wannabe
Pro
Posts: 1931
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posted April 23, 2004 12:29 PM
Everything you need to know about spark plugs - but were afraid to ask...
After the recent spark plug thread, I was left with a few questions. So, I went out and did some research. I just thought I'd post a little snippet to help out the people who were just as confused as I was. The following is a small excerpt from the August 1999 issue of Motorcycle Tour & Cruiser magazine.
Heat Range and Flow:
The ill informed will tell you that a hot plug 'burns hotter,' implying that the spark from a hot plug is somehow hotter or more powerful than a cold plug. Wrong. Splark plugs don't actually create any heat, except as a by-product of combustion. A spark plug's heat range refers only to its ability to transfer heat our of the combustion chamber.
The general rule is to use a cold plug for a hot engine and a hot plug for a cold engine. A cold plug transfers a lot of heat out of the combustion chamber quickly. Cold plugs are used in high-stress applications such as racing and high speed, long-distance touring.
A hot plug transfers less heat and takes a longer time to do it. Hot plugs are used in mildly tuned, low speed engines. Because their tip temperatures stay high, they burn off carbon deposits that are associated with slow running.
What does this all mean? This means that people using a hot plug in their nitrous motors are going to do some damage. Too hot of a tip will cause detonation. We all know that is bad.
Anyway, if you have access to old issues of that magazine, this article is worth reading. It's only three pages long, but it's amazing how much I didn't know about spark plugs.
If some of you are really interested, lemme know, and I'll go ahead and type in the rest of the article.
  
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pdb1964
Zone Head
Posts: 536
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posted April 23, 2004 08:37 PM
So in a midly tuned (full pipe and PCIIIr) 12R engine, it would be best to use a hot plug? Usually short burst runs at full throttle.
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