Glow plug extension

[bmclaurin]

Before you say, "just get a PushGlo or SwitchGlo," please humor me and tell me if you have ever had much luck with glow plug extension cables. I've tried 3 separate ones over the past several months, and for such a simple product, they are probably the most finicky of all the components on my heli. If I apply the glow driver directly to the plug, it fires right up. But if I use the extension cable, I get nothing almost every time. I have it grounded properly as best as I can tell, as my DMM shows continuity from the engine block to the extension plug bracket. Any tips on how to make these things work?



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[Jon Mills]

Uh get a switch glo I am kidding sort of.  I have found most of the problem to be with the end going onto the actual plug. I always use an alligator clip with a insulator. Seems like thats where the problem was for me, even on the switch glo.

[Ross Lawton]

Hi,

I have used Switchglo's, Gryphon Mini Auto Booster as well as the standard remote glow extensions. They all work reasonably well.

Do you have the single wire version? Where the ground is made though the bracket that bolts to the engine back plate? With this type of remote extension it is worth checking to make sure everything is tight so that a good electrical contact is made, also check the clip that goes to the glow plug. Make sure that it is touching only the glow plug pin itself and nothing else as this will cause a short in the circuit and the glow plug will not glow.

hope this helps and let us know how you go,
Cheers,
Ross

[Mark Burberry]

I use the Gryphon Lite Auto Booster on all my nitro's and never had a single issue.

Ross has given you some good advice to follow.

Mark

[Chris Sexton]

I have an extension like Ross refers to that grounds through the mounting bracket. Ran it on my n5c for a while before I went push glo.

If you want to try it I will send it to you. I am loving my pushglo. Don't need the extension anymore.

sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2

[bmclaurin]

Thanks, guys. I actually have both types of extensions--one that bolts on to the engine back plate and one that has a separate ground wire. For the latter, I've tried grounding to the back plate as well as the engine mounts but no joy in either case. Thanks, Ross, for the tip on the the clip not touching anything else. Pretty sure that it's not, but I will double check. And thanks, Chris, for your kind offer, but that's not necessary since I have several of these silly things.

At this point, I'm going to throw in the towel and go back to the SwitchGlo. I previously had one, and it worked great until my N5c took a 5-hour long "shower" this summer that killed most of my electronics. I have been going old school with the manual glow driver since then.

And as for the "shower," the family and I rented an RV this summer for a 1,000-mile vacation. On the way back, I had placed my heli in one of the "waterproof" storage bins underneath the coach. We then proceeded to drive through a huge rain storm that lasted a good 5 hours. The next morning, once we arrived back home, I opened up the bin to find my heli soaked and sitting in a pool of water that was literally 4 inches deep. Not pretty.

[Chris Sexton]

Ouch I hope the rv insurance helped with that?

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[bmclaurin]

Well, it would have, had it not been for the 16-foot long scuff mark that I added to the right side of the coach. We essentially just called it a wash (no pun intended).

[Jon Mills]

Switch glo for me is the way to go, much easier since you need nothing and another benefit is the ability to let you know the plug is bad or a bad connection.  That way you don't continually try to start something that isn't going to start.  It also seems like plugs last longer with this type of glo driver, and plugs aren't really inexpensive anymore.  That sucks about the bath hope you get her back to the way she was soon.

Jon M

[flyalan]

The Switchglo did it's job for me this weekend. I landed the N5C mid tank to adjust the H'S needle and the engine died.  Restarted with no problem but then died again. On the third attempt the Switchglo no longer chimed. It was of course a dead glow plug. It does save a lot of frustration knowing immediately you have a good plug or not.

Cheers
Alan

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