Spark plug tech information and understanding them

Hey everyone, it's WeaponX again! :) I would like to re-post the spark plug technical information for everyone and have everyone engage us with any type of technical or personal questions you have about our spark plug lineup. Also, we will be posting information and technical differences between our spark plugs and the competitions so that you understand the differences between ours and the competitors.

The first thing that we will address is spark plug resistance.

Back in the 60's Champion first introduced a spark plug with an internal resistor to help prevent radio "hum", noise and interference. Discovered by Georg Ohm in the late 1820s, electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with the mechanical notion of friction. In other words it reduces the power through it and wastes it as heat.

Today federal and OEM guidelines for noise emissions states that all street going spark plugs require an internal resistance of anywhere from 5,000-10,000 ohms in order to be for sale on a street oriented vehicle. Because of this companies such as NGK, Denso, Champion must obide by federal and OEM specifications for this equipment meaning all replacement spark plugs for your vehicles have an internal resistance of anywhere from approximately 5,000 to 10,000 ohms. WeaponX does not need to obide by this because our spark plugs are advertised as an "off road race oriented" spark plug but work equally as well on street.

A resistor in ignition systems has become a primitive method of noise suppression and improved noise suppression techniques exist and are in place which no longer requires the use of a resistor spark plug. Infact a spark plug without the resistor usually causes no ill effects to a standard vehicle or radio any longer. Typically the only device affected by a non resistor spark plug is a radar detector because of it's high sensitivity to noise and alternate frequencies (this is why they can pick up law enforcement radar so well, so noise suppression usually cannot be used)

Below note the NGK spark plugs resistance. It measures in at 4.96k/ohm which is 4960ohms total (5000ohms minimum requirement). Our spark plug measures in at 5.6ohms because of the superior internal components. Again we can use these internal materials because we are not mandated to use an internal resistor.

http://www.weaponxperformance.com/mi...RESISTANCE.jpg


http://www.weaponxperformance.com/mi...RESISTANCE.jpg


Now for the good stuff.

For the following example I'll take a basic circuit comprised of a 25kV power source (ignition coil), spark plug resistance, spark wire resistance and spark gap resistance. We are going to assume the power source has an infinite amount of energy at 25KV (which it does not) and for ease of calculation and understanding and we will set the spark gap at 5000 ohms but please note this will vary with spark gap size. The greater the gap, the greater the initial resistance in the circuit.

As you can see, with the NGK spark plug amperage is at about 2.281 amps total in the circuit and the voltage drop across the spark plug and wasted energy is 11313 volts!

http://www.weaponxperformance.com/mi...ESISTANCE1.jpg

With the WeaponX spark plug amperage in the same circuit jumps to 4.163 amps total in the circuit and the voltage drop across the spark plug and wasted energy is only 23.31 volts!

http://www.weaponxperformance.com/mi...ESISTANCE2.jpg

In this equivalent circuit the WeaponX spark plugs will provide more voltage to the spark gap and nearly double the output amperage allowing for increased gap size and / or extended spark duration.

Looking forward to posting more information regarding our product and hearing any questions from anybody. :)

hmmm yes but if i order a side salad with my southwest chicken dinner do i still get a choice of potato ? or does the side salad..WITH ranch take the place of my potato in the meal..does the answer depend on other variables such as if its lunch menu..or dinner menu or if its on special? let me know asap

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shady milkman

hmmm yes but if i order a side salad with my southwest chicken dinner do i still get a choice of potato ? or does the side salad..WITH ranch take the place of my potato in the meal..does the answer depend on other variables such as if its lunch menu..or dinner menu or if its on special? let me know asap

---

:) You have nothing to loose by researching this information yourself. It's all true.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia.com and I'm sure I can come up with more if you want to know it.

"The center electrode is connected to the terminal through an internal wire and commonly a ceramic series resistance to reduce emission of radio noise from the sparking....

The center electrode is usually the one designed to eject the electrons (the cathode) because it is the hottest (normally) part of the plug; it is easier to emit electrons from a hot surface, because of the same physical laws that increase emissions of vapor from hot surfaces (see Thermionic emission). In addition, electrons are emitted where the electrical field strength is greatest; this is from wherever the radius of curvature of the surface is smallest, i.e. from a sharp point or edge rather than a flat surface (see Corona discharge). It would be easiest to pull electrons from a pointed electrode but a pointed electrode would erode after only a few seconds. Instead, the electrons emit from the sharp edges of the end of the electrode; as these edges erode, the spark becomes weaker and less reliable."

This is why a fine wire electrode works better then a copper electrode. The tip is sharper and thus the spark becomes more reliable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_plug

There is all sorts of information on the net so I'm taking information from these various encyclopedias so you know this is the truth.

Here is information on resistors.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/resistor.aspx

" The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition resistor two-terminal electric circuit component that offers opposition to an electric current...... Resistors absorb power from a circuit and convert it into heat;."

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-resistor.html

"World Encyclopedia | Date: 2005

resistor Electrical circuit component with a specified resistance. Resistors limit the size of the current flowing"

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3434500422.html

"In his Basic Electricity and Electronics, Delton T. Horn defined resistors and resistance: "A resistor is a device which opposes current in a dc (direct current) circuit; a measure of this opposition is called resistance, measured in ohms…. Ohms's Law, the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance, states that current is directly proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance in a circuit." Resistance is one of the three variables of Ohm's Law, and is thus a necessary precondition for any functioning circuit. Resistors are either fixed, with a designated ohm value, or variable, with a designated range of ohm values. Variable resistors are either potentiometers, which control voltage, or rheostats, which directly control resistance. Electronic transistors are part of a class of electronic components called passive components.."

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-resist3.html

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

"resistance property of an electric conductor by which it opposes a flow of electricity and dissipates electrical energy away from the circuit, usually as heat. "

BTW anybody here that knows an electrician can have him measure the resistance of a spark plug himself. There are differences and anyone here can prove it themselves.

keep unnecessary comments out. only need technical questions.

wtf ..i seriously have no idea why i posted that on your thread Weapon X :thinkin: that could be one of the most epic fails of my life..that message might belong on my aim convo ..once again sorry.

i feel dumb now.

yeah, i was wondering why you did that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shady milkman

hmmm yes but if i order a side salad with my southwest chicken dinner do i still get a choice of potato ? or does the side salad..WITH ranch take the place of my potato in the meal..does the answer depend on other variables such as if its lunch menu..or dinner menu or if its on special? let me know asap

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shady milkman

wtf ..i seriously have no idea why i posted that on your thread Weapon X :thinkin: that could be one of the most epic fails of my life..that message might belong on my aim convo ..once again sorry.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shady milkman

i feel dumb now.

---

:lmao:

I was like :wtf:

It happens.

So if we run your spark plugs, we can no longer use a radar detector? Is a laser/radar detector still good? I think around here the po po use laser for detecting speed.

I understand what you are saying about the resistance. I cant help but think that once a spark plug reaches a certian grade it cannot do any more to help the burn. You can ignite gasoline with a lighter or a flame thrower, both are going to do the same thing. I would like to see Extensive dyno testing on several different plugs. All the variables would have to be the same. I am up to try out any new spark plug. I am not trying to sound like I am bashing. I think you are on to something good. I would just like to see some real power difference. Thanks Josh

after seeing how you measured your plug, i decided to measure the autolite racing AR-94 plug i will be using in my motor. i did three readings. here's the pics of the results. i tried to mimic the exact way you laid your terminals on your plug.

http://fla-thirdgen.org/weaponx/ohmplug.JPG

http://fla-thirdgen.org/weaponx/ohmplug1.JPG

http://fla-thirdgen.org/weaponx/ohmplug2.JPG

Pretty consistent. :D

but, did i do it right? is the autolite racing plug any better than the weaponx, because of the lower resistance reading i got?

Hell if I know. :lmao:


Autolite or NGK for me.
Resistance isn't what you are looking for in a plug.

well, higher resistance means it takes more energy from the coils to get through everything and jump the gap. anything you can do to lower it, can't hurt.

Correct.

But it is all about timing rather than strength.
Low resistance coils and wires....those sound like better ideas.

I have a few questions, though.

Ohm's law is not really applicable on a spark plug, the theory of electrostatics and Coulomb's law would be more appropriate.
Basics on a spark plug is on the stated above... you have electrically charged plates with a given distance from one another (gap).
Now, by increasing the voltage difference, you will reach a point where the attraction on the charged particles will exceed a threshold, and charges will jump from one side to the other, creating the spark.

Now, if you increase the gap, it takes more potential (voltage) for the spark to occur... the reverse is also true.

As for the internal resistance in the spark plug, it would limit the amount of current flying through the spark plug when in "spark" mode... ie when the voltage is big enough to cause the spark. (Remember that when no spark, there is no current, it's an open circuit).

Now let's consider the closed circuit when "in-spark".
With a 0ohm equivalent resistance, the whole charge would dissipate very fast, but stronger... a higher resistance will limit the current and make the spark last longer... yet the spark won't be as strong.

Now the questions:

1. Given that I have a certain amount of fuel and air in the combustion chamber, based on the car tuning... all being equal, for burning fuel, which is more efficient @ burning more fuel... shorter-time/more intense-spark or vice-versa ?

2. Can't the same result be achieved with changing the gap parameters ?

3. Let's assume the new spark plug actually burns fuel more efficiently, which means that it would increase the A/F ratio... which means I would have to retune the car with more fuel so I don't run too lean... if that is the case, then I can see where I can get more hp, because it's burning way more efficiently... but that can't be achieved with simply a dyno pull. That means I need to tune on the new plugs.

Let's say this is the case, and the spark plugs do that... which is a good thing for the product, actually... that means I should be careful on just putting those plugs and running WOT, cause if they are more efficient, my A/F is higher and I'm running leaner... I need to tune, and I can see getting some more power by running lean, but not a position I would want to be in ... if anything, I can add more fuel and still have a bit more power and feel better with the given A/F ratio.

4. have you seen that comparing back to back, by simply changing plugs that the A/F will increase ?... and by which extent ? This should give a good indication on the gains one could achieve with the "improved" plugs if they do as claimed.

I'm not bashing, but as an Electrical Engineer I still have some unanswered questions that I would like to be answered with some credibility, not with confusing and inconsistant nomenclature, mixing power, potential, current, as stated previously.

dwell time is more important, i would say. i've had a little training from mallory ignition back in my younger days. the more time you can keep the plug firing, the better. causes less misfires. overall more power. now, there is a limit to how much time you can fire the plug and get the mixture lit off before it's too late. i think it was around 22* crankshaft rotation.

Now we are getting into stuff I know nothing about. :lol: