Another SP question!

[Irish]

Has anyone ever used the E-3 sparkplugs? I see them advertised a lot & I was wondering the pros & cons. I have never heard anyone on this site , talk about them. Irish

[kz1000st]

That's because just about everyone is sold on Iridium plugs as the ultimate upgrade.

[rks]

Or, like myself, satisfied with the performance, and life span of a standard copper core, $2.00 plug. 4 riding seasons, and my original shows no sign of deterioration.

[Irish]

Having been a mechanic for MOST of my life (Aircraft , Marine , Motorcycle , Automotive , etc. ) Watching most of the automotive improvement shows on TV , they make a lot of sense to me! The price of a set of SPs won't break my budget , so I think that I'll try them! I have been experimenting with eng mods since I was 15 so I think that I'll try them. I'll let you know how they work out. Nothing ventured nothing gained! I tuned a friends C-gasser at the dragstrip & you wouldn't believe what some people pay for parts! Irish

[bull]

I'll have to go with RKS on this, as I have not seen any difference on these lowly 50cc and 150cc scooters by changing from copper core to iridium. However a simple change from a single ground electrode to multiples would increase the compression ratio in these scooters. Of course this results in slight increase in power.

Bosch has engineered and produced 3 and 4 ground electrodes for years, and especially the 4 ground electrodes do last longer especially in poor quality fuels that literally eat the electrodes.

I would believe more that it is more marketing than anything else, because there are too many factors that come into play such as fuel quality, air volume and density, O2 levels, humidity, wear, load,etc-- not to mention location of the diamond opening relevant to the intake port. Most of the field condition claims would not be repeatable and thus would not be scientifically provable.

here is their picture of the plug, grab a copy, enlarge it and think about it yourself.

http://e3sparkplugs.com//media/banne...plugs_cars.jpg

[bandito2]

Wonder why more vehicles are not set up with dual ignition systems similar to what is done in aviation.

On a good day, a Rotax 503 Dual carb, Dual ignition 2 stroke ultralight trike I used to fly could get 1300 FPM climb. (solo) But it was a bit of a dog if I disabled one of the ignition systems. I did that as a partial experiment to see and know how it would behave if there was an in flight failure of one of them. I was an ultralight instructor for a while and wanted to know everything about what limits my trike might present in flight. Nobody but me on board when I did that and it was only on the ground testing. Well, limited to short hops down the runway anyway.

I do suppose a dual coil & plug/single trigger set up could be done that would give the extra spark, but somehow I'm not sure if that would be beneficial or not. The head would need to be different or modified and not sure how the more intricate workings of flame propagation might affect performance or engine longevity for example. Hmmmm? maybe that's why a potentially complicated thing is not done for simple machines like scooters... and lawn mowers maybe. Guess I partially answered my own question... but still I wonder.

[Irish]

When I was in the service , I was a Reciprocating Engine mechanic. I worked mainly on 4360 Engines .(4360 cu in) Each cylinder (28 cylinders) had 2 coils , 2 Sparkplugs , etc. It makes sense. If one plug goes bad , you have another! If you are taking off , you need full power! They also had on takeoff a thing called ADI (anti-detonic-injection) It injects ADI (water&alcohol) into the cyls on takeoff , so that the engines can pull full power! On a KC-97 there are 4 engines. A plug change is 56 spark Plugs!
Now that I have passed on some useless knowledge , I'll sign off. Irish
P.S. Recip mechanic versus Jet eng mechanic. Would you rather screw your way across the county or blow your way?

[Irish]

I bought a set. I haven't installed them yet because I have been really sick! The only other thing that I've done is a K&N Air Filter. I'll let you know if they make a difference with 1200cc's Irish

[blueboy5000]

It's physically impossible to fire sparks to all electrodes simultaneously on a multiple electrodes spark plug. Electricity will always and invariably travel the path of least resistance, therefore only arcing to the closest electrode. While sparking, at idle, a plug sparks 30 times per second, what appears to be simultaneous sparks is actually corona.

Most dual-plug gasoline engines are cvcc style dual-combustion engines, which employ a two-stage combustion process for far more efficient burn. Two plugs does not increase compression

[blueboy5000]

I have seen no noticeable increase in performance with iridium, platinum, or copper plugs.

[Irish]

I installed the E-3 sparkplugs. They might have added some power but it's hard to tell without checking the dragstrip times. I'm not into that as much anymore. As long as it runs good is all that matters anymore. The bike has so much power anyway that it doesn't matter. I might just go back to the stock plugs when I change them again. The E-3s are nice but unless you are into every little bit of power , they probably aren't worth the extra $. Live & learn! Irish