BS or BS?

[Dino]

I love how they claim to just pull "watts" out of thin air!!

I call a big ol' BS on this one. Put them on the shelf next to the Split-Fire plugs!

[JAFO]

The direct hits looks to be an add on that wouldn't fit under our coil packs...not trying to rain on your parade...just skeptical.

Good point. However, as reference to proof of concept it is still valid.

I love how they claim to just pull "watts" out of thin air!!

I call a big ol' BS on this one. Put them on the shelf next to the Split-Fire plugs!

They're not pulling energy out of thin air. They embedded a capacitor inside the spark plug. The energy input to their "Pulse Plug" is the same as a normal spark plug. However in the "Pulse Plug" the capacitor stores up the energy and releases a higher wattage of electric current for a drastically shorter period of time.

So back to my original question, actually let me rephrase the question. "Is a high intensity spark over a short period better at combustion, than a less intensive spark for a longer duration?"

[JAFO]

I believe the theory behind the PulStar Pulse Plug's plasma ball is as follows:

"With your spark plug, as you raise the voltage across the metal electrodes, an electron avalanche will cause a region of plasma to "ignite." This typically occurs at a sharp edge, but if there is a dust-mote floating between the electrodes, it can start at the surface of the dust. The region of plasma grows. It grows in somewhat the same way that a forest fire grows: it causes the air adjacent to itself to "ignite" and form more plasma. Plasmas in strong e-fields tend to form into narrow filaments. They are very much like growing crystals: crystals can grow like "frost" rather than like bulk polyhedra. "Frostlike" growth occurs when the growth is very fast, and the tip of the crystal grows faster than any other part. With plasmas, if growth is slow, you get a region of glow-discharge or "saint elmo's fire", while if growth is fast, you get narrow spines or treelike fractal shapes where the tips grow the fastest. Remember that sparks are conductive. A narrow spark is like a wire, and when you place a high voltage upon a wire, you will see an electric discharge at its tip. When the "wire" is MADE of electric discharge, then the tip grows longer and longer by converting the air into "more spark."

As the "plasma tree" grows outwards, remember that plasmas are conductive. The growing "tree" is like an extending wire. When this "plasma wire" touches the other electrode, it explodes! It creates a bridge across the high voltage power supply, and the power supply suddenly creates an enormous current through the conductive spark. The flash and noise of a spark is the same as the flash and noise of a wire placed across a large battery: a spark is a short-circuit. Yet sparks can also grow outwards without bridging the gap between the electrodes. In this case they look like silent blue plasma fingers, not noisy incandescent explosions."

William Beaty, Electrical Engineer

For further information please see the complete article at:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...3778.Ph.r.html

[Ascinder]

That sounds very interesting...I myself just watched the video comparison of the traditional plug and the Pulse plug, and how much faster the flame front moved. To me it makes sense to want that so that more gas could theoretically be burned in the same time period. More complete combustion and sooner=more burned fuel/less waste, etc. Burning faster also equals burning hotter, so more pressure, and consequently more power. The claim that the Iridiums are 99.999% efficient is a somewhat relative term. They may be very efficient from a conductive standpoint, but that doesn't necessarily make them ideal. What are the so efficient in doing? I find it absolutely naive to believe they can be so close to 100% efficient at burning all the gas off in every different type of cylinder/piston/valve system that they are used in-sorry,but I'm calling some heavy BS on that. Also, higher horsepower can lead to higher efficiency if other factors are right. The only concern I have about the spark kicking off the flame front so much faster is detonation. There's a reason gas is used in engines the way it is. So you get a "slow", even burn, not an sharp, severe explosion like in a gun. I think the jury is definitely still out on this.

[etlsport]

has anyone tried these plugs yet? all the ads look promising.. but we all know ads mean nothing

amazon reviews are split 50/50 5 star ratings and 1 star ratings.. everyone who doesnt like them has the same description.. rough idle, misfires.. occasionally black smoke and a whine through the radio.. one guy said they fried a coil pack.. another said his ECU fried a few weeks after install.. then others said they saw 1-2mpg increases (although one of them highly recommended a hydrogen generator and a conversion kit to run your engine on alcohol)

[tom4bren]

I'm not buying it. Maybe I'm way to simplistic in my thinking but:

We all know how well gasoline burns - if it didn't, it wouldn't be our fuel of choice. The spark just gets the process going. I don't think that 'post shadow' or multiple sparks or hotter sparks make enough of a difference to be worth any extra cost.

What does make a better spark plug is one that minimizes post erosion for longer life and by design isn't subject to fouling due to build up of carbon.

If they made that much of a difference wouldn't they come stock on the high end performance cars?

[circmand]

If they work they work 100% of the time. At 50-50 rating you have the BS artists the dreamers etc.

[Riff Raff]

TOM4BREN--- Ditto. I completely agree with everything you stated. You hit everything right on the mark. Well said.

Especially, "High Performance" cars like Lamborghini, Ferrari, Viper, Shelby, McClaren, ZR-1 & ZO6 Corvettes, etc. If we look at those cars as a Mentor/Role Model of what is essentially good by OEM factory standards, and using likewise products in our VX's, then we as VX owner's will be OK.