Tips for installing a glow plug

[SHIPCHIEF]

This is a typical intake air heater for a Ford Diesel V8.
I think it is the easiest to mount on the engine, either drill & tap the intake elbow for it, or make an adapter ring to fit between the air filter and the intake elbow.

[SHIPCHIEF]

Another is an intake heater for Massey Furguson and Ford tractors. 12 Volt. These are for sale on Epay, about $20...
They screw into the side of the air intake manifold, similar to the Ford unit pictured in the previous post.

[Mucke]

FWIW, here's how my glowplug COV assembly looks



Works very well, temperature was less than 15F this morning, and she started on the first compression stroke.........

One thing, if you get plugs make sure you get the double coil ones, they're supposed to be made to be on continuously, and won't burn out if you accidentally leave it connected to your power source all night (don't ask me how I know  )

I got a couple of extra ones made right away too

Good photo ! But i think the tip of the plug protrudes too much into the prechamber. If it gets constantly hit by the inyector's spray it can fall apart and bits get into the combustion chamber. CIP's don t like that at all.
I chose the shorter ones (110 mm) 10 mm thread and leave the tip slightly back in the plug.

Rolf

[Grael]

This is a typical intake air heater for a Ford Diesel V8.
I think it is the easiest to mount on the engine, either drill & tap the intake elbow for it, or make an adapter ring to fit between the air filter and the intake elbow.

Looks similar to the one used on our 15KW Onan diesel gen set.

[SHIPCHIEF]

Maybe we can get some part numbers for the most successful glow plus and air heaters.
I just bought the Massey Ferguson / Ford tractor air heater on Epay, $22 including shipping. Sorry, no part number was mentioned.
When it gets here I'll be able to mess with it and post my findings.
As for the Glow plug protruding or being reccessed on the COV plug?
Rolf, how far back into the plug is yours? Does it work well, is there a cavity around the glowing tip?.
What make and part number is it?
Scott E

[Geno]

My glow plug tip stuck out to far and got carboned up. I suspect it interfered with the swirl chamber characteristics as well. I fixed it by switching to a glow plug which was cut off flush after a few minutes of running. I can swap it before the engine spins all the way down. Just don't forget the de-comp lever or it becomes a bullet.

Thanks, Geno

[SHIPCHIEF]

I'm looking at Stan's post, #31 with the cross section of the head and COV. It looks to me like the injector sprays past the COV plug, and a long glow plug (like mkdutchman posted) would be in the injected fuel stream? Rolf says he uses a 110mm long glow plug that does not protrude past the COV plug.
I wonder; could a reccessed glow plug work best if it is has about 2mm radial clearance in the plug around the glowing tip? Would it pack up with carbon?
Or does it even matter?

[Mucke]

I'm looking at Stan's post, #31 with the cross section of the head and COV. It looks to me like the injector sprays past the COV plug, and a long glow plug (like mkdutchman posted) would be in the injected fuel stream? Rolf says he uses a 110mm long glow plug that does not protrude past the COV plug.
I wonder; could a reccessed glow plug work best if it is has about 2mm radial clearance in the plug around the glowing tip? Would it pack up with carbon?
Or does it even matter?

It´ s absolutely o.k. if the tip does not protrude. Mine have never carboned up either and I run the heavy stuff.
It´s a bit above freezing here now and I start on my best choice of WVO and switch to the heavy after warmup.
Rolf

[SHIPCHIEF]

Well it's been 3 years...
But I finally installed the air preheat in the intake Y manifold of my Ashwamegh 25/2. the preheater is for a Perkins diesel, as used in a Massey Ferguson diesel tractor, probably the most common in the world.
I originally planned to use the elbow manifold that bolts to it and holds the air filter, but the air passage was too small. With the air preheater element (glow plug) in there, I felt the air flow would be restricted.
I just mounted the manifold in the drill press, and drilled the 13/16" tap drill size in 3 steps. Then tapped the hole (7/8-14) right in the drill press to make sure the hole is straight.
The intake Y manifold has a thick flat pad on the bottom, enough to drill and tap, it will be strong enough.
I think I'll just get a big push button switch to energize it, and wire it to the battery supply to the starter. Then I can push the glow plug button for about 10 seconds, then push the starter button.
I'm still waiting for someone to tell us what glow plug part number is the perfect size for the COV plugs.  
I've been very patient, but I'm getting some free 6.2 Chevy glow plugs in a few days, so we'll see if they are a possible fit...

[dieselgman]

I have used some from a diesel Volkswagen engine (Bosch) but do not have the sizing information handy right now. I also keep a lot of the Lister air pre-heater elements around. The Lister Alpha series is notorious for not starting in the cold weather without them!

dieselgman

[SHIPCHIEF]

How about the SR series? does it need an air preheater for 10F weather?
I have an SR2 genset that spends a lot of time sitting. It started up great last spring, but I've never tried it in cold weather.
I'm planning to move it to my remote property for a service generator until I get the utility power hooked up. I anticipate it will get a lot of use this winter.

[dieselgman]

The SR is direct injected and uses a cold-start cup and plunger for each cylinder instead. You put a tablespoon of oil into the cup and inject it into the inlet for each cylinder. That will temporarily raise the compression ratio enough to start in the cold. Never, ever, use ether in your SR, We have seen some nasty bent conrods and broken rings as a result.

dieselgman

[dieselgman]

There is one cold-weather modification for some SR engines used in the field in winter. That amounts to the same air pre-heat element mounted inside the inlet manifold that are used in the Alpha series engines.

dieselgman

[SHIPCHIEF]

Thanks for that DGman;
I can report on the air preheater. I installed it when I got home from work, and wired it up...temporarily.
It seems to have assisted with starting, but not with the governor side cylinder, so I need to look into something there. It certainly has plenty of compression when rolling it over by hand.
So I rolled it over on the starter until I showed good oil pressure pulsations, then touched the preheater wire to the battery for about 8-10 seconds, then hit the starter and dropped the compression release on the Gov side cylinder. It smoked, but no thrust.
I dropped the release on the second cylinder and it took right off. And blew the nose case off the chevy starter! 
I guess I didn't release the starter button soon enough. 

[listeroil]

These are the type of flame heater glow plug that listeroidsusa1 mentioned in one of his earlier posts. I am surprised that nobody seems to of picked up on them yet. They are absolutely brilliant feed them with electric and they get red hot as in picture a valve opens an fuel ignites on the red hot element and the flame gets sucked into your engine. Very easy to fit in the inlet manifold the only thing that a bit dificult to achieve is pressurizing the fuel to the heater, one method would be to use an old fashoned pressurized blow torch, another could be an electric fuel pump. They only cost 10 to 20 GBP check out ebay Item number: 130488277012 The below chart is from the Iskra catalog and gives lot of options available.




Mick