TestingSparkPlugWires

Copyright(C)1997,AllRightsReserved.
DavidKucharczyk<ssr@netcom.com>

Introduction
Therehasbeenmuchdiscussionofaftermarketignitionsystemsandwiresonthemailinglist,particularly
withrespecttotheaftermarketNologywires.Peoplewhohaveusedthemhadvaryingresults.Everything
frommassiveEMinterferencethatcausedtheECUfailurestocarsrunninghighboostwho'sownershad
excellentresults.Nology'sprintadsmakeclaimsaboutincreasedhorsepower,strongersparkincluding
numbersforarctemperatureandcurrent.Themakersofthewiresclaimthatacapacitorintegratedintothe
wireisthesecret.
Icollected4differentwiresandconductedseveraltestsandmeasurementsonthemtotryandhavesome
scientificandreproducibledata.Theresultsaresurprising.TheNologywiresdoproduceastrongerspark
thanastockwireandthecapacitordoeshaveaneffect.OnereasonthattheNologywiresmakeastronger
sparkisthattheyhavealowerresistancethananyotherwiretested.Withthecapacitorportionofthewire
disabledthewiresstillhadthestrongestspark.Groundingthecapacitorwiredidmakethesparkeven
stronger.
MytestresultsweresomewhatlimitedasIcouldnotfindanaccuratewaytomeasurethevoltageandcurrent
flowduetotheextremelyhighvoltages.Whenthevoltagesbecomehighenough,currentflowscanbe
producedbyelectronsbleedingoffintotheairorintoanymetalobjectwhichhassignificantmass.Thisleads
toerroneousandirreproduciblemeasurements.I'mworkingonbuildingsomespecialhighvoltageprobesfor
theoscilloscopewhichshouldalleviatethisproblem,butfornowsomestaticmeasurementsandpicturesis
allyouget.
AstrongersparkdoesnotalwaysequalmoreHP.Ifyourstockignitionisreliablylightingthemixture,you
canaddasmuchsparkenergyasyouwant,butitwon'tmakeanymorehorsepower.Todatenoindependent
dynamometertestIknowofhasshownanyincreaseinhorsepoweroverstockwiresthatwereworking
properly.
TheNologyadisreproducedbelowintheTestImagessection.I'llletyoumakeupyourownmind
regardingtheirclaims.

SparkIgnitionRequirements
Toigniteastoichiometricairfuelmixture(14:1)approximately0.2milliJoulesofsparkenergyarerequired.
Veryrichorleanmixturescanrequireasmuchas3mJ.Mostcoilsarecapableofstoring60to120mJof
energyandwillproduceanoutputvoltageofover30kilovolts.Sparkdurationforacoilstorageignition
(wherethesparkenergyisgeneratedbythecollapseofabuiltupmagneticfieldoftheprimarycoilwinding)
runsbetween1and3milliseconds.Capacitivedischargesystemstendtohaveshortersparkduration.
Theenergygeneratedbythecoilmustbedeliveredtothesparkpluggapwithenoughenergytostillignite
themixture.Powerislostacrossthedistributorgap,vialeakageofthewiresinsulatorsandanyinline
resistancessuchasthewiresandresistorsinsidethesparkplugsthemselves.
Longersparkdurationandlargersparkdistancebothincreasetheprobabilitythatagivenmixturewillbe
ignitedbythespark.Turbulenceinthemixtureitselfalsohelpsignition,althoughtoomuchairflowcanblow
outasparkorpreventit'sformation.

AnatomyOfASpark

Tounderstandsparkplugwires,ithelpstounderstandsomeofthephysicsbehindaspark.Yougetaspark
whenaninsulatorbreaksdownandallowsarapiddischargeofelectronsacrossit.Asparkconsistsoffour
distinctphases.Thefirstphaseisasuddendecreaseinresistance,whichleadstothesecondphase,whichis
markedbycurrentrunaway(afeedbackconditionwheremorecurrentflowcauseslowerresistanceandthus
evenmorecurrentflow).Thethirdphaseisindicatedbyavoltagecollapseasthelowresistancepath
dischargesthebuiltupenergyandfinallythefourthphasewhichisindicatedbyalowvoltagewithhigh
currentflowthroughtheinsulatingmaterial.
Hereisavoltagevs.timeplotofatypicalsparkfromanautomotiveignitioncoil.Thevoltagerisesrapidly
untilbreakdownofthethemixtureoccurs(1),whichisfollowedbyvoltagecollapseandstabilizationata
highcurrentandconstantvoltage(2).Sparkduration(t)runsabout1.5mS.
Theinitialbreakdowniscausedahighelectricfielddensity.Anelectricfieldhasadirectrelationshipto
voltage.Thehigherthevoltage,thestrongertheelectricfield.Electricfieldshaveatendencytoaccelerate
anychargedparticleswithinthemsuchasfreeelectronsorions.Astheparticlesareaccelerated,theyhit
nearbyatomsandknockelectronsfromthem,whichthenareinturnacceleratedbythefield.Ifthefieldis
strongenough,thereactioncascadesuntillalargeenoughnumberoftheatomsintheinsulatorareionizedto
causebreakdownandconduction.
Foragivenvoltage,fielddensityisinverselyproportionaltotheradiusofthesurface.Therefore,arcsare
mostlikelytostartatanycornersorsharppointsastheseareaswillhavetheirgreatestfielddensity.
Inasparkplug,gas(airandvaporizedgasoline)providestheinsulatorwhichisbrokendown.Generally,the
initialbreakdownvoltageishigheringaseswithhighermolecularweights,soaddinggasolinetothemixture
increasesthebreakdownvoltage.Increasedpressurealsoincreasesthebreakdownvoltage.Therelationship
ofpressurevs.breakdownvoltageisalsoaffectedbythedistancebetweenthetwoelectrodesandacombined
pressureXspacingnumberisused.AtpressureXspacingvaluesover1(N/m^2)mtherelationshipisnearly
linear,iea10Xincreaseinpressurewillyieldalmosta10Xincreaseinbreakdownvoltage.Airhasa
breakdownvoltageof1000voltsatapressurespacingvalueof10.
WhatalltheabovemeanswithregardtoignitingthemixtureinamotorisThehigherthecylinderpressure
andthemorefuelthereis,thehigherthevoltageneedstobetostartaspark.
Oncethearcisstarted,anyairflowovertheelectrodeshasatendencytocarrytheionized(conducting)gas
awayandblowthearcout.Assoonasthearcbreaksapart,thevoltagerisesgainandthearcmayreform.If
theairflowishighenoughtocarrythepartiallyionizedgasawayfasterthanitcanreform,thesparkwill
blowout.

SparkPlugWires
Sparkplugwiresaremadeofaconductivecoreandtypicallysiliconerubberinsulation.Thecoreisusuallya
carbonimpregnatedfiberorwire.Theconductingcoreisbentoveratthewireendandthebootmetalis
crimpedoverthecore/insulationofthewire.Manyaftermarketwirescomewithnoboots,whichallowsone
toaddthebootsofchoiceandcutthewirestothedesiredlength.
MostOEMwiresuseacarbonfiberasthisproducesminimalRFnoise.Thedownsideofcarbonfibersis
highresistanceandthusreducedsparkenergy.Solidwireshaveverylowresistance,buttypicallyproduce
unacceptableamountsofRFinterference,frequentlycausinginterferenceinradios(intheinstalledvehicleas
wellasnearbyradios).Thisinterferencecanalsoproduceproblemswithanyelectronicequipmentused
insidethecarsuchasfuelinjection,panelmetersandABSsystems.Spectraloutputfromignitionwirescan
beanywherefrom10kHztoover10GHz.Somewiresuseasolidmetalcorethatishelicallywoundtocause
thewiretolookinductiveathighfrequenciesandminimizeEMradiation.
Siliconeshavearesistivityof10^9to10^11ohmspermeter(between1and100Mohmspermm).Givena
corediameterof2mmandinsulationdiameterof7mmthat'sonly2.5mmofinsulationfromthecoretothe
outsideworldandmostwiresactuallyleakaconsiderableamountofenergytotheiroutershell.
Ifthesurfaceofthewiresbecomescontaminated,itcanbleedasignificantamountofpoweroutofthewire

togroundatanypointittouchesmetaloragroundedsurface.Onewaytocheckforthisistoviewtheengine
compartmentintotaldarkness.Coronadischargeswillbeseenatanylargerbleedoffpoints.Novisible
coronasarenotaguaranteeofnoleakagehowever.Ifpossible,itisbesttokeepthewiresfromtouchingany
metalorcoolanthoses(coolantishighlyconductivewithrespecttoairorsilicone).
HereisanequivalentcircuitschematicoftheignitionsystemandaregularandNologysparkplugwire.The
circuitshowswhytheNologywirescapacitorsproduceastrongerspark.
TheNologywirescapacitorsareformedbysimplywrappingawirebraidaroundasegmentofthewireand
thengroundingit.Constructionisverysimilartocoaxialcable.Thisbraidformsonesideofthecapacitor
plateandthecenterconductorformstheother.Nologyusesacarbonfibertypecenterconductor,butithasa
muchlowerresistancethantheotherfiberwirestested.ThebraidalsoactsasashieldtopreventEM
radiation.Thecapacitanceisevenlydistributedalongthelengthofthebraidandthecenterconductors
resistanceisdistributedalongit'slength.Theequivalentcircuitaboveisatheoreticalrepresentationofthis.
Inanidealsimulationtherewouldbeaninfinitenumberofverysmallcapacitorsandresistorswhichwould
alladdtheireffecttodefinethemodelofthewire.
Thecapacitorsbecomechargedduringtheinitialvoltagerise.Whenthegasbreaksdownandcurrentstartsto
flowacrossthesparkgap,thecoilenergymustflowthroughthecoilwireresistance,thedistributorgapand
theresistanceoftheindividualsparkplugwire.Thecapacitorshowever,dischargedirectlythroughthegap,
withonlyashortpieceoftheplugwireprovidingresistanceintheirpath.
Themeasuredvalueof35pFofcapacitenceismisleadinginthefactthatalthoughthewireshave35pFof
capacitenceatthe2voltsthatthecapacitencemetermeasuresthemwith,asthevoltageincreases,thewires
leakmore,thusdecreasingtheeffectivecapacitanceasthevoltagerises.Thecalculatedvalueofenergy
storagefora35pFcapacitorat15kVis1/2CV^2orabout4J,wellinexcessofthestoragecapacityofthe
coilitself.Althoughonemightexpectthecapacitorstoabsorbasignificantpartofthecoilenergyandcause
considerablevoltagedroop,theydon't.Asthepicturesbelowshow,theNologywirescoulddevelopaspark
acrossa20mmgap.WhenIgetachanceIwillrunacomputersimulationofthesetuptoseewhatkindof
resultsitpredicts.
Wire Length

Resistance

Toyota 380mm 21Ohms/mm

Nology 430mm 1.2Ohms/mm

StaticTestResults
Capacitance InsulationBreakdown InsulationThickness
35pF

Accel 785mm 11.3Ohms/mm

Generic 540mm 17Ohms/mm

30kV+
30kV+

7.0mm
7.6mm

30kV+
30kV+

8.7mm
6.9mm

NologyWireTestImages
ThevisualresultsfromallofthewirestestedexcepttheNologysweresimilar,soIdidnotproducepictures
forallofthem.OnlytheToyotastockwires(SumitomoR16XS)andNologywiresareshownbelow.

TheNologywiread.FromTurbomagazine,December1996,page49.
Thewiresweretestedattwoenginespeedsandtwogapsizes.

Nologywireat.05"(1.27mm)gap,1KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

Nologywireat.80"(20.32mm)gap,1KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

Nologywireat.05"(1.27mm)gap,8KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

Nologywireat.80"(20.32mm)gap,8KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

ToyotaWireTestImages
Thewiresweretestedattwoenginespeedsandtwogapsizes.

Toyotawireat.05"(1.27mm)gap,1KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

Toyotawireat.80"(20.32mm)gap,1KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

Toyotawireat.05"(1.27mm)gap,8KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.

Toyotawireat.80"(20.32mm)gap,8KRPMeffectiveenginespeed.Duringthistest,
thearcplasmaignitedtheplasticofthesparkgaptestfixture.Thiscausedthecenterofthearctodarkenas
theconductivegasescapingfromtheburningplasticdiffusedthearc.

TheTestSetUp
Thetestsetupconsistedofasignalgenerator,atransistorbuffercircuit,aMalloryHyFireIIIignitionbox,a
stockMkIcoil,acurrentshuntandanadjustablesparkgap.
Thesignalgeneratorprovidedavariablefrequencypulsesourcetodrivetheignition,ineffectsimulatingthe
distributorsoutput.
Thebuffercircuitwasusedtoisolatethesignalgeneratorfromtheignitionboxitself,asIhaveblownout
ICsconnecteddirectlytotheignitionbox.Thebufferwasa2N2222setupincommonemmitermodewitha
10Kpullupresistoronthecollector.
TheMalloryHyFireisasinglesparkignitionsystem.Alargedarlingtontransistorisusedtogroundthe
negativesideofthecoil'sprimarywinding.Thepositivesideofthecoilwasconnecteddirectlytothepower
supply.Whenatriggerpulsearrives,theignitionopensthedarlingtoncausingthecoiltoproduceaspark.
TheHyFireadjuststhedwelltimingaccordingtotheinputpulsefrequency.

What'sNext
AssoonasIdevelopareasonablemeasurementmethodforvoltageandcurrentIwilltryandretestthe
wires.Thisshouldalsogivemetheabilitytotestcoilsforhowmuchenergytheycanstore,voltageoutput
andsparkduration.
Permissionisgrantedtoreprintinanyformfornonprofitorganizationsonlyontheconditionthatcopyright
noticeisretained.
DaveKucharczyk<ssr@netcom.com>