[Vwdiesel] Glow plug indicator system design?

[Smith, Michael]

Although my car isn't on the road (yet....maybe never) I was thinking that
it might be neat to have
4 LED's, or 4 sensors of some type......maybe even an ammeter....Ie:
*SOMETHING* to let you know
not only *IF* the glowplugs are going, but *HOW MANY* of the glowplugs are
actually glowing.

Just an idea.

Haven't even put pen to paper to see if an easy, cheap and dirty circuit
could be rigged up. 

I know, for me, it will be increase my peace of mind knowing all 4 plugs are
glowing.

Maybe Val could elaborate a bit more on his circuit?

Mike


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [SMTP:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
> Behalf Of Val Christian
> Sent:	Tuesday, December 21, 2004 11:04 AM
> To:	swright at zuiko.sls.bc.ca; vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Subject:	Re: [Vwdiesel] Glow plug indicator system design?
> 
> On one car I used a hall effect transducer, tie-wrapped to the glowplug 
> relay output, driving a NE555, which flashed a LED showing me how much
> current was being drawn.  200 msec was full glow.  A once second flash was
> sure sign of hard starting when it gets cold.
> 
> On a different car, I used a foglight switch, hardwired to a gutted glow
> plug
> relay, to turn on the heaters.
> 
> As I look into chinese diesels, I find that some have an aftermarket
> propane heater, that looks like a couple of low velocity Bernzomatic
> torches, connected to a disposable propane bottle.  A bottle is good
> for hundreds of starts, because you just spark up the flame, while the
> engine is cranking.  It's all over real fast.  Gee, disable the ignitor,
> and you have a propane boost system.  Grin.
> 
> 
> Val
> 
> 
> 
> > 
> > Has anyone thought of designing an active glow plug indicator system 
> > which can actually detect the presence of sufficient current or voltage
> drop 
> > through each plug? I'm thinking of a system which could monitor each
> plug 
> > independently with an LED for each. If necessary, the plug could be 
> > powered from a separate relay circuit using a manual switch, but I'd
> prefer 
> > the option to use the stock relay, and just have feedback for each plug.
> > My knowledge of electronics is rusty at best, but there must be someone 
> > on the list up to the task? I'd love to see a little row of LEDs in one
> of the 
> > spare dash switch blanks monitoring the plugs, and the option for a 
> > manual switch if desired...
> > 
> > Santa... ? ;-)--
> > Shawn Wright
> > I.T. Manager
> > Shawnigan Lake School
> > 
> > 
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> > 
> 
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