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Pulstar plugs feedback, please

2K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  stamperman 
#1 ·
#3 ·
I took a look at the site and the concept looks cool...pretty pricey tho. Couldnt find an application chart or anything for motorcycles, but the "direct hit" that said it was for motorcycles was $34.85 each...I just got some NGK Iridiums for about $10 shipped.

:detective:
 
#4 ·
very neat idea and it probably works but they don't claim but 10% difference and chances are that they will burn up the tip faster because of the more power, yeilding more plugs are needed but when you use them like the pro drag race guys do its no big deal very 10% makes a huge difference, but to me and you just a little smoother idle and maybe .5 mpg better that's alot on a track but not so much real world. I've had a lot of fun building cars with trick ignitions and tested a few but in the end for everyday the stock stuff works fine. Oh boring!! :lol: I think you ought to try them and report back though!!
 
#5 ·
One born every minute

There may be something to it, but from the information provided on the website it doesn't look like it. Some salient points.

1 -- Their high speed video of the flame front travelling away from the spark flies in the face of physics. Once the spark ignites the fuel/air mixture the flame front advances at a known rate regardless of the energy generated by the ignition source. If the flame front continued to advance at the rate shown, it would arrive at the cylinder walls long before the piston was just past TDC, generating peak pressure while the piston was still rising and actually applying a considerable force trying to push the piston back down the cylinder against the force from the crankshaft. From this video, the ignition would have to be retarded quite a bit to prevent detonation.

2 -- From the operational diagram showing a comparison of the current flow in a conventional plug and theirs, the "pulse circuit" is connected in parallel to the gap and directly across the secondary of the coil. The charge characteristics of a capacitor are such that it shows little impedance to an incoming voltage initially, then rises as the cap nears a fully charged state. This takes time, and in the interim any voltage is resistively loaded to a large degree. This would dampen the voltage induced in the coil secondary to a large degree, decreasing total energy available to establish an ionized path for the spark, and delaying what's left. Even if the cap held enough charge to accomplish anything useful, the discharge rate in the nanosecond range is too fast to insure ignition -- a common problem with the first CDI systems: plenty of spark intensity, but too breif a spark to span the time it takes a lean A/F pocket to travel across the plug gap.

3 -- Looking at the cutaway of the plug, which almost certainly doesn't accurately represent what's really in there, there is no ground connection from the "pulse circuit" to the plug body, so the only charge path possible is across the plug gap, which considering the considerable resistance there before the spark is established, would be essentially an open circuit, converting whatever is inside to a passive conductor regardless of what it is.

4 -- If the spark intensity is anywhere near the level they claim, the conventional electrode tips pictured would be eroded away in very short order.

5 -- The typical testimonials are either unsubstantiated, and certainly not subject to independent testing.

In my somewhat educated opinion, the plug advertised is a conventional resistor type plug with the resistor left out, leaving a comparatively large gap for the energy from the coil to jump across and thereby increasing the spark intensity by forcing the output of the coil higher before it can acheive flashover. This is a common method of starting an engine with fouled plugs, by pulling the plug caps away from the plug, forcing higher voltage and usually enough energy to burn through deposits. It does, however, increase the possibility that the voltage will go high enough to arc across the secondary windings in the ignition coil, destroying it.

Is it different? almost certainly. Is it useful? If you haven't changed your plugs in a very long time, you would probably notice a difference. Is it worth $35 a plug? HA!

Rob
 
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