Winter club project: Making Glo Bee Fireplugs

[frank mccune]

     Hi All:

     For a Winter club project I was thinking of making a glow plug power scource similar to the old Fuseite Glo Bee Fireplug.

     Can some of you guys help us out with what we need? I was thinking of using PVC pipe for the case and perhaps a 0-10 amp meter, a rheostat and an off/on switch.  Perhaps there are more efficient devices than a rheostat, Zener Diode.  Perhaps most of the items may be purchased at the local Radio Shack.  The 2 volt 4.5 ah battery is less than $5.00 at the local Batteries and Bulbs store.  This is for the short on but they also offer a llonger battery tha twould have ablut twice the capacity.  I think that the longer battery was the one used in the orginal Fireplugs.

      I am perfectly happy with the single 2 volt battery but some people wanted the ability to control the voltage for 1.5 volt plugs.

      Suggestions or comments?

                                                                      Tia,

                                                                      Frank

     Any suggestions for what we may use?  A full blown glow driver would be nice but it may be too advanced for some of the club members.  I think that Howard Rush and others drew diagrams for a glow driver but it appeared to be vey compliocated

[Tim Wescott]

     Hi All:

     For a Winter club project I was thinking of making a glow plug power scource similar to the old Fuseite Glo Bee Fireplug.

     Can some of you guys help us out with what we need? I was thinking of using PVC pipe for the case and perhaps a 0-10 amp meter, a rheostat and an off/on switch.  Perhaps there are more efficient devices than a rheostat, Zener Diode.  Perhaps most of the items may be purchased at the local Radio Shack.  The 2 volt 4.5 ah battery is less than $5.00 at the local Batteries and Bulbs store.  This is for the short on but they also offer a llonger battery tha twould have ablut twice the capacity.  I think that the longer battery was the one used in the orginal Fireplugs.

      I am perfectly happy with the single 2 volt battery but some people wanted the ability to control the voltage for 1.5 volt plugs.

      Suggestions or comments?

                                                                      Tia,

                                                                      Frank

     Any suggestions for what we may use?  A full blown glow driver would be nice but it may be too advanced for some of the club members.  I think that Howard Rush and others drew diagrams for a glow driver but it appeared to be vey compliocated

How complicated is "very" complicated?  You need a pretty hefty rheostat, in just the right resistance rating.  This may be hard to come by.

(What is the current of a glow plug when the engine's flooded, anyway?)

[phil c]

Hi Frank,
the simplest setup would be the battery(which varies from 2.3+ volts on down)  Put a 10 amp or so silicon diode in series with the + pole.  the Si diode drops the voltage .5 volts pretty much regardless of current.  Use a heavy duty rubber covered cord to the glow plug clip(minimizes voltage drop).  A meter is fine but can be costly.  Many folks are using an LED across the clip.  The voltage drop across the plug lights it up so you can see you've got a plug.

[Howard Rush]

the simplest setup would be the battery(which varies from 2.3+ volts on down)  Put a 10 amp or so silicon diode in series with the + pole.  the Si diode drops the voltage .5 volts pretty much regardless of current.  Use a heavy duty rubber covered cord to the glow plug clip(minimizes voltage drop).  A meter is fine but can be costly.  Many folks are using an LED across the clip.  The voltage drop across the plug lights it up so you can see you've got a plug.

A diode is better than a resistor, because the voltage difference at the plug between a flooded engine and a dry engine is less. I presume you mean that the LED goes out when you have a plug (or a short) and lights up when you don't, although you could put in a transistor to make it go the other way.

[EddyR]

For almost 20 years I used a four sealed lead acid 2 volt batteries wired in parallel for high current. I used three diode in series with a short out switch to vary the voltage. Because I had high current less than one volt would fire the motor every time.  I left the battery at a contest one time and asked on here for someone to return it to me and don't try and charge the battery. Several people argued that any charger would work. I got it back and it was almost dead,someone had tried to charge it. To a small charger it looked like a dead short and the diodes had to be shorted out to charge the pack. I would bump it to 2 volts for a second and it would burn out excess fuel but not hurt the plug. These were 1.5 volt plugs. The batteries were D-size house burglar alarm batteries.

Eddyr