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GLOW PLUG CONTROLLER

T.A. Babu

n diesel engines, the air in the

cylinders is not hot enough to
ignite the fuel under cold conditions. Therefore each cylinder of these

charges capacitor C1 rapidly via resistor R1. When the voltage on capacitor
C1 exceeds the threshold voltage of
the gate (G) of MOSFET T1, it starts
charging reservoir capacitor C2 and
simultaneously energises relay RL1.

edi

s.c. dwiv

the glow plug gets the power supply

through its contact.
The red LED (LED1) indicates that
the heating process of glow plugs is

Fig. 2: Pin configurations of bs170

and bc548

Fig. 1: Glow plug controller

engines is fitted with an electric heater

known as glow plug. A control circuit
is necessary to optimise the functioning
of glow plugs. It raises the air temperature inside the engine cylinder for
quick and reliable starting, extended
battery life and reduced diesel consumption.
The glow plug controller (Fig. 1)
uses a simple timer circuit built around
MOSFET T1 for reliability and simplicity. Momentary pushing of switch S2

MOSFET T1 remains conducting as

long as the voltage on C1 is greater
than the threshold voltage of the MOSFET gate.
The on time period depends on
the value of capacitor C1 and resistor
R2, which govern the discharge current
of capacitor C2. The component values
given here will produce on time of
around 25 seconds. In effect, when you
press switch S2 momentarily, the relay
energises for about 25 seconds and

1 0 4 m a r c h 2 0 0 8 e l e c t ro n i c s f o r yo u

on. When the on time is over,

the green LED (LED2) turns on
for a while, followed by a short
beep from the buzzer, which indicates that the engine is ready
for starting. Glow plugs draw a
heavy current, hence high-current-rating contacts of an automotive
relay are required.
Assemble the circuit on any general-purpose PCB and house in a
suitable case. Connect the glow plug
wire to the relay contact. 12V battery
already available with the vehicle is
used to power the circuit. Connect
the piezobuzzer and LED1 and LED2
through an external connection and
place it at a convenient location for the
driver to operate.

w w w. e f y m ag . co m

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