Introduction: How to Make a Pro Quality Glow Plug Lead Wire for Your Flame Shooter or Rc Car
a quick way to make a professional looking lead wire to attach to a glow plug. replaces the butt splice on Kipkay's design, or your rc car's damaged lead wire.
for those making the fireball shooter, keep reading at the end for a little bit of inside glow plug information.
Step 1: First Things First
first of all, thank you very much to MAKE magazine (http://www.makezine.com/) and Kipkay (https://www.instructables.com/member/Kipkay/) for the original versions of the flame shooter instructable.
i am not redoing Kipkay's instructable, but merely taking the open-source horse by the reigns and going to town. i've got a quick upgrade and some information that might help with glow plugs. hope you enjoy.
now go get this stuff:
some stiff bus wire (around 22g)
some hookup wire (whatever gauge you want)
a small bolt slightly smaller than your glow plug's lead
heat shrink tubing
Step 2: Wind Your Coil
pull about two inches of the bus wire out without cutting it off. begin winding it tightly around the bolt as shown in the pictures. once it is approximately 1/8" to 3/16" you can remove the bolt. if you've done this correctly, it will be too tight to simply pull it off. grab a screwdriver or whatever is applicable and unscrew it. this is a good thing. if your coil doesn't hold tightly, you need stiffer wire.
if you are making a lead wire for your rc car, continue the coil until you have about a 3/4" coil.
Step 3: Cut the Cord
take a nice sharp pair of snips and cut off the umbilical cord to the mother coil. do it at a nice angle toward the coil so as to leave no sharp corners and cut in a spot that is contiguous with the coil. we don't want anything sticking out.
for an rc car lead wire, just snip the coil at both ends in the same fashion. make sure you remove the screw before you snip the wires. skip step 4
Step 4: Let's Get Physical!
let's bend and clip and bend and clip and bend and. . . sorry. i was lost in an old jazzercise nightmare.
bend the wire back toward the coil to make a small loop. then clip it off right over the center of the coil. see pictures. it's really easy.
Step 5: Fun With Power Tools
okay, so a soldering iron might not count as a power tool, but hey, they take power to run, right?
anyway, power up the old iron and get ready to inhale some crazy fumes!
WARNING: USE ADEQUATE VENTILATION. THAT WAS A JOKE!
solder your hook-up wire to the loop you made in the bus wire. 'helping hands' are fantastic!
for rc cars, simply solder your wire to the inside of one end of your coil. sorry i have no pictures as of yet. they are forthcoming.
Step 6: Get Fancy
you can leave it at this and it would work. if you want it to look professional, though, you take it to the next level. and that means heat-shrink tubing!
cut a nice length appropriate to your situation and slip it on the wire end, away from the coil. it is easier to go this way than to try to go the other. you may have to bend the wires a bit to get the tubing over the coil, but once you get it in place you can bend it back.
for rc it's even easier. no need to worry about right angle turns. just slap on a piece of heat shrink and go to town.
Step 7: The Heat Is On
get crazy with your heat gun, soldering iron, hair dryer, lighter, or whatever you use to shrink heat-shrink and you are done. you should now have a pro quality lead wire to snap onto your glow plug.
(rc users may stop reading here. or read on, if you like, it's really cool stuff!)
it is also easily customizable to glow plugs of different sizes.
this can help out a lot if you don't have a magic or theater supply store nearby.
keep reading for some helpful hints.
Step 8: Glow Plug Tips
glow plugs don't last a long time. we'll need replacements from time to time. but not all glow plugs are created equal. and that's okay, it just means we have to adapt to what we can find. magic and theater supply stores are great but few and far between. hobby stores, however, are a bit more prevalent.
a friend of mine has a gas powered rc car that requires a glow plug. the same type we are using, just slightly different shape. see the pictures.
just use a different nut and make a slightly smaller lead wire with a smaller bolt and you're in business with plugs you don't have to order online. i can't help you with the flash paper/cotton, though. alas. . . any thoughts on that would be welcome.
hope this helps!
-pdub
25 Comments
5 years ago
Thanks! I used Kipkay's video awhile back with success, but the butt plug connector was a bit hit or miss. I have a use for this again and was looking for a better connection and saw this. Will definitely give it a try.
9 years ago on Introduction
I will definitely try this!
11 years ago on Introduction
I can't figure out where the second wire goes? My meter tells me the whole plug is one piece of connected metal. Can anyone help? Also, am I totally off in thinking that I will be able to use a glow plug as an ignitor for a butane effect?
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
One side is the threaded area. The other is the plug at the end. It registers as one piece because it is. The connection is some nichrome wire that heats up when a current is passed through it. As for lighting butane, I would think it could work, but your best bet would be to have the butane flowing through the wire as it glows red hot and I don't see how you could do that with a glow plug. You may be able to get it to light by passing the butane across it, but I don't know. If it doesn't work, just get yourself some nichrome wire and make your own little coil that you can pass the butane through. Hope this helps.
13 years ago on Step 7
Muito bom, bastante prático.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Obrigado e que Deus abençoe!
13 years ago on Step 8
its help me to start my rc nitro car.............but can you make another HOME MADE glow plug for rc nitro cars only...........like glow plug starter as shown in picture.......i think i will be good for all rc lover and they will be thank full to you
13 years ago on Step 8
very help full thanks :)
Reply 13 years ago on Step 8
That's what it's all about, my friend.
14 years ago on Introduction
i can't find the flame shooter. could you post a link?
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
https://www.instructables.com/id/Fireball-Shooter/
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
thanks
14 years ago on Introduction
just a question, but would a flourescent starter work for this? i got one thinking that it was like a grill starter and discovered otherwise.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
I don't know much about fluorescent lights. I really have no idea. Sorry.
14 years ago on Introduction
will you post a video of that flame shooter working
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Look up Kipkay on youtube or instructables for his videos of the shooter in action.
14 years ago on Introduction
I did this but i couldn't find a way to put the glow plug on with out a wrench u cant put it on tight enough (experience speaking) Any ideas on how to resolve this problem?
14 years ago on Introduction
blah, my gas RC died, i think it needs a new carb, intake, filter, gas tank, and front drive shaft U-joints... Wrecked it too many times.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
anything on it not broken? ; )
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
Rims. and exhaust, and i think the block is good.