After market plug

I have two of those, still in bags. Correct, they are Glo-Bees. I was wondering the abscence of cooling fins. Will those heads run hotter or does the large exposed plug insert compensate? Or are they meant for short run - long rest cycle only, such as free-flight or glider pods? If they tend to run hot, they'll make a good plug for winter use I suppose

If you run this plug, one of two things are going to happen. It's either going to run like a scalded cat or it's going to sag and quit. A Glo Bee plug raises the compression considerably.These plugs depending on type can require anywhere from 4-8 head shims. I have 3 types of Glo Bee plugs. A racing version, a sport version, and one that didn't have a name but it does have a larger squish band over  the other two. Glo Bee's will put a serious amount of improvement on a TD. However, reliability is hit or miss. It either works or doesn't. A Nelson Galbreath head setup is the closest you will come in terms of performance to a Glo Bee and they're available, economical, and extremely reliable which is why they're used over all other plugs in high performance engines. Ken

Merlin seems to make a glow-bee style plug with a Nelson style thread/base. Has anyone tried those with the Galbreath head?

Kris, I have used these. These are popular with the speed crowd. I believe Dubb Jett sells these directly on his site. I used them recently on a Cyclon .40 . They worked well with the exception of one problem. The speed guys use bladders. In doing so, they fill the bladder and close the needle all the way down. They use a starter box and while bump starting they being to open the needle. If the engine floods, it pretty much wipes out the plug due to squishing the bejeezus out of it. This really would happen with any plug though. I noticed the Nelson plugs take to this harsh treatment far superior. The nice feature of this plug is that a standard glow driver fits on it. The nicad glow drivers though suffer due to the lower voltage to adequately light these off. I found this to be true of Nelson plugs equally. Ken

Thanks, I've seen them on the Merlin site, might be time to order a few plugs then. They also have a Glow-bee style turbo-plug that seems worth trying too.

I have basically given up on the NiMh "drivers", the voltage is only high enough for a short time on an absolute fully charged battery. With the Lipo driven ones the charged-state of the battery doesn't matter...

Surfer_kris wrote:Thanks, I've seen them on the Merlin site, might be time to order a few plugs then. They also have a Glow-bee style turbo-plug that seems worth trying too.

I have basically given up on the NiMh "drivers", the voltage is only high enough for a short time on an absolute fully charged battery. With the Lipo driven ones the charged-state of the battery doesn't matter...

I have been wanting to try a lipo driven glow igniter. What are you using?
Phil

The RCAT http://www.rcatsystems.com/store/index.php?_a=product&product_id=2 and works very well next to the Radio South glow drivers. Many of my club members use them. I haven't got around to purchasing one but I'm always borrowing it. My power panel won't adequately light off Nelson plugs once it begins discharging. I recognize it immediately if I don't get a one flip start. The RCAT will adjust to every plug even if flooded or cold. Ken

The RCAT is the probably the best one available, but I went for something a little cheaper that also mounts directly onto the glow plug (it has a smaller battery capacity though than the RCAT) see link; Dynamite RC

Here is a test I did to compare a NiMh driver to the Lipo one from Dynamite RC;

I just ordered one of the Dynamite lipo drivers to replace my lost Nicad Dubro. Looking forward to seeing how it performs.

I'd be willing to bet these would be a drop-in replacement when/if the cell goes flat -

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=23320

I haven't check what they look like on the inside, or even if they come apart easily...

If you have good Lipo charger you can used that rather than the supplied charger. You can then do all the regular babysitting that one should do with Lipo batteries and leaving them at storage charge etc, etc.

I have had mine for about two years now, I think, without any problems. There is no gradual scale for the charged state of the battery, it is either enough or not enough. You can easily measure the voltage over the battery though and make an estimate from there.

I used a pair of standard D alkalines for so long that even my sub-C NiCd Dubro igniters impress me. At 1.2v they light the plug brighter than the alkys ever did. But at a contest I carry two of them in my pocket for all of the above reasons. I try not to top them off too often and discharge them with a glowbee that lives on my desk.

Before I went flying today I discharged and recharged both of them, and just out of curiosity I wanted to see how long they would light a plug. Both had been charged within the last two weeks and used for probably 10 starts each before discharging. I put them on a glow plug and used a stopwatch for 3 minute intervals so as not to cook them. The one with the replaceable battery lit brightly for 18 minutes and the one with the sealed battery lit brightly for 20 minutes.

I'm not arguing for or against them, just posting an observation in case anyone is interested. I was bored. When these get undependable, I'll look into some of the better quality ones y'all are using. I do like these though.
Rusty