Re: Glow Plug voltage

Posted by The Red Barron on January 16, 2005 at 18:56:22 from (131.107.71.95):

In Reply to: Re: Glow Plug voltage posted by JB2 on January 16, 2005 at 14:02:10:

While I do not possess a B414 I have owned several diesel vehicles in the past and am familiar with glow plugs and their wiring, as well as being a professional electrician. If this is wired the same way that my past vehicles have been then the glow plugs are NOT wired in series. To do so would require that the next glow plug in line would have to be passing all the current of the previous one and that any single glow plug failure in the chain would render the entire chain an ineffective open circuit.
While the common bussing feeding the tops of the glow plugs is in fact common, the return path for the current passing through each individual glow plug passes through the threads screwing the plug into the engine block in the same way that a spark plug passes current. They are in fact in parallel. Thus dividing the resistances of the four plug plus the indicator coil is not going to give you the voltage per device. While I am not familiar with B414 glow plugs I would be astonished to find that they did not operate on the same principle as those I am familiar with.
How they are operating at .9 volts seems dubious and a complete mystery to me though some quick meter checks could verify such a thing. Simply remove the bussing from the last glow plug in the chain (assuming it is still a good one) and connect the top of the plug to the bussing through a volt meter set on a DC Amp setting to obtain the actual AMPERAGE. (This is of course with the glow plug circuit activated as if you were trying to heat the glow plugs to start your tractor) As to obtaining the VOLTAGE you simply place one lead on top of the plug (again as if trying to heat up the glow plugs before starting) with all the bussing intact like normal and the other lead to ground. Whatever voltage is getting to the plug top electrode is going to be the same as what the meter reads.

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• Re: Glow Plug voltage Scout1 11:37:49 01/22/06 (0)

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