On board glow system for 5Cyl Saito
09-06-2004, 10:19 AM
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On board glow system for 5Cyl Saito
We've had an interesting airplane show up at our field. It's a scratch built Spirit of St. Louis with a 9' wing span. A real beauty.
We were in the process of checking the airplane over and I came upon a system I haven't worked with before. The model has an onboard glow system. Looks like it's throttle activated. The glow indictor light turns off @ 1/4 - 1/3 throttle. I can't get into the fuselage yet to check the manufacturer of the system but I was able to measure voltage at @ 1.5. There is a seperate charging jack for the glow system.
The gentleman purchased the airplane from his uncle's estate and we don't have the actual charger that came with the onboard glow. Is there any reason I can't just use a regular glow starter charger to charge the system? What type of battery packs are typically used for these systems. Multiple cells in parallel? The jack has two female pins with a vertical slot to the left of the pins. Left to right on the jack I see slot, pos, neg. Any idea on the manufacturer?
Thanks
We were in the process of checking the airplane over and I came upon a system I haven't worked with before. The model has an onboard glow system. Looks like it's throttle activated. The glow indictor light turns off @ 1/4 - 1/3 throttle. I can't get into the fuselage yet to check the manufacturer of the system but I was able to measure voltage at @ 1.5. There is a seperate charging jack for the glow system.
The gentleman purchased the airplane from his uncle's estate and we don't have the actual charger that came with the onboard glow. Is there any reason I can't just use a regular glow starter charger to charge the system? What type of battery packs are typically used for these systems. Multiple cells in parallel? The jack has two female pins with a vertical slot to the left of the pins. Left to right on the jack I see slot, pos, neg. Any idea on the manufacturer?
Thanks
09-06-2004, 06:22 PM
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RE: On board glow system for 5Cyl Saito
Steve:
To light all five plugs the system has to be able to deliver around 15 Amps minimum. This means there's either a short glow time available, or there are several cells in parallel, or it has series cells with a regulator of some sort.
If you are measuring 1.5v at the jack the cell(s) are most likely in parallel.
A battery pack capable of this high discharge rate will take forever to charge with an ordinary 50-75 ma wall rat, if it will charge them at all.
Until you open the plane to see exactly what the battery is you shouldn't try a fast charge, but if you use a peak detection charger a 500 ma rate should be OK.
Tell us more about the airplane, and definitely post more pictures.
Bill.
To light all five plugs the system has to be able to deliver around 15 Amps minimum. This means there's either a short glow time available, or there are several cells in parallel, or it has series cells with a regulator of some sort.
If you are measuring 1.5v at the jack the cell(s) are most likely in parallel.
A battery pack capable of this high discharge rate will take forever to charge with an ordinary 50-75 ma wall rat, if it will charge them at all.
Until you open the plane to see exactly what the battery is you shouldn't try a fast charge, but if you use a peak detection charger a 500 ma rate should be OK.
Tell us more about the airplane, and definitely post more pictures.
Bill.
09-06-2004, 08:28 PM
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RE: On board glow system for 5Cyl Saito
ORIGINAL: Steve in Dallas
We've had an interesting airplane show up at our field. It's a scratch built Spirit of St. Louis with a 9' wing span. A real beauty.
We were in the process of checking the airplane over and I came upon a system I haven't worked with before. The model has an onboard glow system. Looks like it's throttle activated. The glow indictor light turns off @ 1/4 - 1/3 throttle. I can't get into the fuselage yet to check the manufacturer of the system but I was able to measure voltage at @ 1.5. There is a seperate charging jack for the glow system.
The gentleman purchased the airplane from his uncle's estate and we don't have the actual charger that came with the onboard glow. Is there any reason I can't just use a regular glow starter charger to charge the system? What type of battery packs are typically used for these systems. Multiple cells in parallel? The jack has two female pins with a vertical slot to the left of the pins. Left to right on the jack I see slot, pos, neg. Any idea on the manufacturer?
Thanks
We've had an interesting airplane show up at our field. It's a scratch built Spirit of St. Louis with a 9' wing span. A real beauty.
We were in the process of checking the airplane over and I came upon a system I haven't worked with before. The model has an onboard glow system. Looks like it's throttle activated. The glow indictor light turns off @ 1/4 - 1/3 throttle. I can't get into the fuselage yet to check the manufacturer of the system but I was able to measure voltage at @ 1.5. There is a seperate charging jack for the glow system.
The gentleman purchased the airplane from his uncle's estate and we don't have the actual charger that came with the onboard glow. Is there any reason I can't just use a regular glow starter charger to charge the system? What type of battery packs are typically used for these systems. Multiple cells in parallel? The jack has two female pins with a vertical slot to the left of the pins. Left to right on the jack I see slot, pos, neg. Any idea on the manufacturer?
Thanks
09-06-2004, 09:54 PM
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RE: On board glow system for 5Cyl Saito
Thanks for the feedback. Based on the info you guys supplied I did a little digging on the net. I found the Electro Dynamics web site. Judging from the schematic, voltage, connectors, glow leads and charge jack I'm 99% sure it's a five cyl version of the Electrodynamics EDR-103M. That means a 4400 mah 1.5 v pack. I measured 1.17 v at the charge jack.
I've got a digipeak I can set the amperage on so I'll give it a charge at .4/.5 amps to peak.
Here are a couple of more pics of the airplane. The gentleman built a 32" version as a prototype before tackling the 9' model. BTW, his last name was Ryan.
Thanks again,
Steve
I've got a digipeak I can set the amperage on so I'll give it a charge at .4/.5 amps to peak.
Here are a couple of more pics of the airplane. The gentleman built a 32" version as a prototype before tackling the 9' model. BTW, his last name was Ryan.
Thanks again,
Steve
09-07-2004, 01:17 AM
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RE: On board glow system for 5Cyl Saito
Steve:
The picture with the gentleman allowed a better view of the engine. It's not a Saito. It's either the OS 5R300 or the Magnum/ASP 5R400 engine.
Still a good looking job. Is that the builder, or the current owner?
Bill.
The picture with the gentleman allowed a better view of the engine. It's not a Saito. It's either the OS 5R300 or the Magnum/ASP 5R400 engine.
Still a good looking job. Is that the builder, or the current owner?
Bill.
