Glow Sticks

[Graeme Poke]

Any recommendations please for glow sticks> cheers Graeme

[Peter Christy]

I prefer to make my own glow power units. I usually use a plastic box (used to get them from Maplins, now gone, alas!) and fit a 5 amp meter in series with a single, large capacity NiMh cell (3000mAh or so). I use a "phono" socket on the end of the box to connect to a variety of different glow leads, for different purposes.

The reason I do this is that you can tell an awful lot from the ammeter! Plugs are designed to run at a specific *voltage* - not current. The current will vary depending on a number of factors. This is why I do not like power panels, which tend to control current! It is much better to supply the correct voltage, and let the plug draw whatever current it wants. Contrary to popular belief, a good, large capacity NiMh will light ALL plugs - 2V as well as 1.5V - and never overdrive them.

Most plugs draw between 2 and 3 amps when operating normally. Once you have determined the normal current for your plug, it is easy to tell if an engine is flooded or dry.

A flooded engine will draw more current than normal - typically 0.5 to 1 amp - as the fuel in the plug will cool the element until it boils off. A dry engine will draw the correct current, but it will rise slightly when cranked by a starter, as the fresh air coming into the cylinder cools the element. A blown plug will obviously draw no current.

A nice, big 5 amp meter (ex car battery charger?) will save an awful lot of faffing about when presented with a reluctant engine!

Just my 2p worth!

--

Pete

[Keith Berriman]

Hi Peter beat me to it I also have the D Cell in a small box with ammeter on two banana sockets for the lead with Phono plug end not a problem. Even when charging the battery every 3 month or so just need to check the ammeter needle moves backwards a little to check its charging

[Richard Harris]

Graeme,

THESE are useful units, especially if you fly a mix of IC and electric as you can utilise your LiPo's.

[Geoff S]

I don't fly glow engines very often these days (mostly electric but a couple of petrol) but I've always been nervous of glow sticks. To have a fairly unstable (they always seem prone to wobble a bit once the engine starts) and relatively top heavy glow stick very close to a spinning prop seems to me not the best idea. I do what Peter does and have a battery in a plastic box with an ammeter with an outlet (mine's 2 x 4mm sockets) for the various types of readily available plug connector.

Geoff

[Denis Watkins]

Posted by Graeme Poke on 27/11/2018 08:05:18:

Any recommendations please for glow sticks> cheers Graeme

If you want to fly Graeme, then a glow stick is handy if your field box goes flat.

2100mah glow sticks are most common now, and come with a wall charger quite cheaply

A charged stick will last you a busy weeks flying and is simple to put on charge in between

[Old Geezer]

The ultimate El Cheapo solution: a couple of D Size Duracell torch batteries soldered together in series and wrapped in fibre reinforced tape, connected to your glow clip of choice with a foot or a foot and a half ( or whatever length seems appropriate ) of heavy gauge multistrand hi-fi speaker cable. Can't remember when I last replaced the batteries - so they last a long long time - or it's another sign of the old memory going!

[Nigel R]

I have a Sub C glow stick. It's a generic 2500mA sub C type, and came with a wall wart charger. I've not a clue where it came from. It's always worked just fine when I've needed it. Cheap and simple.

I do prefer to use my box mounted panel though. The clip feels more secure, and it has a meter.

 

" a couple of D Size Duracell torch"

Two D cells would give 3V.

 

Edited By Nigel R on 27/11/2018 11:37:13

[Engine Doctor]

Posted by Nigel R on 27/11/2018 11:35:09:

I have a Sub C glow stick. It's a generic 2500mA sub C type, and came with a wall wart charger. I've not a clue where it came from. It's always worked just fine when I've needed it. Cheap and simple.

I do prefer to use my box mounted panel though. The clip feels more secure, and it has a meter.

" a couple of D Size Duracell torch"

Two D cells would give 3V.

Edited By Nigel R on 27/11/2018 11:37:13

Yep should read " soldered in parallel". Another sign of age Old Geezer I have the same problem .

[Ron Gray]

Expensive but brilliant. I've only recharged mine once this year and it's used every time I go flying (once or twice a week). It even fires up 2 plugs on my Laser V twins. Current is adjusted to how wet the plug is so you always get a good glow (they demonstrate firing up a plug under water!). It twists and locks onto a plug.

**LINK**

Edited By Ron Gray on 27/11/2018 12:36:15

[Chris Walby]

I just use a couple of ones from my LMS,

The first was the usual long type, works a treat until I started flying twins. Then discovered the long one won't fit between the nacelle and the fuselage on one side.

So made an extension lead up, but sometimes it plays up, thus I have the back up of a shorty version.

Simple and works for me

[John Stainforth]

Maybe I have been unlucky, but I have found glowstarters to be amongst the most unreliable of my modeling possessions. The most unreliable seem to be the very common rechargeable ones that have a battery that is more like capacitor that doesn't hold charge very well at all, and can be very easily ruined by overcharging. I've had four or five of those. A glow starter with bulldog clips to connect to a separate battery is more reliable. Recently I have been using glowstarters which take a single AA battery. The shop I bought these off tried to dissuade me from buying these, telling me that the rechargeble ones were more reliable. But I went ahead and purchased two anyway and have found them to be utterly reliable. They have the advantages of being compact, light, do not require charging and AA batteries are cheap and very easy to come by, so one just has to remember to keep a few spares in the flight box.

[Fatscoleymo]

Ron Gray - that glow driver you linked to is $129!!! What's that? about £100?

Nothing, but nothing needs to be that expensive to start a glow engine, or save having to go to all the trouble to have to charge it more than once a year, or to save blowing plugs (how many plugs can you buy for £80). And I just cannot image ever having to start a glow engine under water. Still, each to their own.....a bog standard el cheapo glowstick does it everytime for me...had them for years and years.. even the one my mate left attached to his cub which then piled in due to mismatched model and tranny..kept on working.. Must be having a grumpy day methinks

[Nigel R]

Fats, there was once a control line class where very quick engine starts were a competitive edge. Perhaps there still is.

In this class a bunch of guys worked out many years ago, that the quickest reliable way to start their motors was to quite literally flood the thing with fuel, and then use a home brewed glow driver of identical function to that Ron linked to. Their start routine thus went flood, burn, flip, go.

I am not a control line flyer. But I do remember reading the article that was published along with the DIY glow driver schematic in question. I did think about doing one for a project at home. But I'd need a PCB etched and I don't have facility for it.

Seems a bit overkill for us regular flyers though. Maybe it's an ideal Christmas present?

[Don Fry]

Posted by Fatscoleymo on 27/11/2018 16:30:50:

Ron Gray - that glow driver you linked to is $129!!! What's that? about £100?

Nothing, but nothing needs to be that expensive to start a glow engine, or save having to go to all the trouble to have to charge it more than once a year, or to save blowing plugs (how many plugs can you buy for £80). And I just cannot image ever having to start a glow engine under water. Still, each to their own.....a bog standard el cheapo glowstick does it everytime for me...had them for years and years.. even the one my mate left attached to his cub which then piled in due to mismatched model and tranny..kept on working.. Must be having a grumpy day methinks

Did you have to make that public?

[Fatscoleymo]

Sorry Don.....

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Chris Walby]

I must be lucky coming to this hobby only a few years ago

Laser engines and glow sticks that work....The only time they don't start is when Mr Numpty has left the throttle cut on..once I have switched it off it starts a treat.

I would even go as far as say IC is easier than electric, once assembled (about the same time), just keep topping it up with fuel, not even the faff of changing batteries each flight.

[Don Fry]

Laser sights on.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Geoff S]

Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 27/11/2018 18:21:08:

I'm still using a 2 volt accumulator, it's in a square glass case with acid swirling around and has a long lead to reduce the voltage, with crocodile clips to connect it to the engine.

Hmm I think we probably abandoned our accumulator round back in about 1950, Before that we had about 100 charging every night for customer's battery radios (or wirelesses). There were lots of houses with no electricity in our town

When I first left school my father gave me the job of smashing surplus accumulators to salvage the lead - worst job I ever had! If you're still using one then it's probably collectible

I confess that when Dad sold the shop in the late 80s in desperation I tipped a half full carboy of sulphuric acid down the drain and flushed it with a lot of water . I'm not proud of it.

Geoff

[Tim Flyer]

Interesting and useful thread 😊. I currently use glow sticks with rechargeable c cells in them. They are a bit bulky and not as easy or as safe to remove from a running engine as a simple clip without battery. The glow stick advantage is only really their simplicity. I very much like Rons Li glow start but as mentioned it’s a bit pricey. It would be nice if there was a commercial Dcell and ammeter box available now that Maplin has closed . Many years ago I remember using a “Varley accumulator” and long clip lead to start my boat engines which was quite good . They don’t seem to be used much these days.

[Ron Gray]

@Tim - I really thought long and hard about the purchase but in the end decided that I wanted a totally reliable, easy to use system that could also be used on twins. I spoke to the guys who make it about powering a twin and they said that they hadn't really tested it for that sort of use but I went ahead with it anyway! The bottom line is that I am glad I bought it, asI said in my post above, I've only charged it once this year and that was because I thought that I should (it wasn't running out of power!). For the twins I have them wired in parallel, not in series, and in that configuration I never have a problem with the glow and as I have a remote plug it's dead easy clipping and unclipping away from the prop. It has also been used by other fellow flyers when their glow sticks either run out or are too underpowered to glow a severely wet plug plus being so small / light I can quickly take it out to the runway if an engine dies!

For me is it's the dogs do dahs!

[Merco 61]

Very interesting thread,I thought post by Peter Christie was the definitive answer to a perrenial problem but......still not quite clear.A single cell nicad or nimh delivers 1.2 nominal(1.3 ish fresh off charge) reducing a bit dependant on length and thickness of plug lead.Plugs are sold usually for 1.5 to 2 volts,so,from the beginning,voltage is barely enough,from single cell.In my experience the degree of visible glowing varies a great deal depending on make and age ,from the same power source,2 stroke or 4.I,ve tried a number of glow sticks too,and do not trust them.Similar variations when using 12 volts through a power panel.Tom Sharp 2 talks about a 2 volt lead acid accumulator,ideal apart from risk of spills.In my impoverished youth,it was common to take Dad,s wood saw and cut a cell off the end of a car battery,with self tappers for terminals.Worked fine and never needed charging..My favourite at the moment,is a Ripmax 2v 4ah No.0PRP0204 sealed lead acid,about the size of a cigarette packet,fromSussex Models,I think about £7 plus a little charger and ammeter from the bits box.With this elementary rig,I no longer find it necessary to remove the plug for visible check on brightness,which was a regular annoying chore with the more sophisticated systems tried,especially in a cowled engine situation.I think I will stay with it from now on.

[Fatscoleymo]

Posted by supertigrefan on 27/11/2018 21:30:52:

Posted by Fatscoleymo on 27/11/2018 16:59:29:

Sorry Don.....

What are you apologising for? Daring to post your opinion on a public forum?

No...of course not..... apologising to Don for 'making public' that he destroyed his Cub after taking off with the wrong model selected....while my glow stick was still attached....he's over it now....