THE SPARK PLUG

foreign ready now [Music] [Applause] what we need a better igniter perhaps a sparking uh uh plug foreign [Music] the 20th century and spark ignition engines arrived together [Music] a lot of things were tried in those early days but it always came back to internal combustion with spark ignition for Dependable performance [Music] over the years spark plugs with engines have been steadily improved through continual research in engineering [Music] [Applause] [Music] a dynamometer is a way to bring Road and driving conditions into the laboratory [Music] control of a load on the engine to simulate operation in a vehicle [Music] perhaps only an engineer can get excited over these gauges and charts but these are our way of climbing inside the engine to see what's going on [Music] for instance this temperature sensor [Music] [Music] cemented into the tip of a plug it tells us a lot about what's happening inside each cylinder [Music] combustion chamber where fuel is converted to power foreign [Music] the job is to ignite the best mixture of fuel and air at the right moment to provide the strongest push to the Pistons which turn the drive shaft and get rid of what is left over from the fuel charge [Music] much of what you will see in this film takes place much too fast for eyes to see in one of the cruelest environments on Earth spark plugs work at the center of the power storm [Music] a blast furnace and a steel mill gets no hotter the pressure blows that produce horsepower are comparable to those on a deep sea diver going back and forth between the Surface and a depth of 500 feet if he could do this about 50 times each second [Music] residues from burning pushing by on each exhaust rope can form deposits soft oily corrosive [Music] if the engine is damaged or the spark plug isn't functioning properly or isn't the correct design that's for a large eight-cylinder engine in smaller engines each cylinder must work harder and fire even more often over the same distance each spark attack wears the electrodes foreign as they slowly erode away the voltage needed to jump the widening Gap increases until More Voltage is required then the ignition system can supply thus spark plugs wear out but they are easily replaced foreign no moving parts but complex must be for their vital contribution to Performance Engine life fuel economy and reducing exhaust emissions carefully engineered to utilize [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] mostly aluminum oxide in powdered form [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] that shape we'll see later [Music] 15 shrinkage makes for a dense hard strong ceramic insulator [Music] [Music] resistors are important these days to seal gas tight while the cement setting let's go to the steel shell [Music] over 500 different plug designs [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] seals to withstand the millions of pressure blows that power the engine now about these ribs electricity follows the easiest path a wet dirty or oily insulator surface can provide an electrical shortcut from the terminal to the Shell which takes less effort than jumping the gap ribs provide surface Pockets to avoid sprays or drips and make this possible shortcut a longer harder path to travel [Music] our Airwaves get busier and busier [Music] as a guitar string vibrates after it's played a high voltage charge creates a spring-like vibration of electric current this can cause radio and TV interference by suppressing this follow-up action spark plug resistors are solving a noise problem they also increased the life of the electrode we all use a variety of engines [Music] and spark plugs must fulfill particular design requirements for each one a matter of fitting the hole in the engine [Music] an important matter of reaching inside for the best firing point a most important matter which requires understanding certain problems in fuel combustion [Music] special window in the head of a cylinder and stretch time until a thousandth of a second takes about two seconds we can see how burning spreads out from the spark through the fuel when they end in our quality or octane rating is too low part of the fuel may catch fire from heat and pressure before the flame started by the spark reaches it the Collision of the two Flames called detonation or engine knock causes violent vibrations this effect is similar to pre-ignition another monster if any area in the cylinder head gets hot enough to ignite the fuel ahead of the spark pre-ignition can destroy engine parts the spark plug is often the victim but seldom the cause to avoid causing pre-ignition spark plugs are designed to carry heat away from the firing tip the insulator is an excellent conductor of heat from the tip to where it meets the shell then threw the engine to the water in the cooling system or circulating air the shorter the distance through the insulator to the Shell the faster the cooling action just one complication the plug also has to run hot enough to burn off combustion residues or they can gather on the tip and become a path for a short circuit causing misfiring this is called fouling between cold fouling and pre-ignition damage is a correct operating heat range temperature the more an engine puts out the hotter it gets [Music] spark plugs are designed to regulate the temperature of their own tip at the best heat range for a particular engine under particular operating conditions hard driving with heavy loads use a colder plug around town driving use a hotter plug plugs with different heat ranges are made for most engines to meet a variety of needs these plugs with their firing tips projected beyond the shell tend to work over a wider temperature range than designs with a non-projected nose projecting the core nose allows the incoming fuel charges to help cool the tip at high speeds foreign [Applause] oh [Music] really okay [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] in a world powered by spark ignition fuel combustion and piston push there are many engine designs with a variety of spark plug requirements [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] s are riding on engine reliability so more expensive designs and materials are Justified smaller electrodes made of platinum and iridium Alloys are often used these precious metals can stand up to higher temperatures and resist sparking erosion longer than other materials from Aviation plugs came a fine wire design with electrodes made of gold Palladium for motorcycles and snowmobiles though more expensive than conventional plugs better starting and greater resistance to fouling justifies the cost [Music] precious metal electrodes are now being researched for automotive engines foreign [Music] cost is balanced by sufficient extra value for the car owner [Music] there was a time when power was King and high performance was the name of the game but that was when fuel cost less and was as abundant as the Wide Open Spaces seemed to be back before petroleum and clean air became precious resources thank you [Music] [Applause] as our research and Engineering goals changed life inside an engine cylinder became even tougher [Music] which means not only higher RPMs but engines running closer to their maximum limits which means preventing engine knock detonation is more difficult which is known as a leaner fuel air mixture and means that traditional Gap spacing may be too narrow to allow enough fuel to contact the spark for a good ignition some new ignition systems stabilize the spark voltage so it can jump a wider gap for better ignition with lean fuel for years service mechanics had been using narrow gaps for all engines now that Gap spacings are varying specifications must be checked for each individual engine scientific and Engineering efforts go into making engines more efficient but once delivered what a good engine can do for you is up to you [Music] [Applause] new engine developments are making spark plugs even more important as the heart of a tune-up why we continue to work closely with engine manufacturers and designers to make sure always that we've got your plug the right spark plug to assure best engine performance [Music]