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Engine basics => Engine set up tips => Topic started by: Tim Wescott on November 29, 2009, 07:07:27 PM
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I never seem to have trouble with complex stuff. It's always the embarrassingly simple things.
I want to start 1/2A engines using a Ni-starter. I had an old Cox starter connected to an adapter cord made from a remote glow plug starter, but I was only getting 1/2 a volt at the head and no glow. I measured, and found that there was a healthy drop from the wiring to the head, with an unknown drop from the starter battery itself (the starter makes a glow plug light up just fine).
I have a new Sulivan clip, but before I buy any more stuff to mangle, I want to know:
what do _you_ do to light up your 1/2A glow heads?
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What 1/2A engine are you trying to start?
The Ceramic coated cylinders on the Norvels are pretty resistive. You need to make contact with the glow plug body itself.
If you don't have a such a cylinder, then I would look at where the wires are making contact on the various clips and make sure there is a good contact there.
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Currently I'm just trying to get an old Cox engine going -- it's in fine shape, I just can't get the dang head to glow.
I've got a Norvel on the shelf that I may use eventually, so I'll remember your comment for then.
The setup I have now is so ratty I want to toss it and start over -- but I want to start over with something that'll work right out of the chute, if possible.
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Nothing wrong with two of the newer D (Alkaline) cells in parallel, with a good glow plug clip, and properly soldered leads. Should last at least a full season under normal use. Use a high wattage soldering gun (or iron), to spot solder the leads to the batteries. Avoid low wattage irons, as they will actually transfer more heat to the cells, because it takes longer to melt the solder.
Heavy speaker wire, or 115 volt extension cord wire works better than the thin wire supplied with the Cox plug clips. You don't have to remove all of the Cox clip wire if you would rather not mess with the crimp connections, because wire resistance is dependent on the length and size, not size alone. Solder the heavier wire to the Cox clip wire an inch or so from the clip, and insulate the solder joints with shrink tubing.
The Cox glow plug clips are cheap enough, and work very well with Cox plugs, and Norvel type plugs.
Avoid all plug and jack type connectors with anything but a power panel, and particularly with ni-cad batteries. Ni-cads are lower voltage (1.2v) to begin with, and most friction type connections (plugs and clips) are too high a resistance to use with them. Any corrosion, contamination, or loss of spring tension, will quickly reduce your glow plug current.
For bench running, I'm still using the old 1.5 volt hobby battery I bought from a hobby shop a couple years ago!
Bill
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I rigged up a Cox clip to clip on starter like you did. Did not work well. I have a clothspin type clip (Du Bro?) which has a brass cup for the glow plug clip. It is too deep, and shorts out on a Cox head. So I put some solder in and it works fine for all applications. I use a 2 volt 5 amp hour Cyclon lead acid gel cell with wire cut from a 6 ft extention cord. A Cox plug needs to light up like a flashlight for good starting.
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OK. Finally got the necessary round tuit.
With a pair of alkaline 'D' cells in parallel, 18-gauge (or maybe 16) and a Sulivan clip, things started right up. With a bit of cylinder swapping, I even got a high power run. Tee hee! Now if only it'd stop raining...
I did add some heat shrink to the top of the Sulivan clip (the part that engages the button on the head) -- the two bits of metal were awfully close together; the heat shrink should keep things from getting mashed together too easily. Maybe I'll build a holster for the clip, but if it works...
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Recieved an Eveready 1.5 v. hobby battery in the mail today.
Maybe not the power of the Hobico 4 cell, but way more oomph
than 2 D cells. Really lights em up.
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Recieved an Eveready 1.5 v. hobby battery in the mail today.
Maybe not the power of the Hobico 4 cell, but way more oomph
than 2 D cells. Really lights em up.
That's because inside the box are 4 D cells.
Brett
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Of course I opened "the box",
and it's actually 2 cells.
1-3/16" diameter x 3-1/4" long each.
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Too bad we can't get the old telephone batteries as they were called. As Johnny Clemons stated, wire two of them together and fly for the whole season.
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In my memory, they went dead real fast! 4 Alkaline D cells in parallel usualy lasted so long I had to re-solder the connectors a couple of times due to fatigue. Now I use a 2000 mah NiCd with about 6" of lamp cord to a head clip. Light and convenient and enough charge for weeks of flying.
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I've been using one of the plastic Cox battery holders for my glow plug igniter. I use a dubro clip to make the glow plug connection. This works so well and is so easy (just 2 simple alkaline D cells in parallel), I can't see why the pining for the old batteries from yesteryear.
When I am flipping props, I always get a start in 2-4 flips with this setup. It's so easy a caveman CL flyer ( ;) ) can do it!
oops (maybe I'm not as smart as a caveman), I see this is the 1/2 A thread. Well when I do my Cox half a stuff, I replace the dubro clip with one of the springy things that work on a Cox head (not the Cox clip)--more of the thing that looks like a clothespin clip. If I am flying a Norvel, I use the dubro clip as mentioned.
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I ran across this picture and must say that it don't get simpler or more straight forward in function and efficiency as the Testor's method. Granted it would not have the staying power of a multiple cell arrangement and it won't fit all applications but for general use it looks to be pretty top notch! No room for a voltage drop!
Robert