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Re: Ultimate Plug Wires (Very long and boring)

To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Ultimate Plug Wires (Very long and boring)
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 10:56:03 EDT
In a message dated 6/3/00 10:55:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jkk@adams.net 
writes:

<< Just put a set of Nology wires and Beru plugs on my HD with a dual coil
 single fire ignition. They have a capacitor built in the wire that ampifies
 voltage by some massive amount. Of course at $95 a set [2 wires] they'll get
 you drummed out of the "We Tight Club". [I like the Bumblebee wires on my
 LBCs, work great, look really cool, use Accel plug boots and terminals to
 eliminate that loose problem] >>

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Here is what Magnecor has to say about capacitive discharge wires.

""CAPACITOR" EFFECT WIRES with grounded metal braiding over jacket
The most notable of exaggerated claims for ignition wires are made by Nology, 
a recent manufacturer of ignition wires promoted as "the only spark plug 
wires with built-in capacitor." Nology's "HotWires" (called "Plasma Leads" in 
the UK) consist of unsuppressed solid metal or spiral conductor ignition 
wires over which braided metal sleeves are partially fitted. The braided 
metal sleeves are grounded via straps formed from part of the braiding. 
Insulating covers are fitted over the braided metal sleeves. These wires are 
well constructed. For whatever reason, Nology specifies that non-resistor 
spark plugs need to be used with their "HotWires." In a demonstration, the 
use of resistor plugs nullifies the visual effect of the brighter spark.

Ignition wires with grounded braided metal sleeves over the cable have come 
and gone all over the world for (at least) the last 30 years, and similar 
wires were used over 20 years ago by a few car makers to solve cross-firing 
problems on early fuel injected engines and RFI problems on fiberglass bodied 
cars — only to find other problems were created. The recent Circle Track 
Magazine (USA, May, 1996 issue) test showed Nology "HotWires" produced no 
additional horsepower (the test actually showed a 10 horsepower decrease when 
compared to stock carbon conductor wires).

The perceived effect a brighter spark, conducted by an ignition wire, encased 
or partially encased in a braided metal sleeve (shield) grounded to the 
engine, jumping across a huge free-air gap (which bears no relationship to 
the spark needed to fire the variable air/fuel mixture under pressure in a 
combustion chamber) is continually being re-discovered and cleverly 
demonstrated by marketers who convince themselves there's monetary value in 
such a bright spark, and all sorts of wild, completely un-provable claims are 
made for this phenomena.

Like many in the past, Nology cleverly demonstrates a brighter free-air spark 
containing useless flash-over created by the crude "capacitor" (effect) of 
this style of wire. In reality, the bright spark has no more useful energy to 
fire a variable compressed air/fuel mixture than the clean spark you would 
see in a similar demonstration using any good carbon conductor wire. What is 
happening in such a demonstration is the coil output is being unnecessarily 
boosted to additionally supply spark energy that is induced (and wasted) into 
the grounded braided metal sleeve around the ignition wire's jacket. To test 
the validity of this statement, ask the demonstrator to disconnect the ground 
strap and observe just how much energy is sparking to ground.

Claims by Nology of their "HotWires" creating sparks that are "300 times more 
powerful," reaching temperatures of "100,000 to 150,000 degrees F" (more than 
enough to melt spark plug electrodes), spark durations of "4 billionths of a 
second" (spark duration is controlled by the ignition system itself) and 
currents of "1,000 amperes" magically evolving in "capacitors" allegedly 
"built-in" to the ignition wires are as ridiculous as the data and the 
depiction of sparks in photographs used in advertising material and the price 
asked for these wires! Most stock ignition primaries are regulated to 6 
amperes and the most powerful race ignition to no more than 40 amperes at 
12,000 RPM.

It is common knowledge amongst automotive electrical engineers that it is 
unwise to use ignition wires fitted with grounded braided metal sleeves 
fitted over ignition cable jackets on an automobile engine. This type of 
ignition wires forces its cable jackets to become an unsuitable dielectric 
for a crude capacitor (effect) between the conductor and the braided metal 
sleeves. While the wires function normally when first fitted, the cable 
jackets soon break down as a dielectric, and progressively more spark energy 
is induced from the conductors (though the cable jackets) into the grounded 
metal sleeves, causing the ignition coil to unnecessarily output more energy 
to fire both the spark plug gaps and the additional energy lost via the 
braided metal sleeves. Often this situation leads to ignition coil and 
control unit overload failures. It should be noted that it is dangerous to 
use these wires if not grounded to the engine, as the grounding straps will 
be alive with thousands of volts wanting to ground-out to anything (or body) 
nearby.

Unless you are prepared to accept poorly suppressed ignition wires that fail 
sooner than any other type of ignition wires and stretch your ignition system 
to the limit, and have an engine with no electronic management system and/or 
exhaust emission controls, it's best not to be influenced by the exaggerated 
claims, and some vested-interest journalists', resellers' and installers' 
perception an engine has more power after Nology wires are fitted. Often, 
after replacing deteriorated wires, any new ignition wires make an engine run 
better."

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