good engine dozens of times. A glowplug draws about 3 amps (pretty near worst case), and my glowdriver has a 1700mah battery. Therefore, it'll glow for about half an hour. That's alot of starting. It's on an engine from 10-60 seconds per start.

Just be sure to remove it any time you're futzing with the plane. Safer and lasts longer.

J

I use a really cheap glow driver that runs on a D-cell battery. I haven't kept track, but a battery has got to last me about 10 trips to the field, and I always keep spares in the car. It is a lot larger and easier to grip than a typical rechargable driver.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXPZ89&P=0

At first, I was embarrased to pull this beast out of my flight box, but I have grown to love it.

Ya know, if it works, who cares. I bought the Radio South unit because it was recommended to me by a few people at the field, and I just liked the looks of it. But a glow driver is not rocket science here. I recall when we had a 1.5 volt lantern battery that we used to have wires with a big alligator clip on and that thing did the job just fine.

CGr.

I spent my first year using one of those cox 2 D-cell holders with the cox glowplug clip, bent to work on standard glowplugs. Got laughs from the peanut gallery, but MY engine always started.....

Now I'm using one of the Great Planes starters, with the little meter in the cap so you can see that current is flowing, and the clamp on type collet chuck. I hate those fumbly twist on/off ones. Seen a few fall into the prop arc at our field...

I also prefer handheld drivers because there are no wires to foul the prop.... Starter cord is hazard enough!

J

i forget to charge my portable glo igniter a lot but it always works for me sometimes its weeks on end.

Mclina - I have the same one, I can sometimes go a month on a battery. It's easy to keep 2 or 3 extra D cells around, and no charging worries.

I use this one http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJ802&P=7 with a 3600mah sanyo sub C cell. I will charge it twice a year. The meter works pretty good so you know its connected and that the plug is good.

I got a Tower 1600mah sub-C standard rechargeable glo starter; sounds like it should do just fine. Also got the hand crank fuel pump. Dry cell backup sounds like a good idea after I'm settled into this hobby a little.

CGretired, $80 for a glo starter???[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

Mine igniter last at least a day. If I do not leave it on to tune an engine it will last about a couple weekends. I have all my stuff portable. My bottle has the pump on it. I carry a tool box and a separate field battery and a starter. Most time I just open my xmitter case and take out my radio, chicken stick, igniter, volt meter, and neck strap. I also have a charger that will quick charge an igniter. If you dont have one I would suggest two igniters.