What’s a glow plug?

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A glow plug, sometimes also written as “glow plug,” is a device used in automobile and some truck engines that assists with fuel combustion and engine starting. It is used almost exclusively in engines that rely on diesel fuel. Older passenger cars relied on them almost exclusively to get started, but modern cars and trucks that use diesel fuel need them, too, and they’re also common in many remote-controlled engines in cars, trucks, boats, and even planes. The plugs essentially function as mini-heaters that heat up the engine chamber enough to facilitate fuel combustion, which is necessary for the engine to start and ultimately power the vehicle. How it generates heat can be tricky, but simply put, it’s built with a heating element with an electrical resistance component that responds to pressures in the ignition chamber. They are similar to spark plugs, only occurring in cars that do not use spark-based models.

Core concept and functionality

Diesel fuel, like regular octane fuel, requires some form of heated combustion to be useful as a power agent for automobiles and other vehicles. Most of the time, this combustion occurs in an engine, where different chambers control and channel the reaction into usable energy. The glow plug is an important part of this process on many vehicles, and is essential for starting the engine in these cases.

When the plug is “on” it heats the motor, much like heating elements heat the space inside a toaster. Once the engine block is hot enough, the vehicle can be started. This process is the same for both diesel vehicles and remote control cars and only takes about two to three seconds.

Older model vehicles typically required a multi-step process to start. First, the operator needed to turn the key to the “on” position. This would illuminate an indicator on the dash showing that the plug was on. When the indicator light on the dash went out, this meant the engine was ready to start. The operator would turn the ignition key to the “run” position. If the vehicle’s engine was hot from recent use, the plug was not necessary and the operator could start the engine immediately. The process has been simplified on most modern vehicles, but the functionality of the plug has remained much the same.

basic identification

Identifying a glow plug is quite simple. It normally looks a lot like a spark plug, so people familiar with standard octane engines will often notice it right away. The stopper is shaped like a pencil and is made of a highly heat resistant metal such as platinum or iridium. At its end is a heating element with a temperature sensor.

Uses in diesel cars

Diesel fuel often looks a lot like octane fuel to the untrained observer. However, they are not normally interchangeable, and engines designed to work with each type of fuel are usually configured very differently. For one, they rely on compression to cause combustion, and their chambers are designed with air temperature and pressure as key targets. The plugs can be in the pre-combustion chamber, where the fumes accumulate, or in the actual combustion chambers; Much of this depends on the style of the engine and the volume of fuel that is injected at any given time.

remote control motors

Remote controlled cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes often use these types of plugs to start their engines as well. These types of machines are not always powered by true diesel engines, as many are powered by nitro methanol or gasoline. However, they work the same way, and more importantly, they don’t normally have spark plugs.

Smaller remote controlled motors retain less heat and require a hotter plug for ignition. The opposite is true for larger remote control cars: these often retain more heat and don’t require a glow plug to operate. Higher concentration fuels also require hotter plugs for the engine to burn properly and burn excess fuel as it runs.

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