What is the preferred amp for warming glow plugs??

[Kevin Krogness]

I'm making a power supply/starter setup pack and wondering the amp that is preferred to warm up glow plugs.. I'm either going to make or buy a voltage regulator...

 

[Hayden Bright]

1.5v kroggs thats why rechargable batteries are not very good as glow starter batteries, being only 1.2v....

 

[Kevin Krogness]

Hayden I know the volts part but what about amps??? I will be using a 4-5 cell lipo regulate down to 1.5 for power but need to know the amp that is just right and not to hot!!!!

 

[Hayden Bright]

ahhh sorry I have no idea about the amps, can't see why amps would be important if you regulate down to 1.5v for the glow starter. I just got a lipo glow which I guess is a 1s lipo with 1.5v regulate and 1200mah. Amps are just your capacity yeah & volts are your output....atleast thats what I thought man..

 

[Greg Settle]

Hayden I know the volts part but what about amps??? I will be using a 4-5 cell lipo regulate down to 1.5 for power but need to know the amp that is just right and not to hot!!!!

 

[Greg Settle]

AMPS CAN VERY BETWEEN 2 & AS MUCH AS 6 AMPS, CAUSED BY A NUMBER OFTHINGS LIKE WIRE SIZE-COMPISITION # OF COILS- HOLE SIZE ! DIFFERENT PLUGS REQUIRE DIFFERENT AMPS! Greg Settle

 

[Hayden Bright]

I think you will find that your glow plug will draw what amp it needs at 1.5v so as long as you supply the 1.5v and not 1.8v as an example you should be fine. Amps are draw from the source being your GLOW PLUG and it will only draw what it needs at the set output 1.5v.....

 

[RodneyPierce]

Kevin, I have an adjustable panel, and never go above 4 amps.

 

[DickJones]

Hayden I know the volts part but what about amps??? I will be using a 4-5 cell lipo regulate down to 1.5 for power but need to know the amp that is just right and not to hot!!!!

I have found in my testing it would be better to raise your voltage number to 1.8 and amp draw is from 3 to 7 amps depending on the glow plugs you are using, trying to finish my article on glow plugs which includes testing i have done over a 5 year period as well as information on amperage draw, and glow plug element temps using different batteries and a bunch of other info that directly affects how well the glow plug works during use and some updated info on different glow plug numbering systems and how well they cross chart to different manufactures and the actual plug coil temps compared to the manufactures info.

JM2CW

dick

 

[Hydro Junkie]

ahhh sorry I have no idea about the amps, can't see why amps would be important if you regulate down to 1.5v for the glow starter. I just got a lipo glow which I guess is a 1s lipo with 1.5v regulate and 1200mah. Amps are just your capacity yeah & volts are your output....atleast thats what I thought man..

Actually, the amperage(also referred to as current) is just as important as voltage. You can think of volts like PSI and amps like GPM. Your voltage is what pushes your amperage through a load or resistance, in this case the glow plug coil. The coil does not "draw" amperage, as you stated in a different post, but rather it resists the flow of the current through the coil. By raising voltage or reducing resistance, your amperage increases. Increasing resistance or lowering voltage decreases amperage. Your capacity is rated in amp-hours, defined as how much time the battery can put out a specific amperage

 

[Greg Moss]

Just my .02

Electrical heating is a function of current and the resistance of the wire as stated before. In a simple DC sense: power to create heat = current2 x resistance.

An adjustable current regulator circuit will hold the current and heat steady as the resistance of the glow plug varies,and it does as it warms up, fuel cooling, etc. You can build a pretty simple linear integrated circuit current regulator with 4 or 5 components that will do up to 5 amps with almost any voltage source up to 27 volts. The downside is the heat and power loss in the regulator. If you're putting 1.5 volts at 3 amps into the glowplug from a 4S LiPO, then you'll have 13.3 volts at least at 3 amps being lost in the regulator (339.9 watts). That is wasted battery power and heat that can kill your circuit.

Almost all glow plug driver circuits are Pulse Width Modulated and just supply variable frequency alternating current to the plug to hold the current steady. A PWM current regulator is ok to build, but a cheap power panel would be simpler.

Cheers

 

[Mark Stein]

Hydro - voltage is the flow / amperage is the pressure - think of it as a garden hose - voltage without amps will produce no work. amps are a product of voltage and resistance and measured in amp draw. wattage is the measure of work produced

Kevin I agree with some of the above. sometimes you want a little more heat

COuldnt tell you what settings , since my pwer panel is automatic so i just watch the needle to see if the plug is good and push the starter button

When the boat is going to hit the water the last thing I want to think about is. What is the correct amount of amps I need to make this plug work...lol

wish i could be more constructive

 

[bsmtboy2]

Annealing plugs before using them is a good idea, but it has yet to be proven that it truly helps to make it last any longer or perform better. There are too many other variables that come into play, water temp,air temp,nitro content,air density, bowl volume just to name a few. Heat them up for 1 minute then store them until needed.