Glow Plug Ignitor Batteries

[BlueRidge1]

Have you guys had much experience with different brands of batteries for the glow plug ignitor? Mine's not rechargable so I have tried many different brands. The only one that seems to work for consistent starts is Duracell. I was wondering if this is just coincidence or what.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

I would concur with the Duracel being most consistant. However, have you tried just using a rechargeable C cell battery? In the long run it would be cheaper.

 

[robriguez]

I run my cars just about every weekend (when they re not broken) and I have been on the same d-cell Duracell battery for almost 2 months now. I have a large Hobbico battery (you can see what I'm talking about in my gallery) that I have not used at all in the last two months because my d-cell has held up so nicely.

I typically take grate cr not to leave the ignighter on the plug for any time longer than requred to start the engine. If I get tired of pulling on the pull start, or give up sometimes, I make sure to always disconnect the ignighter immediatly.

 

[Mugen-Racer]

I had one of those battery ignitors. It was just a spare at the races just in case my rechargeable ignitor goes dead. I think if you're not using it, just take the battery out. Not saying take it out after every use, just when you're done for the day or the week...

 

[TRDStreetFighter]

Well I always carry 3 ignitors... Durtrax rechargable w/twist lock, Dynamite rechargable with volt meter, D cell ignitor... My Dynamite always go out.. my Duratrax with the twist lock is pretty good, and my D Cell is my back up

 

[Puffnstuff]

I have a rechargable hpi and a dynamite d cell w/meter and I have a 2000mah nimh energizer in it. My youngest son likes to leave the ignitor on the plug too long so he tends to drain my hpi unit.

 

[billkalicious]

Being an electric guy before the Savage SS, I had some packs with some bad cells. Me being cheap, I cut up the packs to create a bunch of extra batteries for my ignitor, being careful to get rid of the bad cells. Now I'm just in the process charging one a day to get a nice stockpile of charged cells.

 

[BlueRidge1]

Billkalicious,

That's a good idea. I have some old packs laying around here too. I did have a good find last night though. I had a hard time finding rechargable C's so I ended up at Radio Shack. They were clearing out their batteries to make room for the new ones. I got 2 NiMH's - the good stuff - rechargable C's rated at 2200 maH for $2.97. Would have gotten more but only 1 pack left. You guys may want to check your Radio Shacks. As far as the quality, I can't vouch for that yet, but the specs and price were great.

 

[GilBeQuick]

Radio Shack rechargables are outrageous! A 4 pack of 1800 AA's is $19.98!!

 

[BlueRidge1]

Yes, I realize that Radio Shack's normal prices are outragous (Hence, why I went there last). I was referring to a clearance sale. Sometimes it pays to look everywhere. You never know what you may find.

 

[BlueRidge1]

Just tried the Rechargable out. My first test was removing the glow plug and seeing how bright the plug would glow. Well, the 2200mAh C cell glowed the plug by far the brightest I have seen.

By comparison (All new or fully recharged):

Rechargable (2200mAh) - Fully Glowing
Duracell-Almost fully glowing
Energizer - 1/2-2/3 glowing
Off brand alkalines - about same as Energizer
Non alkalines - forget it - just plain weak

Note that this is by no means scientific as it is not a random sampling from several different stores. However, one thing is for sure, the rechargable is doing the best.

And for the final test, starting. The Savage started faster than normal.

 

[Banshee]

blueridge, how long is the C cell lasting for you? i have an ignitor that takes regular C batteries and they run out fairly quick. especially now that i am still trying to get a good tune on my engine and i use it quite a bit in one day. it might be worth it to pick up rechargeables if they last long enough.

 

[BlueRidge1]

Banshee,

I've gone through a few batteries during the 1st gallon. My feeling is that they go pretty quickly even if you are good about disconnecting them immediately after start-up.

And then there are the times during a tough start you get distracted and leave them on while checking other things - crap happens.

I feel like rechargables are a must - they are more economical in the long run and even have better performance. I am having good luck so far with 2200mAh rechargables. I'm not sure I'd want any less. I know there are 3000mAh out there now.