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2019 in the workshop
 

Glow plug drivers

2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; For many years, I used a simple glow driver driven by a 1.2V NiCad or NiMh rechargeable battery. They were American McDaniels and lasted a long time between charges. Importing these into Australia is possible but add US postage and that makes them stupidly expensive. I then changed to a similar system to the McDaniels but with a replaceable Sub C battery. Initially, this worked well but new batteries never lasted very long. I tried making my own based on 4 X AAA rechargeable NiMh batteries but these lost their charge as well. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; I resolve the battery problem by buying a very nice 5200mAh LiPo glow driver From Hobby King but, after many years, the batteries die. The batteries are two Samsung 2600mAh LiPo connected in parallel with each cell producing 3.7V. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; I replace the batteries with the same Samsung LiPo 18650 type. Every letter on the battery labelling is identical, even the pink plastic covering looks the same, but the batteries go flat in a couple of weeks. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; Still not aware of what the problem is I decide to build my own. This one in the picture is a very simple design made from two 18650 batteries hooked up in series. Nothing fancy although the voltage needs to be dropped from 7.4V to 1.2V externally. &nbsp; I decide to go all in and build the best glow driver it is possible to make. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt"
21 September, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; Along the way, I discover (You Tube is very helpful) that batteries from China are cheap knockoff copies and are useless. YouTube advice is to buy genuine US, Korean or Japanese only. I make six glow drivers, improving each as I go; this is the third version. In this picture, the time delay is the vertical board, the voltage regulator board is displaying an input voltage of 7.9V and the remaining board is the battery level display. These three components, purchased from China, cost a total of $5.08. As a comparison, the plastic box made in China but purchased in Australia cost $8.00. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 21 September, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; The voltage regulator can also display the output voltage; adjustable via the potentiometer, which I have set to 1.2V. The input to the Voltage regulator board is supplied from the battery via a relay on the vertical board. The slide switch turns the power to everything off. The momentary switch turns the time delay on. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 21 September, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; The vertical component is the adjustable time-delay relay; I've set it to 1 minute 30 seconds after which time it turns off. The big, blue box-like component on this board is the relay that supplies power to the voltage regulator. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 21 September, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; The finished product. The battery level display is important because LiPo's are easily damaged if they are discharged below about 3V per cell. The green bars blank out one by one as the battery discharges. This particular battery level indicator is for 2S batteries but the same display can be purchased for 3S, 4S, 5S and 6S connections. The 18650's I bought have low voltage cutoff (LVC) factory-set to 3.2V and are genuine Panasonic purchased in Australia. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt"
05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp; Hey this is fun. I'm on a path to make these simpler and better. After using the previous version V4, I found that I didn't need the time delay relay as I turned the device off anyway. This version V5 doesn't have a momentary button or a time delay relay. It also has external charging leads and everything fits into a smaller case. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp;V5 has two 18650 batteries connected in a 7.4V 2S configuration. In this version I've replaced the adjustable voltage regulator with a non-adjustable type and added a 20 amp fuse. The glow plug lead clips directly into the glow driver via a Deans connector. The sliding switch has a bigger current capacity than V4 and has three positions: Charge batteries, Off, Ignite Glow Plug. I have ideas for Version 6 and I'm waiting for some parts from China. It will be nearly the same as this but without the Deans connector and with the charging leads enclosed in the case. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver &nbsp;I've found, with the aid of YouTube and Google that there are several ways to check if 18650's are genuine or not: - Non-genuine are lighter, weigh about 45 Grams, genuine weighs 50+ - A genuine Samsung has branding on the steel jacket underneath the plastic skin. Imitation Samsung does not - After full charge, genuine will discharge to it's rating of say 3000 Mah. An imitation discharges to ~ 2000 Mah - The internal resistance is lower on a Genuine battery and higher on an imitation. This can be calculated with a 1Ω resistor and Ohm's law (some battery chargers also have the ability to read battery resistance) <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver This is version 6 but without external charging plugs and with the Deans connector fitted to the end of the lead. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt"
05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver An improvement I made to V5 and V6 was to fit proper countersunk 3 mm screws to the cabinetry. On V6 I also moved the on-off switch from the side to the rear and this gave me more room inside the case. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver These things got simpler and simpler. In the upper section (left) I installed the voltage regulator from a 12 Volt glow plug clip of which the regulator was a part. I glued the 18650 batteries to the other half and used the same red socket from the batteries that connects to the switch. This is the best configuration of the lot and is much safer because I need to disconnect the battery before charging it. <div style="Font-size:5.0pt" 05 October, 2020 - Glow plug driver Charging in progress.&nbsp; End of this project &nbsp; Click to go to home page <div style="Font-size:5.0pt"  
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