jwan

I have a 4000mAh NiCd glow ignitor. I have had problems starting my truck and am trying to isolate the problem. Is 1.2 volts too low? at what point does the charge become insufficient to start the car?

SavageMarkus

If in doubt, charge it up 1.2 v is getting to to point where it looks like it works when you have it removed, but doesn't have enough power to substain the glow when it gets wet with fuel.

Wizz Kid

i havent charged mine for 2.5 weeks and it still works fine
ill be planning to charge it soon
im scared to overcharge it because i fried my RS battery

8000ft

in a word .......... yes.
put it on a spare plug , looks good for a second or two but will dim quickly.

oldboy_newtoy

1.2 volts is fine. Been using it for years. But, if you don't have enough amps, yuo may be drainig it too quickly.
I have a "D" size heater and placed a Nicad cell in there. I can't remeber the last time I charged it and I have over a gallon in my truck.

jwan

That's what I have, a D size nicd battery. maybe my glow plugs are bad????

oldboy_newtoy

Does your heater have a guage on it? If so, you can easily tell if the needle doesn't move out of the red when you put it on the plug.

jwan

It doesn't have a gauge on it. Would someone who does have a gauge be able to measure the voltage of their battery when the gauge indicates the battery needs to be charged???

oldboy_newtoy

kinda. Those guages aren't very accurate, but if you put a plug on it and it diesn't sit in the green area, then either the plug is bad or the batt. is dead.

So use a plug you know is good, then you would know if its the batt.

Spudnik

i have problems when i don't charge mine for like 2 weeks and have used ti three or four times for a long time. ALSO when you start your truck, you need to give it some throttle to start. That is what i do and it starts all the time

benny2k

well, being an electronic engineer i would like to post my knowledge, the voltage doesn't matter, aslong as the current is higher than 1000mA then you should be ok...the voltage is the carrier of the current but a small voltage can carry a large current with a little more resistance (V=I*R) and if you were to put a resistor in series with the output of the battery but if you don't know what your doing then i would leave it!...hope i have helped people...

jwan

benny2k, I'm currently studying electrical engineering at university. I might be wrong, but I don't think what you said is right.

V is fixed at a maximum of 1.2 volts. According to V=IR, increasing the resistance by placing a resistor in series to the glow plug will increase R further, causing a further drop in the current being applied to the glow plug filament. Placing a resistor in series will also cause less power to be delivered to the glow plug as a voltage drop would also occur between the resistor, lowering the total voltage drop across the glow plug: P = VI lower total current flow with a lower total voltage drop over glow plug = less power to heat glow plug element.

Add a resistor in parallel will serve to increase total voltage flow out of the battery, this however does not change the voltgage drop across the glow plug, hence no change in current through the glow plug and therefore no increase power dissipation by the glow plug.