Has anyone tried pulstar sparkplugs?

[MadMaxSvx]

Originally Posted by SoCal LS-L

No matter what they claim...... heres the problem.......

Electricity travels at roughly the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second.

If the capacitor "stores" spark energy, then releases it nano-seconds later, then there is still the same distance for the electricity to travel, meaning that the timing has simply been slightly retarded.

THEN, the Pulstar plug is advertised to have a "capacitor", which stores energy, but does not increase the amperage, voltage, or convert either. This means that whatever comes from the coil is simply stored and released, you cannot "slow down" or "speed up" electricity..... it is not a property of electricity to be speed controlled by any known "capacitor".

In conclusion, in the matter of the electrical arc produced by spark plugs.... the MOST you can get out is what is put in by the coil, assuming 100% efficiency.

Capacitors are simply reserviors, that take and give electrical current as needed..... and they cannot output any more than is given in.

Dont you think there is a REASON that Pulstar plugs are not installed OEM on ANY new cars..... especially since economy and power are important factors in selling and EPA economy standards?? Also why dont professional racing crews install them on stock cars, drag racers, their own personal cars?? Think about it!

Ok... lets separate speed of light from duration of spark arch.
We are not talking about how long it takes to the electricity to complete the travel from the coil to the tip of the spark plug, ( from point A to B ) because that speed is the same in a 2010 Subaru Tourer concept ( :P ) and in an 1918 Ford "T" ( even with pulstar plugs ).
We are talking about spark duration, that means: You have an electricity arch of 1.45 miliseconds ( 1.450.000 nanoseconds!! ) of duration in a normal automotive system, that means that the electricity arch in the spark plug of your *and my* car lasts 1.45x10-3 of a second!! A lot of time for the fuel/air mix to burn.
If we store the energy going to the plug during that 1.45 MILISECONDS using some kind of capacitor and then we release ALL that electricity in just 2 NANOSECONDS, then we will have a much higher energy spark, but with much lower duration.
And yes, that proccess increase the power, as in a transformer.
But that dont mean that you will get better gas mileage, because better combustion depends on fuel/air mixture and in how high is the compression in the combustion chamber ( the more compresssion, the more energy you need to burn the fuel/air mixture ).

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by MadMaxSvx

Ok... lets separate speed of light from duration of spark arch.

The thousands of volts produced by the coil cannot possibly be stored by a capacitor that fits inside a spark plug, period. Adding to this is the fact that a capacitor cannot be freestanding, uni-polaric, and shorten the duration of and thereby increasing the amperage or voltage of input spark energy.

CLAIM: "Pulse plugs incorporate a pulse circuit, which stores incoming electrical energy from the ignition system and releases the stored energy in a powerful pulse of power. Instead of 50 watts of peak power typical of all spark plugs, pulse plugs deliver up to 1 million watts of peak power."

This is inherently false, as the fundamental law of physics states that you cannot get more energy out of a system than what is put in, period. Besides, wattage is a unit of consumption, NOT of current.

Our current coil-on-plug ignition is STILL the most efficient way of igniting the A/F mixture, which is why it is designed into new vehicle systems to present. This system was engineered to work best with conventional spark plug technology.

I have heard no mention of "Pulstar" plugs being sponsored or endorsed by ANY automobile racing organization or car manufacturer, who by the way are the leaders in automotive engineering and technology, and I highly doubt they are scratching their heads right now wondering why they didnt come up with "Pulstar" technology first.

Maybe im wrong..... but everything I have been taught about physics and advertising has me thinking these are the next fuel-magnets or "Tornado" air swirlers.

[MadMaxSvx]

Originally Posted by SoCal LS-L

The thousands of volts produced by the coil cannot possibly be stored by a capacitor that fits inside a spark plug, period. Adding to this is the fact that a capacitor cannot be freestanding, uni-polaric, and shorten the duration of and thereby increasing the amperage or voltage of input spark energy.

CLAIM: "Pulse plugs incorporate a pulse circuit, which stores incoming electrical energy from the ignition system and releases the stored energy in a powerful pulse of power. Instead of 50 watts of peak power typical of all spark plugs, pulse plugs deliver up to 1 million watts of peak power."

I dont know if a modern capacitor or supercapacitor is able to store the high voltage coming from an ignition coil, the company claim is that their plugs can store that electricity for a short period of time, enough to increase the power ( voltage? ) of the spark. Once again, is their claim, i dont sell those plugs :P!
The only thing i can say is that this is very possible, and the only logical explanation to the claimed performance gains.
The 50 watts turning in 1.000.000 watts of power claim, have sense for me, the watt measure is not neccesarily a measure of produced power but a measure of energy conversion over time ( 1 watt= 1 joule per second).

Edit: To make it clear, 50 watts per second can be equivalent of 1.000.000 W/Second, if the energy is released in a much shorter period of time. I hope i am not talking male bovine manure

[Trevor]

The circuitry, capacitor, or whatever within the Pulstar plug, can be nothing more than a spark gap. It can be called a capacitor, an air resistor, a magic space or whatever, but it is not included to act as a capacitor, can not and does not act as a capacitor. The HT voltage simply jumps, transcends, overcomes, the resistance presented by an air gap in advance of the main gap at the plug head.

In reality a resistance and barrier is placed within the HT circuit, and this must first be overcome prior to the final resistance available to ground being bridged. This is the scientific fact involved.

N.B. Keith, please do not overlook my post #90.

[MadMaxSvx]

THE QUESTION: Why everyone hates those spark plugs? Have anyone tried them in a modern ( with high compression, etc.. ) car with bad results?

[SoCal LS-L]

I dont hate the inanimate plugs themselves......

Rather the inanimate fat guy sitting behind a Pulstar Co. desk trying to slide his sausage-like hand in my pockets to get at my hard earned money.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by MadMaxSvx

THE QUESTION: Why everyone hates those spark plugs? Have anyone tried them in a modern ( with high compression, etc.. ) car with bad results?

The scientific question. Has anyone tried them in any sort of electrically ignited internal combustion engine, and scientifically demonstrated, a properly proven advantage, over a new standard plug? e.g. fitted to an engine working against a static and genuine bench dynamometer ?

In respect of compression ratio, it is significant that only a single heat range is offered. The magic plugs we must assume, cater for this very significant requirement in some mystical fashion.

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by Trevor

In respect of compression ratio, it is significant that only a single heat range is offered. The magic plugs we must assume, cater for this very significant requirement in some mystical fashion.

Uhhh its all done thru the internals, it has a compression sensor inside, next to its pal the magic capacitor, which senses compression pressure and tells the supercomputer how hot to run.

This however would NOT BE POSSIBLE if it weren't for the legitimate fact that Pulstar plugs are made by Elven freemasons in the hills of Elrond, and are incantated to possess magical torque and economy improving spells, shipped directly to your door by Gandalf himself.

[MadMaxSvx]

We are trying to solve the question if they really produce a more powerfull spark, as i said before, i dont think that this fact, if real, improves fuel consumption or torque.
I think that a dynamometer test would be perfect, but in the meantime the easier test would be putting a normal spark plug in a coil and compare the resulting spark with the one produced in the Pulstar plug, if their claims are true, then the resulting spark will be ALOT brighter and noisy..

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by MadMaxSvx

We are trying to solve the question if they really produce a more powerfull spark, as i said before, i dont think that this fact, if real, improves fuel consumption or torque.
I think that a dynamometer test would be perfect, but in the meantime the easier test would be putting a normal spark plug in a coil and compare the resulting spark with the one produced in the Pulstar plug, if their claims are true, then the resulting spark will be ALOT brighter and noisy..

Good idea Max..... I volunteer YOU for the test.

You can hold the tips of each one while we fire the coil, and can compare the excruciating pain of the muscle fibers spazzing in either arm. Which ever side stays dead the longest wins!

[Trevor]

The in line spark gap gismo, constituted the original hoax device. This was sold in various forms to the gullible on the basis of pseudo effect and marketed on the basis of placebo, exactly as is the Pulstar plug.

It is interesting to have confirmation presented here, to the effect that this early gimmick was accepted by even those proclaiming automotive engineering status. Therefore it is not surprising that Pulstar have jumped onto a long running and lucrative band wagon.

Originally Posted by oab_au

I think you will find that the "capacitor" is a in line spark gap. The theory for it is, when a coil fires, its maximum voltage is determined by the in line resistance (plug gap). The coil will build a voltage to overcome the resistance of the plug. If the plug has deposits on the center electrode that have a lower resistance that the gap,

The current will be completely dissipated via any fouling reducing resistance present across the plug gap. In the presence of such a reduced resistance, a spark will not and can not occur regardless of any added gismo.

some of the coils energy will leak away down the electrode as the coil is building its voltage, before it is high enough to jump the gap. This robs some of the energy, that will end up jumping the gap.

A confused and incorrect statement which in any event has no relevance in respect ot the topic being addressed.

The old way of curring this was to create a gap in the plug lead, by inserting a button with the leads connected to opposite holes. This forced the coil to develop a higher voltage to jump across the button, so that it did not have time to leak down the side of the insulator.
This is going back 70 years.

After this we started to get devices that fitted on top of the plug that did the same. Then we got plugs with the built in gap that did the same thing. I would think this is a revival of this old trick, which was very useful on engines that burnt a lot of oil, and had coils of low output. The SVX does not fall into that category, and does not need this help. Harvey.

It is hereby confirmed that the ignorant were, and continue to be easily hoodwinked. It is easy to appreciate why Pulstar have jumped onto a band wagon still in motion, and now requiring only a little added inertia.

[SoCal LS-L]

Originally Posted by Trevor

It is hereby confirmed that the ignorant were, and continue to be easily hoodwinked. It is easy to appreciate why Pulstar have jumped onto a band wagon still in motion, and now requiring only a little added inertia.

Just as I had stated earlier, its as simple as somebody trying to sell you something using terms most folks dont know about, so dont question. Once you look at the real facts, Pulstar is just a mocked up and overpriced spark plug pandered to the misinformed and uninformed. People actually believe them!

[MadMaxSvx]

Originally Posted by SoCal LS-L

Good idea Max..... I volunteer YOU for the test.

You can hold the tips of each one while we fire the coil, and can compare the excruciating pain of the muscle fibers spazzing in either arm. Which ever side stays dead the longest wins!

LOL!! @@@ssHLeEe!! Why me!!

I already did the normal spark test several times, i am an expert, but i am not doing the Pulstar plugs test... No way.. 1.52 gigawatts..! Are u nuts??