Cox Glow Plug Clip Question

fargophil wrote:In the Quarterly newsletter I read today there is an interesting article about improving the Cox Glow Plug Clip. Paul stated he increased the wire size to cut down on resistance which does make a lot of sense. My question is how do you do that. Looking at the two clips I have there does not appear to be any easy way to get the contacts out of the yellow plastic or is there a trick I am not aware of?

YUP! There is a " Trick to it"  Like or similar to automotive connections there is a Little tiny "Tab" that locks the copper pieces into the Plastic holder.  Use a small flat tipped screwdriver to push the tab down and you'll be able too pull the copper connectors out>  I used a Dental Pick to depress the tab and a plastic grip pliers to hold and pull the copper out of the yellow plastic.  If you Look into the Clip from the wire side you'll see  the tab on the opposite side of the wire connection on each copper piece.

Dang, I've almost got it done, Larger wire and solder BINGO back in the GLow Again!!

Keep in mind that when you do use a larger wire, they're going to be very close to each other internally. It becomes very easy for the two to touch inside the yellow body. I also recommend that you use good fitting heat shrink tube back onto the wires for about 2 inches. This keeps the solder joint from failing.

I like that idea Ken. Never thought of that. Seems a lot better than my little piece of wood I put between the two contacts.

I realize this is an old topic but maybe it helps someone else.

Not all of the original wires need to be replaced, necessarily. The original wires can be cut short right after they exit the clip, and heavy replacement wires can be soldered from that point on, up to the battery, eliminating most of the resistance due to skinny wires. This way, there's no need to make changes in the plastic clip itself.

atesus wrote:I realize this is an old topic but maybe it helps someone else.

Not all of the original wires need to be replaced, necessarily. The original wires can be cut short right after they exit the clip, and heavy replacement wires can be soldered from that point on, up to the battery, eliminating most of the resistance due to skinny wires. This way, there's no need to make changes in the plastic clip itself.

WELL THAT’s a SUPER SUGGESTION......WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

atesus wrote:I realize this is an old topic but maybe it helps someone else.

Not all of the original wires need to be replaced, necessarily. The original wires can be cut short right after they exit the clip, and heavy replacement wires can be soldered from that point on, up to the battery, eliminating most of the resistance due to skinny wires. This way, there's no need to make changes in the plastic clip itself.

The new guy's first post...and he slams it out of the park! I plussed up Atuses' Greenie for an overlooked, but easy solution to a common problem.

Ok Atesus...now you owe us a formal introduction. Where are you from? What brought you to this site? What is the earliest Cox recollection you can make?
Welcome to CEF. We are glad you signed on!

Gentlemen, many thanks for the warm welcome.

I live in the SF Bay Area (South Bay) and fly with the Oakland Cloud Dusters and SAM-27, almost exclusively rubber until this past April when, I decided to build a Dakota for a special contest in honor of late Joe Wagner who passed away in 2020. With the Dakota, I realized I missed the smell of burnt fuel and here I am. By the way, I lost that Dakota on a trim flight before that special event, after keeping it in my binoculars for about 15 minutes when the floaters in my eye started to look like it... That Dakota had a 0.049 Babe Bee on it, turning a 6x3 Cox prop, and I thought it was too much engine for the model. Then I built a second one, called it "Rigid Midget" per Joe Wagner's original wish, and installed a 0.049 OK Cub in it. This setup is behaving much better now.

My earliest recollection of Cox was a Babe Bee sitting in the window of the lone model shop in town. Somehow I was able to buy one in about a year which I installed in a simple control line model. I remember being able to start that motor once long enough to try flying but when the friend put the model on the ground I realized that the motor was running in reverse. For some reason (which I now think must have been an old battery) I couldn't start/run that motor reliably and with no one to ask around, I put it aside and not thought of it until recently, 45 years later .

I have about 10 Cox engines mostly various 049s, and 2 diesel Pee-Wees. My next project to use a Cox engine will probably be a Sioux.

Best,
--atesus

Thanks for the back ground atesus Glad you joined us for some more Fun!!

Welcome to the forum atesus. Sounds like you are having fun.

WELCOME atesus
I think you'll feel at home here.
Bob