Glow Plug Washers

Does anyone know of a source for glow plug washers, or an easy way to make them?

>Does anyone know of a source for glow plug washers, or an
>easy way to make them?

I was always planning on getting some of these in bulk to have available, but you can get them from John Lowrey for one. He is on the forum.

Thanks Len

Actually, and strange as it sounds, a toothbrush and comet cleanser works as well as anything. Other slightly abrasive cleaners might work as well.

>Actually, and strange as it sounds, a toothbrush and comet
>cleanser works as well as anything. Other slightly abrasive
>cleaners might work as well.
>
>Curt

Did this get in the wrong slot, Curt, and would you like for me to remove it? I just haven't heard of using Comet cleanser as a source for glow plug washers.

Hmmm...

I suppose one can clean glow plug washers, but that misses Eggbert's point (I think) and that is that plug washers, just like most oil-drain plug washers/gaskets in our automobiles are supposed to be compressed during installation and sometimes do not respond well to being used over and over again.

Some might think this a minor point, but even one burn-down every four years or so, particularly with old-technology motors and materials (Fox 35), the resultant ruined piston/cylinder set, is pretty much one too much...

You can also order glow plug washers from Fox Manufacturing Corporation.

Fox is the best source I know of, too!

Yyyyonnngg!

(That's the sound of that joke going right over Rutherford's head..)

Did I get it right, Dan? Did YOU not get the column in to Stunt News again? Say it isn't so!

(And still no sermon nor scalding rebuke nor indignant jobation, which are OWED. Are we going to have to see some more of those interesting photos of Mr. Rutherford's special "stunt attire"?)

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly." -Terence

Sorry guys--this was tongue-in-cheek humor. car washes, dish washers...glow plug washers..!

>Sorry guys--this was tongue-in-cheek humor. car washes,
>dish washers...glow plug washers..!
>
>Curt

Wow, this has to be a first! A joke that went right over Dan's head.

And, as usual, what Dan shared is right on. Washers begin to loose their sealing ability after the first compression. Just like the old spark plug washers.

LAST EDITED ON Apr-16-04 AT 07:56 PM (CDT)
 
Yes, Dan is correct. At our club meeting last night we happened to go through our host's flight box in preparation for this years flying season. You wouldn't believe the awful condition his "spare" glow plug washers were in. Some were so dished in from overuse they resembled a soup bowl. One of them cost him a contest. That's why our guys need a source for new washers.

LAST EDITED ON Apr-17-04 AT 05:40 PM (CDT)
 
Most glow plug washers are made of copper. They start as a relatively soft material that seal quite well. Over time with repeated use the material becomes what is referred to as work hardened and brittle. You can and I have many times heated them up to red hot over the stove. This will bring back the original structure of the molecules and will again yield the original soft structure that once was. Thus you have a washer as good as new provided it still has its proper shape and has not been smashed beyond it's usable limits! I always carry a few of these in a little container in my flight box as a back up to the new ones.

Something for me to think about....I never thought about the glow plug washer going bad, but it does make sense.

It was previously suggested that washers can be heated up and slowly cooled "annealed". That will return the copper to a softer compressible state.

We are probably, for the most part real abusers of this part as well as the head in that we tighten up the glow plug too tight. In the real airplane world we tighten up the spark plugs to 25 ft lbs. Not very much torque but you can sense that the effort just begins to compress the copper ring for a good seal.

May I suggest that when you torque the plug you determine how little you can torque it town and be effective. Sometimes I have had to really wrench the tool to remove a plug. That is too tight and may cause thread damage to the head.

Bob Smiley
A Lancair 360 builder/pilot trying to be a modeler

So who can tell us how $$much$$ does Fox Manufacturing charge for the spare glow plug washers ..... do they sell by the dozen, or what ..... price please? THANKS!

Larry,

It's true. No BBS column two issues in a row. First was my mistake. Second caused by--or at least blamed on--faulty disc drive in the old 'puter. A great many will be relieved, of course...

Mr. Smiley has taken us off into proper methods of dealing with plugs, and while we don't have a huge problem with CL Stunt motors, I still find it useful to run a 1/4-32 tap down plug hole in the head of a new engine. (Yes, with head removed.)

All plugs get run through a 1/4-32 die.

As to the torque applied when installing a plug, the first clue that it might be too tight is when trying to remove it later on. While a torque wrench would be nice, I find that a tool such as a nut-driver, to which one can only apply a limited amount of torque anyway is far better than, say, a hinge-handle with a 4-foot breaker bar, which is evidently the tool of choice for owners of certain engines given to me over the years.

>So who can tell us how $$much$$ does Fox Manufacturing
>charge for the spare glow plug washers ..... do they sell by
>the dozen, or what ..... price please? THANKS!
----------------------------------------------

I bought 50 of them during a visit to the Fox factory a couple of years ago. I don't believe they were expensive.

why don't you call Sharon at the Fox factory tommorrow and get a price?

Well, OK- I have, and use, a torque wrench to install glow plugs. It is a "Tork-It Model 36", 0-36 in-lb capacity, http://www.mindspring.com/~torkit/. A beautiful tool, by the way. I'm proud to own it.
Tork-It recommends that glow plugs be installed to 24 in-lb torque- which I do. I had an incident this past weekend which has caused me to question this value. It might be a little low. Does anyone have a better number?
Derek Moran

What is this, "True Confessions" day on Stuka Stunt?

If I had a torque wrench in my SSF tool box it would be well hidden and I would only use it to install a glow plug if encased in the privacy of my van. Too many "Girly" jokes would spring forth otherwise.

Derek, you're a brave man.

I think the best advice possible when dealing with removal and installation of glow plugs is to constantly remind ourselves that we are inserting a short length of imperfectly threaded steel into a piece of aluminum (or a brass insert in some cases). Caution is always advised, the safety afforded by a new, non-crushed, crushable copper gasket is most welcome in any engine one cares about.

I emailed Fox as to the glow-plug gasket cost .....cost is only 10 cents each plus postage.

So my policy of twisting the Fox 4 way till it won't move anymore might be too much torque?

Shoot, I usually just run the plug down to touching then give it an eigth of a turn.

From somewhere near Parkville, MO
William Crane
AMA 6733