General control line discussion > Open Forum
Glow plug conundrum!
Phil Hawkins:
With the price of glow plugs at a staggering all time high, and not looking like they will ever be coming down, what can a guy do to keep a decent supply on hand and not be hundreds deep invested? I am finding NOS marine, RC car, and the usual suspects, but is there a down side to using non-aircraft plugs? Intuitively, I would think not, but some new in package plugs state nitro and displacement limits. Would, for example, a plug designed for a .18 RC car be a disaster waiting to happen in a Tigre V60?
Thanks for the insights & experience!
Lauri Malila:
No, with some precaution the worst thing that can happen is that the plug breaks, so take it safe during the first flights. Everything is worth trying.
Actually, I've been looking for the car plugs for some time now, and at least OS seems to have a huge variety of different heat ranges available, and they most probably continue to be available for a long time.
The only question is, how those heat ranges correspond with the heat ranges of "normal" plugs, we have to find that out.
If it works out well, I'm also interested in going to the "Turbo plug" shape, it would make more sense for the combustion chamber design point of view. L
Dave_Trible:
When the plug 'crisis' first came up I ordered off Ebay a few of just about everything there was to try. I found out quickly that many of the cheap plugs are.....cheap. Quite a few were bad right out of the package with mashed coils or they would burn out with the first run. Some don't adapt to the Ni Starter batteries that we use. My suggestion is to buy a couple of a variety of what you can find then set up on a test stand and run through them to see what you think will work-OR just pay the piper for better plugs-IF you can find any. Right now the best bet might be Enya or OS. Beware there is a counterfeit OS #8 out there. You might google that and learn how to spot the imposter plugs and avoid them. There are also those who are selling a few good plugs on the bay but want your next house payment for them.
Dave
Jim Benzinger:
--- Quote from: Dave_Trible on October 10, 2024, 01:02:31 PM ---When the plug 'crisis' first came up I ordered off Ebay a few of just about everything there was to try. I found out quickly that many of the cheap plugs are.....cheap. Quite a few were bad right out of the package with mashed coils or they would burn out with the first run. Some don't adapt to the Ni Starter batteries that we use. My suggestion is to buy a couple of a variety of what you can find then set up on a test stand and run through them to see what you think will work-OR just pay the piper for better plugs-IF you can find any. Right now the best bet might be Enya or OS. Beware there is a counterfeit OS #8 out there. You might google that and learn how to spot the imposter plugs and avoid them. There are also those who are selling a few good plugs on the bay but want your next house payment for them.
Dave
--- End quote ---
I would counter the expensive plug argument with this:
How much is your plane worth? Is it worth the engine quitting in a bad spot?? A couple of extra dollars for a good plug is well worth it. It's the cost of doing business.
My main concern is availability. SH plugs are currently available and in a wide variety of heat ranges. Proven reliable and they run well.
Mikegoesflying.com SH plugs. The Type F, for a 4-cycle runs better than a Thunderbolt 4-cycle/Big Bore.
Colin McRae:
For what its worth I have acquired a few Fireball long hot plugs from Brodak for $5 each. I have run them so far on my older sport models (Fox, McCoy and OS Max engines) and have not had any issues to date. Plugs have been fine.
But I do run OS hot plugs on my OS LA and FP engines.
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