Field Equipment

[sgtmike74]

I have a Hobbico Power Panel II that I use to do everything from charge my batteries to light my glow plug via a cable. Unfortunately the portion of the panel that powers my plug (the gauge and knob control) is not working properly. When I connect the glow igniter (the wire kind) to my plug and panel the needle drops all the way to negative. Anyone have any clue as to why or what caused it. I really do like the ability of having the gauge there. It tells me if I am grounded without having to pull the plug. And the adjustable amperage is nice to burn off excess fuel from flooded engines. I already ruled out a bad plug and wire, so I am thinking something in the panel itself gave way. Just looking for any thoughts or suggestions for a replacement panel.

[tdswan]

Well, what engine are you using? I know that a Hyper with that huge head sink will sometimes wear through the blue annodizing and ground out the clip that's on the glow plug. I had this happen to me, but I don't remember whether it made my meter go whacky or not. I had to bend my clip out on the plug so that it didn't make any contact with the head. Other than that, it's possible that an electronics shop may be able to fix the panel if that's what's wrong. It's not that complicated of a circuit and it's possible that the adjustable resistor on the knob is just faulty or something.

[sgtmike74]

I tested everything on a buddies panel (identical) and everything from my glowplug to the cable all works, so it just leaves the panel. I did take the easy way out and just bought another panel seeing they aren't all too expensive. Now i got one and half power panels!

[tdswan]

Now i got one and half power panels!

Your field box must look strange. :p

[heli-cuzz]

Your field box must look strange. :p


lol

I keep my field box simple. A hangar9 12 volt battery, hangar9 HD starter, two fully charged glo-igniters, 1 gallon of fuel, about 3 to 5 extra glo-plugs, and the necessary tools in the drawers.

Here's my strange looking flite-box. No more CoolPower, back on the PowerMaster grape juice. ;)

[sgtmike74]

I like the stickers, I wonder is there people out there with tricked out field boxes???

[heli-cuzz]

I like the stickers, I wonder is there people out there with tricked out field boxes???


Thanks sarge. I'm sure there are some tricked out field boxes out there. There's a couple of guys with fancy field boxes at my rc club.