Glow plug igniter.

Okay, it's going back. It also loses a charge sitting for a few days.
Thanks Ron,

Jim

JPvelo wrote:I recently purchased a rechargeable nicad glow driver. I charge it every time before I fly, and it craps out every time. How long should it hold a charge? Jm

The nicad should have enough charge to handle all your flying for a day. If it is running out of charge after a short time, it could be that something is wrong with the charging circuit or the nicad is bad. Charging rate is 1/10th of the battery rating. If it is rated at 1,000 mAH, then charge rate is 100 mA. If you have a milliampmeter, you can check the charger's current output between it and the battery. If it is showing approximately the 1/10th rate, then something else is wrong, like perhaps a bad nicad.

Oh, and the thing should be charging for at least 14 hours.

GallopingGhostler wrote:.....Oh, and the thing should be charging for at least 14 hours.

Right, that's from an almost completely drained state, but be careful not to over charge it or it can crystallize the electrolytes. The thing about NiCads is they work full out, lighting the plug brightly until they get to a certain point, and then drop off quickly. That's different from alkalines that get weaker from the get-go. I've never seen an alkaline light a glow plug as bright as my sub-C clip-on charger does. I'm really impressed with it.

Over-charging, topping them off, or completely draining them are all bad for NiCads. If I feel the need to charge it before it's getting weak, I discharge it using an external clip attached to a glow plug. The clip keeps it from soaking up heat from the hot glow plug. Keep an eye on it and try not to completely drain it, just until it's not lighting the plug brightly. Then I plug it in for 14 hours and set an alarm to remind me to unplug it form the charger.As I understand it, a NiCad will lose about one percent of its charge per day on the shelf. Needless to say, don't leave it clipped to an unplugged charger, as it may drain back through it.

External clip from Sullivan:


That picture shows it on a Norvel/Glow Bee. The spring-clip igniters fit those, but the push and twist types don't. I like the spring-clip igniter for this reason, since it fits my Norvels and Coxes with the clamp-ring type plugs.
Rusty

I found my powerpanel and my nicad style igniters won't efficiently light off Nelson plugs. Initially they will but it quickly diminishes the battery life of both. In the cold, forget it as neither do the job. Ken

The best driver I've ever had is a Lipo one, there is no loss of charge over time and you get the needed 1.5V independent on the charging state of the battery.

The NiMh ones are hopeless, they discharge on their own within a few days, not to zero but down to 1.2 V which is too low. Sounds like the OP might have one of those...

Surfer_kris wrote:The best driver I've ever had is a Lipo one, there is no loss of charge over time and you get the needed 1.5V independent on the charging state of the battery.

The NiMh ones are hopeless, they discharge on their own within a few days, not to zero but down to 1.2 V which is too low. Sounds like the OP might have one of those...

When I bought the nicad one the kid from the Rc car section suggested the lipo one. Said he charged it a year ago and has been using it ever since. I think I will exchange it for that one.

Jim

I have posted this earlier somewhere on this forum, but I can't remember where...

I did a little comparison between a regular NiMh driver and a Lipo driver. First photo shows the two drivers, second is the NiMh one and the last one is the Lipo driver (both taken with the same exposure time during operation;