Not All Glow Plug Igniters Are The Same

Many of today's glow plug igniters (also called a glow plug warmer, starter, heater, or driver) for nitro RC engines come with chargers that you plug into the igniter and into the wall (what are often referred to as 'wall warts') for charging the NiCd battery in the igniter. The glow plug igniter shown in the photo is one of these.

Glow plug igniter being plugged into charger. Image by J. James

For other types, you insert a C or D alkaline battery into a compartment in the handle -- no charging required. But recently a reader described a different sort of glow plug igniter:

"...a glow plug starter and it has the end that goes on the car and another end that has two wires (positive and negative)

He's wondering what those two wires hook up to. This type of glow plug starter requires a separate battery to power it up. You'll need one of those big square 1.5V hobby batteries with the wire coils on top. Available at RC hobby shops, you might get them for less at stores like Wal-Mart (in the automotive section) (Compare Prices). Apply the wires on the igniter to the corresponding positive and negative terminals on the battery to charge up the igniter so that it can fire up the glow plug. Some igniters may have alligater clips on the wires to make this simpler. This type may be sold with or without a battery included. The Ofna Glow Plug Heater and Magnum Glow Plug Clip described below are examples of this style of igniter.

Looking for a glow plug igniter? Here are a few different types:

For Use With NiCd Battery and 'Wall Wart' Charger
• Dynamite Metered Glow Driver w/NiCd & Charger (Buy Direct)
• HPI Racing NiCd cell Glow Plug Igniter w/AC Charger (Compare Prices)

For Use With Alkaline Battery
• Dynamite 'D' Alkaline Glow Driver (Compare Prices)
• Dynamite 'C' Alkaline Glow Driver (Compare Prices)
• AA Glow Driver with 1800mAh NiMH (Compare Prices)

For Use With Hobby 1.5V Battery
• Ofna Glow Plug Heater w/Driver, 12VDC (Compare Prices)
• Magnum Glow Plug Clip - Long (Compare Prices)