Glow plug heat ranges
 

Ok, everyone says"use a hotter/colder plug" , but where would you be able to find out the heat ranges for them? Is there a list or something somewhere to compare them?

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Maybe these addresses will help.
http://www.maxxtraxxusa.com/Glow_Plu..._in_herre_.cfm
http://www.scootworks.com/rdrc/gloplugs.html

Bill

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

this may help 72

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/upfi...88/Zx70792.jpg

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

...Or, go to [link=http://www.os-engines.co.jp/english/line_up/plug/plug.htm]the OS Japan glow-plug web page[/link].

This goes against a weird common practice/tendency, in the US at least, to put a boiling, hot A3 in everything...

...So, the .91FX needs an A5; so why does it come with a #8? Strange indeed...

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

G'day Mate,
Have a look a this site, it may be useful.
http://www.scootworks.com/rdrc/gloplugs.html

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

I assume you've been to every flying field through out the USA & are a expert in American
modeling practices? At the club I fly (in the US) nobody carries any A3's. At least not that
I know of in the good ole US of A.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

There was a good thread on this a while back about all this that I'll try and find

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3944782/tm.htm

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Well, Decay, I have probably visited 90% of them...;):D

I guess there are exceptions, but even the #8 is too hot (it is just a bit colder then the A3), according to OS and it is what comes (or at least used to) with the .91FX, for example.

I don't know what plugs the 1.20AX and the 1.60FX come with. According to OS Japan, it should be the A5...

Please enlighten me.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

:D :D :D You've got to be putting us on :D. I did a quick check and found 250 clubs listed alphabetically and that was only part way through the "B's". The AMA list didn't go any further than 10 pages.

The 120 AX comes with a #8 plug and so does the 160FX although the 160FX instructions also say it's worthwhile to try different heat range plugs. Their recommendations are the A3, 8 and A5. Read it yourself if you don't believe me.

You seem to have a fixation on that pretty coloured OS chart. Can you accept it's maybe only a guide for a rank beginner? Once you get to know engines you'll find that heat range depends on fuel used, prop loads and so on. Nothing is hard and fast.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Brian,


In that web page OS lists the applications of their different glow plugs according, among other things, to their heat range.
As you know, I represent other manufacturers, but I would expect a credible company like OS, to at least show some consistency...

Their own web page says the A5 is the generally recommended glow-plug for all .60 and larger engines; why don't their .60 and larger engines come equipped with an A5? Why is that #8 plug sitting in there?

Why does the manual list the A3 as suitable, while that OS web page says nothing of the sort (except for break-in)?


While I do support experimenting, which may find another plug to be preferable in some ambient conditions, I think the engine must come equipped with what the company regards; as well as publicizes, as the most suitable glow-plug.

As to the glow-plug, which could in some past era be obtained @ 12 for $10 and thus be considered expandable; it has now become a pretty expensive replacement part.
The least OS can do is to include the A5 (and not the A3, or the #8) with all their .60 and larger engines.

If someone in Norway, Finland, or elsewhere, finds the A5 to be too cold, this person can experiment with a #8, or an A3 (or a glow-plug from another manufacturer)...
But to have the engine come with one of them in the first place? No way.

This is wrong!

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

What! I think you must fly from an abandoned field! The A3 is the most common glow plug in the US!

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...gs&FVPROFIL=++

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

I think it must be the most common plug in your flight caddy,
#8 the most popular plug in the West. Maybe you peaches can't
spare the extra buck-fifty, I dunno.

Change your plug after run-in, to what ya like.
Who cares what it comes with, may the plug they give ya
is better for break in, I dunno?

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

I like the #8 but seems most people prefer the A3. Probably because it is hotter thus easier to tune.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Hugh,


...That is because many (most?) people don't know how to tune their engines...

For the improper tuning (too rich) they pay 'through their noses', with a higher fuel consumption and the occasional, more common; "It ran out of fuel at the far end of the field, at low altitude and while flying the other way", or "I thought I had enough fuel for another lap around the field" type crashes...

A competent engine operator would use the coldest possible glow-plug his engine will run with, without losing RPM when the glow-driver comes off.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Dar,

I assume this is the common sight seen at a field in your area? Possibly a plane could take on
some AAA , and it just looks like a deadstick. You should do more to educate hobbists in your area.
How many sites(flying) do you have overthere? Do you host any major championship events?
Buy the way you talk , I gather your fellow country men are not best modelers around, is that true?
Peace & Stay low, my friend

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Thanks for all the links. It will be my weekend reading and from the looks of it, it will take all weekend. At least now I will have a way better understanding of what to look for when I need to change/test new plugs.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Thank you, my friend.


These days, many new modelers are just looking for instantaneous, immediate gratification.

The don't care to learn how to perfectly adjust their engines; they just want it to run pretty well any way they set it.

They don't want to know how to select the right glow-plug and the right fuel; but instead want the engine to be happy with what is in there and what they feed it.

This is evident in Israel, but much more so in the USA.
The popular fuel here is 5% nitro, while in the US it is 15%, which gives a wider acceptable needle range (and ~200 RPM extra).


If an engine will run reliably on its second tank, a hot plug and 15% nitro, with a lame-***** adjustment; it will be more popular with buyers than an engine that needs ~6 hours to reach its 'crescendo', on 5% nitro, a cold plug and with more attention given to adjustment (fussy?).
This will be true even though the second engine gives better eventual performance and reliability and will last four times longer...

Most new modelers want their engine to serve them; not the other way around...


You can't tell me it ain't so, can you?


There are about 30 active flying sites here and frequency management is strongly enforced.
...And yes, we do have competition events here.
The Quickie events have me supplying most of the engines...

And although I have tried, I cannot teach everyone...

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

The "modeller" is now more the exception than the rule, the instant gratification of the ARF being what it is.So it is not hard to see why the same people want instantly perfect running engines that require no fiddling. I ,for one, like an engine to run based on how I want and set it up, and I know that they will last as long as I will. To me, it is just one more part of the hobby that makes it interesting.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Decay, you obviously don't know who you are talking to, nor about.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Actually with the right plug, and with the right compression ration it will be more than 200 RPM, but even I do not always hunt for the perfect plug, fuel, prop combination, except maybe a few weeks before competition.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Dar, I've been playing around running 5% nitro in some of my fourstrokes, to see how they fare. My Saito .80 yesterday tun a Bolly 13.5x6 at 10,366 and idled at 2,000, give or take a few rpm depending on the wind direction. I'm using WildCat 5% Premium and it works very well. I have never bought into the (Saitos need lots of nitro) idea. They respond better than most to it but don't actually need it to run well. The combination of 5% nitro fuel and a Fox Miracle plug is a good combination. I also ran it in three Enyas, a .53, .90 and a 1.55 each equipped with the stock Enya plug, they too ran very well on the 5%.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Hobbsy,

Have you ever tried the Thuderbolt four stroke plug? Very hot.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Hi Dave,


I was suckered into it...

I mixed 15/18/2 fuel for my Saito .72 and it could only spin the same size prop at ~9,400 RPM, albeit somewhat rich.

I did not take idle RPM.

It is still with that glow-plug you had sent it with and spinning an 11x6 APC four-blade prop, it really howls at full throttle, doing 10,850 RPM!


I know the Enya (and OS) four-stroke engines always responded very well to 5% nitro and have never needed anything more.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

For sport flying perhaps so. But in competition then more power is a plus. For example at the Senior Pattern contests the master winners are using OS four strokes with 30% nitro for better, longer, uplines.

RE: Glow plug heat ranges
 

Dar,

That seems to be a small prop for the .72. Mine liked a 13x6 better than the 12x6. You should see 10,000 plus with one.