12-09-2008, 12:53 PM
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10mm MW
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Michigan
Posts: 767
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tomnik
It was a big discussion in the past. For me (and nearly all the others) it ended up in nothing. The method is o.k. if you have to balance an IP at home but compared with a bench calibrated one (that's what I ended up with) it is not reliable.
As mentioned the variation in values and the influence on the other cylinder will make you crazy.
Tom
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You need a controlled environment to evaluate a plugs consistency and ability to provide good information. The engine is the least consistent environment I can think of.
I won't use the term calibration as the plug is not being altered to produce specific outputs at specific temps. I want to map the plug readings as temperatures go up and down and get a feel for the response lag. This would include actual glow cycles in between tests to simulate starts.
Consistency is a must!! Readings must be with in 2% of total scale in order to be worth anything, IMO. The plug to plug output can all over the place as long as each plug is consistent to itself.
I would use the controlled environment (bench tester) to map all five plugs. If I can get five plugs that are individually consistent, then I will use those in the engine and use the appropriate map for each plug to get an idea of the PC environment in each cylinder.
This idea may very well not work using standard glow plugs.
The next best thing would be an EGT probe for each cylinder.
How did you "calibrate" your plug?
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