Plug Problem?

[Don Fry]

That looks worn out, no coating left at the top showing copper, and the rest looks grey, and not shiny.

Out of curiosity, I've just looked at a new OS F plug. What struck me was the OS seemed a lot neater in construction, symmetrical helix on the coils.

Perhaps yours is a fake, as suggested earlier in the thread.

Any way given that one failed early, if you have any more of the same, your call if you want to fit them to motors

[Nigel R]

They do tend to distort when the coating goes. Localised overheating of the copper perhaps.

Friday afternoon job, maybe. I thought Enya were just about not going any more. Maybe the Enya plugs are made by a third party, maybe the third party makes other brands too, maybe they no longer care so much about QA, could be cheap fake. C'est la vie.

Just seen, the Hobbyking plugs are less than £2. Might be worth a punt to try a few.

Never heard of a fake Model Technics plug, OS & Enya are known worldwide and probably worth running the machines to make them after hours with next to no expensive platinum on the coil.

[Roger Dyke]

I agree, it does look worn out. I really do not think it is a fake (although no way of knowing) as I purchased it from a top UK Model Shop retailer. The plug has only seen max 1.24 volts from a single NiMH battery. It is about 3 - 4 weeks old from brand new and has seen only about a one hour (or less) running from an Enya 15 glow engine. Engine runs perfectly with another glow plug. This experience has really put me off purchasing this make and type of plug in the future.

Maybe as Nigel says, that their glow plugs are now made by a third party and can be of dubious quality.

[Don Fry]

Have you got an ammeter on it. If the resistance is small, then the amps build up, and it's the amps wot kills.

And please lads, no kickings I don't know much about plugs, as they seem to last forever, and I'm not normally even slightly interested in them. But I am struggling to see how this unit is the product of a manufacturer with an effective QC policy.

[Roger Dyke]

As a retired electronics design engineer I had no problem with your request.

The current drawn by the glowplug is 2.8 amps with an applied voltage of 1.24 volts. In reality the current would be a fraction higher as the meter shunt and cables have a small resistance and this was in series with the element. The figures sound about right to me.

I didn't bother monitoring the voltage directly across the plug as I thought just the simple test what I did was near enough.

Edited By Roger Dyke on 29/11/2018 20:14:57

[Nigel R]

Don, I think the plug's copper coil will be largely the same resistance whether there is platinum on it or not.

I'm with you, they are normally fit and forget on manufacturer recommendation (or your personal favourite equivalent, because we all know better than the instructions).

[cymaz]

Just to resurrect this thread. I’ve just purchased some glow plugs on ebay....( yes, I know, I should have gone to a reputable shop....chastise me later). They were going to be used for the Nijhuis Lancaster.

None of them fitted as all the threads were the wrong pitch. The genuine OS packet is the topmost. The difference is obvious side to side. The genuine plug went in as sweet as they should.

 

As with all my plugs, I use a length of narrow bore fuel tube to seat them, this saved the cylinder head.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by cymaz

[Engine Doctor]

You really have to be careful these days as it seems anything is a target for the fakers , that's the polite name for them. Good job you never put a plug spanner on to tighten the plug as that would have cost you a cyl head or time consuming repair.

Since I stared messing with engines I was taught to start them in the thread by hand like Cymaz often using a piece of fuel tubing to hold the plug while starting. Any tightness or cross threading will be felt as plug should screw in very easily .

Re the earlier photos the plug coil should never look copper coloured even after heavy use. Plug coils start off shiny silver and after a lot of heavy use and abuse often go a light grey with what looks like a powdery finish. 

Possibly not as dangerous as faked servos but potentially cause very expensive problems. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Engine Doctor

[Andy Stephenson]

There has been some talk about fake OS No8 plugs recently and I believe I even bought some from ebay. They did screw into the cylinder head OK but only lasted one engine run so I'm fairly certain they were fake. The way to spot them is to look closely at the figure 8 on the packet if the two round white spaces in the "8" don't come to a slight point in the middle then they are not genuine. Also the patterned background looks blurred compared to the proper ones.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Andy Stephenson

[Engine Doctor]

I hope anyone who is unfortunate enough yo buy these reports it to Ebay any pursues a refund. 

[Andy Stephenson]

Half of the ones I bought were for a friend and he reports they seem OK but only in relatively small low power engines. 3 of mine expired after one run in my OS61 RF. Not sure what to do with the rest. I guess after a few months since the purchase before trying them it would be too late to complain.

[Don Fry]

Crime is a crime, your complaint to the likes of E bay is is a deception by the seller.

[Manish Chandrayan]

Cymaz, 

Even the topmost OS No8 in all probability is a counterfiet going by what I see in the picture. The white areas in the '8' should have pointed ends facing each other. 

See this advisory from OS on how to identify the fake ones

Currently known fakes are OS 8 and OS 6

[Manish Chandrayan]

The one on the left with pointed inners in the No '8' is genuine

[cymaz]

Thanks all....I’ve already put a refund request in and am covered by PayPal. I’ll keep you all informed!

[Bruce Collinson]

Surely the way to spot fake OS 8s is to buy them from EBay!

 

BTC

[cymaz]

Been offered an 80% refund. Politely told them where they can put that. 

Full refund in the pipeline !

[Engine Doctor]

3 hours ago, cymaz said:

Been offered an 80% refund. Politely told them where they can put that. 

Full refund in the pipeline !

Well done . The sooner people realise that selling fake stuff as the real item doesn't pay then it should die out. If they want to sell similar aftermarket items then that's fine and itsc down to the buyers. To sell as original  in copied packaging is intended to decieve buyers and is illegal.

The people who sold you the fake plugs can now take it up with whoever they bought them from but I bet they didn't use PayPal 🤨so no refund for them.😀 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Engine Doctor

[Gary Manuel]

I often think that the likes of eBay etc should be held partially responsible (liable) for fake goods sold through their site. As it stands, they actually benefit by the 10%+ commission they earn. If fake goods are reported to eBay, at best the seller will issue a refund and carry on selling the fake goods. 

 

Now if eBay was obliged to pass any reports of fake goods onto the police / authorities, and take 10%+ of any fines / sentences, things might change. Until then, eBay buyer beware.

[Jon H]

20 minutes ago, Gary Manuel said:

I often think that the likes of eBay etc should be held partially responsible (liable) for fake goods sold through their site. As it stands, they actually benefit by the 10%+ commission they earn. If fake goods are reported to eBay, at best the seller will issue a refund and carry on selling the fake goods. 

 

Now if eBay was obliged to pass any reports of fake goods onto the police / authorities, and take 10%+ of any fines / sentences, things might change. Until then, eBay buyer beware.

 

I like computer gaming and there are loads of fake 3d graphics cards on ebay. Its a well known scam. Take a chip from 10 years ago (often removed from E waste cards), put it on a new board or just clean an old one and fit a newer fan, rewrite the firmware on the card so it reports as a newer generation card and there you have it. The old GTX550ti that was only worth a tenner can now be sold as a far newer 1050ti for nearly £200. Not a bad little earner. 

 

Clearly these fake cards still perform as their old hardware allows so gaming performance will be poor given their age. worse still the misreporting firmware means that incorrect drivers are installed and the system then incorrectly handles the hardware causing system crashes. 

 

Its been going on for years on ebay and they have made absolutely no effort to stop it. As you say Gary, if ebay were held responsible for fake stuff being sold through their site and it began costing them money rather than making it, i suspect the situation would change. 

[Nigel R]

10 hours ago, Engine Doctor said:

The sooner people realise that selling fake stuff as the real item doesn't pay

I think the problem is that selling fake stuff does pay. Buyer beware...

[Don Fry]

Not just E bay, missus spent a lot of money on ( another handbag ) on Amazon. It belonged to a named animal. Reality, polyvinylosaurus cheapens. 

Clue, it melted when branded. 
Stuggle to even get Amazon to pay the full cost of return. Reality, still being sold after two complaints to Amazon. 
Small beer, next time you strap into a flying coffin en route to your dream destination, the aircraft industry has the same problems. Pause for thought. 

[Engine Doctor]

1 hour ago, Nigel R said:

I think the problem is that selling fake stuff does pay. Buyer beware...

In Cymas' case paypal gave full refund so the seller lost the sale and postage but I understand what your saying. 

On the other hand a trustworthy seller can lose out when a lowlife buyer says the item is not as advertised or first arrive. 

 

[cymaz]

5 hours ago, Engine Doctor said:

In Cymas' case paypal gave full refund so the seller lost the sale and postage but I understand what your saying. 

On the other hand a trustworthy seller can lose out when a lowlife buyer says the item is not as advertised or first arrive. 

 

 

I provided photographs showing the plugs did not screw into the cylinder head. A full refund has just been issued. I have had an issue in the past with an AliExpress order which didn’t arrive. The RM tracking said it never arrived in the country. The AliExpress sender said that there tracking number was correct ( which it wasn’t). A couple of iPad screen shots showing the tracking and not giving up, the money was refused by AliExpress and not the shop.

You have to fight your corner, get the pictures of the fault, any tracking info and keep pestering.

[Nigel R]

11 hours ago, Engine Doctor said:

On the other hand a trustworthy seller can lose out when a lowlife buyer says the item is not as advertised or first arrive. 

 

Indeed. I've been there. I would not sell electronic or breakable items via ebay again.