Glow Plug Solutions from Classic Diesel Designs

[Thewespaul]

1) $60 is the correct price, if your glow plug controller mounts at the back of the intake manifold then this will be a direct replacement.

2) Yes, the manual control conversion kit will replace all of the wiring for the stock glow plug system, with manual control by push button in the cab. This kit does not include glowplugs in the cost, that’s why the only things needed to add to the kit are the glow plugs and a push button of your liking.

 

[8gitmusik1]

1) $60 is the correct price, if your glow plug controller mounts at the back of the intake manifold then this will be a direct replacement.

2) Yes, the manual control conversion kit will replace all of the wiring for the stock glow plug system, with manual control by push button in the cab. This kit does not include glowplugs in the cost, that’s why the only things needed to add to the kit are the glow plugs and a push button of your liking.

Got it Wes.

Understood.

On the push button. Could you recommend a few or at least 1 push button option, with a link to a website that offers these or that may be locally available for me from NAPA, Advance Auto or Autozone that seem to work best in your opinion for my application?

Thanks

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[DrCharles]

Something like this maybe? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Calterm-15-Amp-Heavy-Duty-Push-Button-Starter-Switch-45110/303616303

 

[austin92]

To make life leagues easier working on these trucks, get yourself a top side creeper. It will save what’s left of your back!

I’ve always dumped the air in the front tires if I’m working on anything much past the belt/accessories. Probably not as good as the top side creeper but definitely helps


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[Thewespaul]

That one would work just fine, you just need a minimum of 5 am rating, which is less than most quality push buttons are rated. It’s mostly up to what you think looks good and what will fit where you want mounted. There’s so many options and preferences for a push button, I opted to not include one to save some cost since most people would likely just pick their own

 

[Ferd_Diesel]

I’ve been meaning to post this up for sometime now but didn’t know where. I have a meter that reads low resistance accurately to 0.01 ohm, I bought 8 brand new zd9 plugs, at a room temp of around 70-72F they all read 0.25 ohm, this will decrease some the cooler it gets outside.

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The current sense resistors (z resistor) is below what I can measure. Now excluding wire loss but including battery sag of say 10.8V, 0.25 ohm / 8 glow plugs gives 0.03125ohms, 10.8V/0.03125Ohms =345.6A but decays quickly as the plugs heat up.

I have a converted pc power supply that can do 60A at 12V, I can heat one plug to bright orange in 2 seconds. Interesting note that the 7.3 DI glowplugs draw half the current that the IDI does.

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I currently have a factory controller with 8 separate 14ga wires running to the glowplugs and the controller will still run them 15s in cold weather, these controllers are fairly forgiving on the wiring as my last setup was a single piece of 8ga with ~3” taps to the glowplugs and it still operated correctly. Now I’m sure if you were to wire up 4 cat batteries with 4/0 cable and ran that to the controller and 8-10ga to each plug, the controller may have a over current detection built in to shut down the system, though I have personally seen it burn off a pinched plug wire before and not even break a sweat so not sure how if it really does have over current detection.

If anyone wants more tests or things to check let me know and I’ll see what I can do. P.s don’t ask me to run all 8 plugs at once, I don’t have a 400A power supply........yet

@ifrythings
Could you do 6.5 plugs on your testing equipment. People are modifying them to fit out heads. ZD-9s are actually listed as a 6v plug. The 6.5 GPS are 12volts and self regulating so less chance of frying them

 

[Ferd_Diesel]

Would be really curious to how much it draws. You saying how the di 7.3s draw half as much. Being in WI even with group 31s after a few cycles really takes a number on the battery. With the different draw a different controller would probably have to be used. I'd be trying to use and auto system still as I put remote start on my truck

 

[8gitmusik1]

Something like this maybe? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Calterm-15-Amp-Heavy-Duty-Push-Button-Starter-Switch-45110/303616303

Yes, Dr.Charles,

I like this one. Good find. Thanks for the post and link.

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[8gitmusik1]

I’ve always dumped the air in the front tires if I’m working on anything much past the belt/accessories. Probably not as good as the top side creeper but definitely helps


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austin 92,

Good ol' fashioned ENGINE-NEWITY, lol. I like it. Although may not be so good for the sidewalls and steel belts in the tires longterm?

Also, the suggestion you made Wes, was/is probably the best option, and, though a bit spendy, although I will consider it.

THANKS all!

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[austin92]

austin 92,

Good ol' fashioned ENGINE-NEWITY, lol. I like it. Although may not be so good for the sidewalls and steel belts in the tires longterm?

Also, the suggestion you made Wes, was/is probably the best option, and, though a bit spendy, although I will consider it.

THANKS all!

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Didn’t cause an issue on my last set. I think tires see much worse conditions than having the air let out of them in the garage lol


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[ifrythings]

I have no idea why you wouldn't have thrown them out.

Good question, I’ll let you know when I figured out why I kept them if I can find them haha.

@ifrythings
Could you do 6.5 plugs on your testing equipment. People are modifying them to fit out heads. ZD-9s are actually listed as a 6v plug. The 6.5 GPS are 12volts and self regulating so less chance of frying them

Yes I could do 6.5 plugs no problem, there’s nothing super special about the setup I have, could do pretty much any plug that’s out there that’s 12v.

Would be really curious to how much it draws. You saying how the di 7.3s draw half as much. Being in WI even with group 31s after a few cycles really takes a number on the battery. With the different draw a different controller would probably have to be used. I'd be trying to use and auto system still as I put remote start on my truck

If we could use the DI plugs in these trucks I would use the controller used in the 7.3, 6.0, 6.4 trucks, simple to use those controllers and with a small micro controller it could tell you when and which plug burns out. It is possible to use the current controller with other plugs, the big z resistor has a small hole or 2 in it to adjust the resistance, all that would be needed is to drill the holes bigger till the controller was happy with the new current draw.

I tried using the above DI controller on a set of zd9 and all it did was blip for a second, that’s when I found out that the zd9 draw way more then a DI glowplug does and the controller thinks there is a short to ground and turns off right away. It will work with 2 zd9 in series though.

If I can get a hold of a bunch of different plugs I wouldn’t mind throwing them on the tester and see what each one does.

 

[MrStretch]

Hey Wes,

Got the kit. Looks great. Working on installing it. This makes me look like a tool but there is no obvious marking for the ground post. It may not matter but your instructions mention the ground marked in black. (?). This is going to be a great upgrade and a huge improvement over my existing wiring harness.

 

[Thewespaul]

Hey Wes,

Got the kit. Looks great. Working on installing it. This makes me look like a tool but there is no obvious marking for the ground post. It may not matter but your instructions mention the ground marked in black. (?). This is going to be a great upgrade and a huge improvement over my existing wiring harness.

Sounds like the label came off that wire, I had issues with that with the first batch I made, I used the sticky side of the labels to attach to the separate wires and I had some reports of the labels coming off easily so I’ve gone to stapling each label around each wire so they can’t come off easily, I apologize for the inconvenience.
You’ll see two small shorter wires included in the kit, both about the same length. One is your ground the other is the 12v lead for the relay. The one with smaller terminals is for the ground, and the one with larger terminals is for the 12v lead wire since that goes on the larger lug. They are terminated so they couldn’t work on the incorrect poles, but it sounds like the labeling issue is fixed now. The reference in the instructions for the black marked ground is for the smaller stud on the relay that needs to be hooked up to the ground. Looking at the relay there are two large studs and two smaller ones, with the bracket end of the relay sitting flat, it is the lower small stud marked in black marker here:

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Let me know if you have any questions or issues, I’m always available here and on the phone during the day to help

 

[MrStretch]

Appreciate the customer service. My relay doesn’t have any sharpie on the top of the post. I guess that’s why I was stumped. Got it installed tonight in the dark and snow. Have to wire up my switch and try it out.

Has anyone done a write up on removing the stock GP controller and associated wiring? I’m going to leave mine alone until the weather gets nicer but I’m looking forward to simplifying things.

 

[ttman4]

I’m happy to offer it! All the updated pricing is here: https://www.oilburners.net/threads/glow-plug-solutions-from-classic-diesel-designs.84824/

The preorder sell ended Jan 31st. To make life leagues easier working on these trucks, get yourself a top side creeper. It will save what’s left of your back!

Anyone got a source or link for a topside creeper? I've seen a couple of home made ones in the past. I don't even know what they'd be called. & yes "Old Man Age" ain't nice, he's mean!

And now I also wish I'd not jumped & ordered my 2 set of EBay 6.0 harnesses! They're still in the box. I may still order some from you Wes soon as my world settles down & I get my shop built this spring.

& thanks Wes for all you do! I read & follow this thread & others when I can get time....learn lots!!