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PCA Member since 1988
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: SW Washington State
Posts: 4,677
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The conductivity difference in silver, copper, platinum, iridium, etc. of the plug electrodes makes no difference in performance for several reasons. First, compared to the resistance of the spark gap, they are orders of magnitude lower resistance. Second, compared to the resistance in either resistor spark plugs or resistor wires, the resistance of the metals in the electrodes is miniscule. Third, very little current jumps the gap to make the spark. In P=IV, the V is very large (20,000-40,000), and consequently, the I is very small. Thus, the difference in spark energy is insignificant.
I'm only talking about the metals in spark plug electrodes here. Different spark plugs do work better or worse in different engines, based on their electrode shapes, orientation, heat characteristics, etc., but the conductivity of the metals is not one of them. The reason to use exotic materials is to make the plugs more resistant to electrode erosion, thus lasting longer.
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Last edited by PeteKz; 04-20-2023 at 11:58 PM..
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