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Date:         Fri, 11 Jun 2004 16:19:33 -0400
Reply-To:     "Daniel L. Katz" <katzd54@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Daniel L. Katz" <katzd54@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: vanagon single electrode plugs

list:

i am skeptical, other things being equal, that multi-electrode spark plugs would cause a coil to fail. there just doesn't seem to be any mehansism available to damage a coil: (i) grounding the coil wire will not cause the coil to fail. (ii) leaving the coil secondary open, by removing the coil wire, say, does stress the coil somewhat by causing higher secondary voltages, but the ignition module, not the coil, is the vulnerable component here (because of higher induced primary voltages). since any spark plug provides a condition somewhere between (i) and (ii), it would be a big surprise if the multi-electrode designs could possibly cause a coil to fail.

platinum has a higher melting point than ordinary electrode materials, and therefore sharp edges and more pointy, tapered electrode designs are better preserved, thus facilitating sparking.

soft electrode alloys may work magic (until they begin to round off due to melting) by sputtering off small bits of hot metal, thus faciliating combustion by mechanisms of a more or less mysterious nature.

with the same gap, the voltage required to fire a plug with rounded off electrodes may be twice that for a new plug with sharp edges.

badly fouled plugs provide a shunt path bypassing the gap, and the voltage may never rise high enough for a spark to jump the gap, causing a miss.

dan


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