Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories Pulsestar Plugs from Enerpulse

Howdy folks, been a while since I've been around, but I'm still out here somewhere, and still have my blue. Was talking to a guy in New Mexico at a company called Enerpulse, about a new spark plug that they have developed which has a capacitor in it. Supposed to boost to power of a spark plug to over 1MW (normal is about 50W), make combustion much more efficient and in theory boost the cylinder pressure, giving higher output power and better efficiency. Supposedly this place developed their technology together with Sandia National Labs, and a PhD from Harvard or some such, and is teamed up now with a company called Grail Engine Technologies, who is pushing a new 2 stroke engine that will achieve 160 HP from a 1 liter engine and 100mpg using some very neat technology. Supposedly they are already in talks with "a Japanese OEM" about this engine and the plugs (which were supposedly key to making this Grail Engine meet its targets) as well as some European OEMS. They are already out there in the aftermarket for most makes of cars and will supposedly cover bikes as well (apparently they have started supplying HD plugs as well) May have a face to face with these guys at Enerpulse, but am trying to get as much info as possible about them, their reputation, the product, etc... So far not having much luck finding a ton of info, anyone ever hear of them, or try these things in their car, bike, lawnmower, etc....?

Here's their website:

Enerpulse

I'm generally skeptical of miracle plugs.

This is interesting though
http://www.sandia.gov/mst/newsletter/docs/2004NovMFGSTNews.pdf

I am still skeptical, as with any new "gadget", although seeing that they have teamed with another company (Grail), and that Grail claims that the plugs were the key to meeting their emissions and output targets makes me at least take a second to pause. Not looking for investments, but thinking about working there, but want to make sure it's not fly by night, although they are now carried by Pep Boys and O'Reillys for the nickel that this is worth. I would be less skeptical if one of the OEM's come out and actually use these, and I plan on bringing that up if I do the interview. Will see where this leads and continue doing research.

If Popular Mechanics endorses it, I'll take a boo, if not... nah!!

I remember similar devices years ago that you inserted into the HT lead to the plug, these just introduced a gap in the lead bigger than the sparking plug gap. I think the theory is that the HV from the coil had a bigger gap to jump before it discharged through the plug so it got to increase more, thus giving a stronger spark. This was in the days of points ignition, I would be worried about overloading my coils and CDI on a system not designed for them.

Looks very interesting but from what I can tell on their website the plugs they list won't suit our engines - they only go from the NGK heat range 5-7 ... ours run an 8 (colder) plug. The DirectHits add-on device also requires a NON-resister type plug - ours uses a resistor.

I also wonder about the 'plug & play' claims. No mods required? Because if it produces a much faster burn (as they claim) then the spark timing would need to be retarded to compensate. But there is no mention of any tuning required on their website. So maybe it is snake oil after all.

There is a comparison test here and these plugs show less than 0.3% hp increase (+0.6 hp) over NGK Iridium plugs and 1% LESS torque than iridiums. Yet they claim 5 hp increase for most cars on their website - seems like a gross over-claim.



My conclusion: You're probably better off with iridiums.

One thing that the companies founder said in his phone interview with me was that this is one issue that they are fighting with currently. Because the burn is so much more efficient, most of the engine management systems on the market now misdiagnose the more efficient burn incorrectly (i'm thinking it thinks the engine is running more lean than it is, and adds more fuel), so they are working with some of the OEM's to get around that. I could see this as a potential problem, if the engine really is burning THAT much more efficiently, it could throw off a system that is calibrated to a less efficient burn.

Also, with regard to the timing issue, I would disagree about the timing. The spark is not being introduced earlier in the combustion cycle while the intake or exhaust valves are out of position, but rather once it is introduced at the same point as would be the case with a normal plug, it is theoretically creating a much higher intensity spark and a much faster expanding flame kernel.

In any case, they were hot and heavy to get me out there at all costs right before Christmas, but had some trips to China and the East Coast to contend with, but now that the holidays are over, nothing! So, I'm keeping my eye out on jobs in Colorado in the meantime (my first pick), and researching them further as much as possible (as well as Grail Engine Technologies who gives them good feedback) in case they do pick up the hunt again...