Cox Glowhead Starter Clip Question

NEW222 Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:11 am

Hi there yet again with another question. I have been getting back into the swing of things again, and it was mentioned somewhere before about the Cox starter clips. I have the standard with the red and blue wires, of which are really small. As I recall someone or a couple of individuals recommended to up the wire size from the clip to the batteries. So, with that said, I am using a 2-'D' cell holder wired for 1.5V output. It does work now as it did in the past, but I would like to do the wire change. So, I have on hand here 18 gauge speaker wire handy. Would that be alright, or would that be overkill, as I read here someone using heave lamp cord wire. So, any advice on what wire size I need or if what I got will work would be greatly appreciated before attempting the repair. Thanks.

NEW222 Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:30 am

Forgot to add to the question, is there a 'good' length these should be? Same as the factory ones, less, more? Thanks again.

Ken Cook Wed Apr 22, 2015 5:41 am

I use heater cord which is more flexible than lamp cord or speaker wire. While it's not the cord material that's a issue, it's the gauge and length. I use a 6' length. 2 D cells won't work well with 16 gauge wire at that length due to the resistance in the wire. Whenever I gang together D cells I prefer a minimum of 4 cells. Cox plugs really taxi your battery life. Your leads depend on your needs. My pit box is on the ground and I'm standing when starting so I require a long length. Starting long approx and checking your glow plug brightness would be a start. The stock Cox clip is extremely short and useless in my opinion. I like to have a bit of freedom and I certainly don't want to be on the ground .

roddie Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:41 am

Hi New, Whatever you decide on for wire length/gage.. try to get into the habit of connecting the clip only when cranking. Pull it off when clearing a flood.. or when distracted. This will greatly extend your battery life.. no matter how many cells you're using. Also.. soldering all connections will lower the resistance and assure a good flow of current.

pkrankow Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:42 am

#18 speaker or lamp cord should be good for a 6 ft length. There is little need for more than 3 ft for most people, as too long is in the way! However making a cord shorter is a whole lot easier than trying to make it longer.

Phil

Sig Skyray Wed Apr 22, 2015 9:23 am

Thanks Phil and others. To add to New's question, if one doesn't need extra length, at about 12" or so, what is the optimum gauge? Is the skinny red & blue Cox wire undersized from an engineered standpoint? I'm using the red & blue and I would prefer optimum performance of course :-)
Greg

pkrankow Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:34 am

Whatever old household extension cord I could cut up would be my choice. A nice limp stranded construction will be more manageable than the old solid wires.

For a 12-18 inch run the original wire IN GOOD CONDITION is plenty since it is solid. However being solid the wire work hardens from regular proper use, and will break internally. A number of internal partial breaks and the wire is no longer acting like it did when new.

Stranded wire is more limp, more resistant to work hardening, but requires a larger size to be equivalent to the current carrying capacity of solid wire.

Phil

NEW222 Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:13 pm

Ok. So I did it. I disassembled my 2 'D' cell holder. Got 4 round / circle crimp ends and soldered a piece of 18 gauge speaker wire between 2 of the ends and made 2 'bridges' to get both positive and negative terminals attached together. I then disassembled the Cox glow clip and soldered on approximately 3 feet of the 18 gauge speaker wire to the copper leads after removing the factory wires. I then soldered on 2 terminals to the ends of these as well. I then reassembled the battery holder as it was originally. Put 2 batteries in it and hooked up a glow head to it. Now call it weird, but it immediately appeared to have a better, quicker, and steadier glow than the original with the original wires. So, overall, I am happy. Thanks for the help all.

pkrankow Wed Apr 22, 2015 9:59 pm

Not weird at all. Reliable.

Phil

**RknRusty** Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:28 pm

pkrankow wrote:Not weird at all. Reliable.

Phil

Yep, copper and solder, can't beat it for good current flow.

NEW222 Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:45 pm

Just another quick little question, if I may. Regarding my two 'bridges', I know that solder and copper wire are good, but I was just thinking. Would there be any other benefit to taking 1/4" copper tube per say, hammering it flat and using that over the two I made today. I never thought of it until now, and it would eliminate a couple of more joints for current loss? Even go so far as soldering my wire ends of the clip to the copper and eliminate all connections. Does anyone feel all of this would be worth it, or just a waste of time. Thanks again.

**RknRusty** Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:33 pm

NEW222 wrote:Just another quick little question, if I may. Regarding my two 'bridges', I know that solder and copper wire are good, but I was just thinking. Would there be any other benefit to taking 1/4" copper tube per say, hammering it flat and using that over the two I made today. I never thought of it until now, and it would eliminate a couple of more joints for current loss? Even go so far as soldering my wire ends of the clip to the copper and eliminate all connections. Does anyone feel all of this would be worth it, or just a waste of time. Thanks again.

New, I'm having trouble picturing what you're describing. But in short, solder is always good. In electronics 101 they hammered into our brains, solder is strictly for a good electrical connection. The mechanical connection must be good on its own before the solder is applied. So I hope my general answer helps clarify your specific question.
Rusty

roddie Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:50 pm

NEW222 wrote:Just another quick little question, if I may. Regarding my two 'bridges', I know that solder and copper wire are good, but I was just thinking. Would there be any other benefit to taking 1/4" copper tube per say, hammering it flat and using that over the two I made today. I never thought of it until now, and it would eliminate a couple of more joints for current loss? Even go so far as soldering my wire ends of the clip to the copper and eliminate all connections. Does anyone feel all of this would be worth it, or just a waste of time. Thanks again.

I'd say that you did real well with what you've already done. The only suggestion I could add to "any" wiring that will be subjected to frequent "movement".. would be to provide some type of stress-relief at the termination point(s). Wrapping with common electrical tape can add strength to where wires connect to a clip or a plug-grip for instance. Just keep in mind that wiring is fragile when it's subjected to constant flexing and will eventually fail if handled roughly. Always disconnect wiring by pulling the "grip/plug".. not the wires.

KariFS Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:52 am

I think, based on what you described, that your system is OK. Well-made soldered connections are more than adequate for this purpose and the amount of connections is not important. The cable thickness and length are things that make the system work.

If you have a multimeter, you can check for voltage loss easily. Just plug in the glowplug and measure the voltage across the battery holder terminals and then, again with the glowplug still connected, across the glow clip. Then compare the numbers.

That will tell you how much voltage you lose when the system is in use. I am betting the loss is not significant.

pkrankow Thu Apr 23, 2015 7:32 am

There are only two things I see to consider:
Mechanical strain relief via tape or heat shrink
corrosion control on the clip and glow head, keep clean using metal wool or fine sandpaper. as needed (without power applied, steel wool and a battery can light up pretty impressively.)

In this case a multimeter might lie. The open voltage can be good, but under load voltage might drop off due to poor connections. The heads glowing brightly with a known good set of batteries is as good a test as anything!

Phil

KariFS Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:20 am

pkrankow wrote:There are only two things I see to consider:
In this case a multimeter might lie. The open voltage can be good, but under load voltage might drop off due to poor connections. The heads glowing brightly with a known good set of batteries is as good a test as anything!

True, but if you measure them with the glow plug connected, that'll tell you what the voltage drop is under load. But that's only "academics", a brightly glowing plug is the only thing that matters Smile

NEW222 Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:16 pm

Ok. Thanks. I think I am just going to leave it as it is then. No use playing further with something thay works.

John's Pop Sun Apr 26, 2015 1:46 pm

NEW222 wrote: I then disassembled the Cox glow clip

Out of curiosity, how did you disassemble the clip? I tried to get mine off and don't see any way to do that short of cutting the yellow plastic part off. I can just put shrink tube back on there I guess, but thought I'd ask if there's a simple way to get it off. Smile

KariFS Sun Apr 26, 2015 2:27 pm

NEW222 wrote:Ok. Thanks. I think I am just going to leave it as it is then. No use playing further with something thay works.

My motto is "if it ain't broken, fix it until it is" lol!

Your approach makes life easier, no doubt Very Happy

NEW222 Sun Apr 26, 2015 2:52 pm

I just grabbed the yellow part where both wires go in and contacts on the other side. And I had it with a good grip, then with my small needle nose pliers, grabbed the copper parts 1 at a time then gave them a quick little tug and out they came. That is how I got mine out. If you do look carefully though, you will see a tiny part bent down that hooks it in place in the yellow holder, so with a tiny screwdriver you could 'unlock' it from the holder as well. Sorry for the vague description, but I do hope this helps a little.

John's Pop Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:58 pm

NEW222 wrote:I just grabbed the yellow part where both wires go in and contacts on the other side. And I had it with a good grip, then with my small needle nose pliers, grabbed the copper parts 1 at a time then gave them a quick little tug and out they came.

That was my first inclination, but I really didn't want to break it. I got it out now. Thanks!

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