Britpart parallel glow plug kit

I am confused. From earlier posts I understood that the new parallel kit would not be wired to the ballast resistor as per older pigtail ones but to the thick brown/red input wire, effectively by passing the resistor with 12 v going to the plugs.

The instructions on my Britpart kit (see attached) state that the original ballast resistor connections should be retained, which is the opposite of what I and many others understood.

Help!

Faber

Is it working as it should wiring as Britpart says, if you’re getting 12v at plugs and light comes on when they’re heating should be ok, the bulb is 6v but way I wired it the 12v bypassed the ballast resistor
@mystery will have a more knowledgeable answer

steve2286w said:

Is it working as it should wiring as Britpart says, if you’re getting 12v at plugs and light comes on when they’re heating should be ok, the bulb is 6v but way I wired it the 12v bypassed the ballast resistor
@mystery will have a more knowledgeable answer

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Thanks
Are you saying it is OK to bypass the ballast resistor and ignore Britpart instructions?

Sorry. I am a bit dim.

TRY

mystery said:

TRY

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Thank you.

Faber

Lovely image, how’s mine wired but using a relay

Faber said:

Thank you.

Faber

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MYSTERY
How long can I have the glow plugs energised before starting? I presume the plugs are 12 volts. I don't want to burn them out.
Sorry about silly questions but I am not really clued up and appreciate your help.
Faber

They are low voltage, high amps. If you put a multimeter over the battery it only drops a couple of volts when engaged.
The modern glow plug has a built in resistor as opposed to the old bulkhead circuit unit. They will burn out eventually like a cooker ring but not under normal use. 30 seconds is perfectly acceptable and the hotter you get it the easier it will fire, reducing over cranking and straining the starter and battery. Turning over takes much more juice than a glow plug ever will so use them to their fullest.
Remember it’s indirect injection so even on warm dry days it pays to use them. You’ll soon get a feel for them depending on individual engine condition.

Bobsticle said:

They are low voltage, high amps. If you put a multimeter over the battery it only drops a couple of volts when engaged.
The modern glow plug has a built in resistor as opposed to the old bulkhead circuit unit. They will burn out eventually like a cooker ring but not under normal use. 30 seconds is perfectly acceptable and the hotter you get it the easier it will fire, reducing over cranking and straining the starter and battery. Turning over takes much more juice than a glow plug ever will so use them to their fullest.
Remember it’s indirect injection so even on warm dry days it pays to use them. You’ll soon get a feel for them depending on individual engine condition.

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Thank you. This is very helpful. I bought a Britpart conversion kit which states very clearly that the ballast resistor must be used but I thought that if the plugs are rated 12 v, it would not be needed. As you can see I was concerned I might fry them.
Your reply is reassuring. Thanks a lot.
Faber

Faber said:

Thank you. This is very helpful. I bought a Britpart conversion kit which states very clearly that the ballast resistor must be used but I thought that if the plugs are rated 12 v, it would not be needed. As you can see I was concerned I might fry them.
Your reply is reassuring. Thanks a lot.
Faber

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Two resistors in a circuit won’t cause any issues but the ones you have fitted will indeed have their own individual resistance. If the one on the bulkhead fails you probably won’t even notice.
They will burn out eventually but will be good for years if your lucky enough to have had four good ones from britpart.

You could upgrade and get rid of the OE glow plug coil ballast completely, by using a glow plug relay from an older 80's model Toyota or Peugeot pre chamber diesel engine. The Mercedes relay was a tough old model too.
These relays use an additional D+ signal from the alternator which keeps the glow plugs powered for a brief period after startup. This helps to deduce smoke.