Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

I mean, I know how it works, but don't know in details.
Let's say, I just take 7.2 battery and hook it up to the glow plug. Would it do the trick?

The reason I'm asking is following:
I have Traxxas Revo MT with EZ start. EZ Start turn over starter motor and warm up glow plug at the same time. This is not very good as I need glow plug to be heated before I start to spin motor.

I like idea about having only 1 device (i.e. EZ start) and having existing wiring on a truck.

I want to take device apart and add additional push button to send current to glow plug straight from the battery. This way I will have button to heat glow plug and original button to heat/turn starter.

What do you think?

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

If you run 7.2V to a glow plug--you'll cook it instantly.

The way a glow plug ignighter works is by grounding on the outside of the plug and pushing current through the coil. The resistance in the coil cause it to heat up and glow.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Ok.. Then I can't just install 1 more switch. Need to look at exisitng circuit board.
I will see if I can find similar size two position button. Half-pressed to glow plug, fully pressed to have starter spin.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Just get a glow ignitor. Your just going to cause yourself headaches rigging something together. If you put more than 1.5VDC to the plug, you will burn it up.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Glow plugs glow almost instantly so I really don't see the advantage to doing this. On engines that are prone to kicking back, there might even be a benefit to dealying the glow plug power to let the starter get the engine's flywheel up to speed before ignition starts.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

I was thinking about the same sort of thing. Instead of having a seperate battery for my glow plug using the current from my roto starter. The rotostarter has a small plug on it to plug in a charger so you don't have to take the battery pack out to charge.
I was thinking of connecting that to my glow plug leads then I only need the roto starter and and glow plug leads no extra battery for glow plug.
However the voltage coming from the roto starter is 7.2 so you have to drop it to 1.5 Volts.
I saw someone selling this type of system on ebay but cant find em anymore.
I am going to figure out the resistor I need and try to build one myself. Will let you know how it works.

Another trick idea would be to get a radio controller with a channel for a simple on off switch then connet the glow plug right too the radio battery pack and use the radio on off to send current to the glow plug when starting. Same problem of too much voltage.

Dont NEED to do any of this its just fun to try and make it work

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

You are taking an extremely simple concept and complicating the heck out of it. Starter runs of 7.2 volts and a 1.2 volt glow driver heats the plug. Why make it difficult?

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Read my last sentence its all in fun

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Some people like to hit their finger with a hammer because it feels so good when they quit. Using the radio battery to drive a glow plug would be a bad idea. The average glow plug draws at least one amp and many draw more. That would take the average battery down in record time.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Hello; It should be do-able, you might run into problems if the switch that reduces the voltage for the glow plug is solid state. The switch should be before the voltage reducer. It evergises everything at once, and what you want to do is just energise the glow driver part. I would have to look at the circuit, but it should be do-able.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Just saying You all over Complicat ****. if your capeable and have the customization skills a simple relay with two power sources one being control and your main battery and the other being a small 1.5 or smaller battery circuit, not difficult takes a little comprehension but........ common sense

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Your starter likely has a resistor to reduce the voltage and current to an amount the glow plug will accept without burning out. You need to make sure the button keeps this in the circuit.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Normally, you cannot apply more than 1.2v using a Nicad 1200mah cell or 1.5v using a large dry cell. There are some 2.0v glow plugs intended for use with a single lead acid battery cell. Now to use 12v or 7.2v to heat up the glow plug means you need a electronic driver circuit that reduces the voltage and limits the current going to the glow plug. You commonly see these devices on the power panel for airplane flightboxes.

You can make one, or you can buy one. Sullivan has a onboard glow starter that is compact and should be easy enough to install in most any RC device, be it a car, boar or airplane. it works from 2.0v up to 13.6 volts, so it would work well with a 7.2v battery pack.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=988
What the onboard glow starter does is use PWm (pulse width modulation) to apply the voltage and current to the glow plug. It senses the current flow and it knows the input voltage, so it can automatically adjust itself to provide enough power to heat up the glow plug without burning it out.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

I have a REVO 3.3 with the same EZ start system. Works great. Why do you need it to heat the plug before the engine turns over? These plugs are not like a diesel truck that take 10 to 20 seconds to heat up. They get hot in less then 1 second.


Buzz.

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

The fun of finding solutions to non-existent problems.;)

jess

RE: Glow plug igniter. How does it work?
 

Hi!
Being a pylonracer for more than 30 years here is how I have done it!
One Sullivan 12v starter and one 14,8V, 2200mAh LiPo battery and one automatic glowdriver!
You press the button on the starter and the glow driver starts! ;)