[Vwdiesel] glow plug test

[Area31 Research Facility]

I have a laboratory grade DC current meter shunt which gives full scale
deflection of a 50 millivolt meter movement when 100 amperes flows in the
shunt. On the 1.5 NA 1980 engine in my genset project with a fully charged
12 volt battery it measures a full initial 25 amperes which then drops as
the plug heats to each glow plug, tested one at a time on separate #6 AWG
copper supply cables going to each GP.  The total glow plug current then
starts off at 100 amperes for the set.  Perhaps the glow plugs I have are
the 6 volt 'fast' plugs?

Rob

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Brown" <r.c.brown at ieee.org>
To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 1:38 AM
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] glow plug test


> Area31 Research Facility wrote:
> > A normal battery charger won't have the 25 amps necessary to light a
single
> > glow plug, whereas the battery does.  The battery charger output would
have
> > dropped to almost zero volts when you put the glow plug on it's output.
> >
> > Rob
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "mikitka" <mikitka at earthlink.net>
> > To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
> > Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 10:53 PM
> > Subject: RE: [Vwdiesel] glow plug test
> >
> >
> >
> >>Well, I went back out and tried it again and no glow, sparks when I
touch
> >>clamps together but no glow on the plug, but when I touched the battery
> >>terminals with that same plug and it sure did glow, bright red and fast
> >
> > too.
> >
> >>Could it be I have one of those automatic chargers that also senses if
you
> >>have the plugs hooked up backwards?
> >>Nick
>
> All depends on the charger.  My old 2/10A Century charger lights the plugs
up no problem.  It does have a meter that reads up to
> 12A, and it makes a bit more noise when you connect the glow plug.  I
think the inrush current is in the 12-15A range, then it
> drops to around 8-9 according to my charger's meter.  Maybe you have a
"smart" charger that senses the load and turns off the
> output if it sees something it doesn't like.  But if the battery works,
then that is another way to test the plugs.
>
> Actually I think the charger I have can put out around 20A of current, I
was testing a starter solenoid once, had an ammeter in
> line and had clicked it on and off a few times, not really watching the
meter.  When I looked down the meter was 19.something
> amps and the little test probes were very warm and the insulation was
getting soft.  I figured the starter solenoid only pulled
> a few amps, not 20.
>
> --
>     Roger
>
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