Plasma Ignition | Plasma Jet Ignition

[Aaron Murakami]

Thanks Aaron and Gary, I already picked up a Flamethrower III now so I should be in good shape. On another note how well have the diodes (Prhv2a-20) you’ve been using holding up? I bought a few extras just incase of problems.

Personally, I've never blown one of those diodes up and they are rock solid.

[Gary Hammond]

Thanks Aaron and Gary, I already picked up a Flamethrower III now so I should be in good shape. On another note how well have the diodes (Prhv2a-20) you’ve been using holding up? I bought a few extras just incase of problems.

The only time I had one fail was when I accidentally forgot to hook up the ground lead to the spark plug threaded end on my test rig. It caused large arcs between the coil tower and coil primary connection.

Never had one fail on the actual engine installation.

[RB176]

Thank you Aaron

[RB176]

Thank you Gary

[heysoundude]

has anyone input their coil's etc specs into this calculator?http://bgsoflex.com/igncoil.htmljust in case it might help to fine tune anything...

[Aaron Murakami]

has anyone input their coil's etc specs into this calculator?http://bgsoflex.com/igncoil.htmljust in case it might help to fine tune anything...

The word just doesn't have a space before it so the link does work - here's the corrected one: http://bgsoflex.com/igncoil.html

Seems to apply to just kettering ignition so the basic spark ignition but still pretty cool. Have you come across one for capacitive discharge? That might be tough because might have to know the charging speed of the cap charging circuit.

[heysoundude]

OOPS! thanks for correcting that, Aaron.No, I've not found (stumbled across) one for CDI...but wouldn't the speed you're looking for be "c"? or were you meaning charging TIME? easy enough to calculate:F = seconds / ohms (from wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farad lots of other neat & handy equivalencies there too, so if you're algebraically inclined and/or have a bunch of specs/measurements, you can solve for what you need)F * ohms = seconds ...which is why you want a low primary resistance, right? so the energy influx required prior to the spark event is as short as possible. also why you want as low a resistance as possible on the secondary side too, in this use case: so the energy delivery event is as short as possible as well.

[Aaron Murakami]

OOPS! thanks for correcting that, Aaron.No, I've not found (stumbled across) one for CDI...but wouldn't the speed you're looking for be "c"? or were you meaning charging TIME? easy enough to calculate:F = seconds / ohms (from wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farad lots of other neat & handy equivalencies there too, so if you're algebraically inclined and/or have a bunch of specs/measurements, you can solve for what you need)F * ohms = seconds ...which is why you want a low primary resistance, right? so the energy influx required prior to the spark event is as short as possible. also why you want as low a resistance as possible on the secondary side too, in this use case: so the energy delivery event is as short as possible as well.

In any case, for the plasma, I think it would be almost impossible to calculate perfectly but ballpark could be possible. That is because it is difficult to tell how much of the cap discharges to the primary and how much is left over to jump the gap - most jumps the gap.

[RB176]

Hey Aaron got my plasma setup up and running Wow unbelievable. Got a quick question if you are going for performance do you think retarding your ignition timing and letting the cylinder get a complete fill would increase HP do to the cleaner burn? Also I’ve seen you open the plug gap, do you think an additional 10-15th would be sufficient? Thanks Jeremiah

[heysoundude]

In any case, for the plasma, I think it would be almost impossible to calculate perfectly but ballpark could be possible. That is because it is difficult to tell how much of the cap discharges to the primary and how much is left over to jump the gap - most jumps the gap.

A ballpark is a pretty big place; I think this is more in between horseshoes and hand grenades close how much of the primary discharges to the secondary? who cares, as long as the energy does indeed jump the gap at the right time; there just has to be enough there for it to happen.My point is, differentiating between kettering and CDI is moot because a coil (both primary and secondary) clearly has capacitance based on that equation.

[Aaron Murakami]

Hey Aaron got my plasma setup up and running Wow unbelievable. Got a quick question if you are going for performance do you think retarding your ignition timing and letting the cylinder get a complete fill would increase HP do to the cleaner burn? Also I’ve seen you open the plug gap, do you think an additional 10-15th would be sufficient? Thanks Jeremiah

Ideally, you'd do trial and error on a dyno but that does cost a bit.

The plasma ignition is not only fast itself, the entire combustion process is accelerated so that with delaying timing a bit towards TDC could give more power.

Yes, opening the plug as well can help delay it a bit and will give a bigger bang. You'd sacrifice plug life though.

What plugs are you using? I still want to test the Weapon X iridium non-resistor plugs.

Can you post some pics and/or vids of your ignition setup? That would be cool to see.

[Realtravel]

I have purchased both your ebooks on (Plasma Ignition and wasted spark), I have also been studying wasted spark methods, not sure how to implement your wasted spark system, I have sourced the leads from grantatelli they suit the American 2001-05 Buick Electra, Le Sabre 6 Cyl 3.8l Product ID : 26-1711S, which is similar to the motor I have (Australian 2001 vx V6 Commodore), which has a DFI module that the coil packs sits into, each coil is connected by pins from the DFI module, there is a connector to the DFI module which is controlled by crank angle sensor, how do I connect to each one, without schematics for my wiring I am not sure how to wire the wasted spark modules up.

[RB176]

Thanks Aaron I’ll have to do some tuning I guess. For now just using Autolite non-resistor plugs, I’ll have to keep an eye on plug wear and in the meantime do some research and find a tungsten plug or some other crossover that would be better suited for plasma.

[Aaron Murakami]

I have purchased both your ebooks on (Plasma Ignition and wasted spark), I have also been studying wasted spark methods, not sure how to implement your wasted spark system, I have sourced the leads from grantatelli they suit the American 2001-05 Buick Electra, Le Sabre 6 Cyl 3.8l Product ID : 26-1711S, which is similar to the motor I have (Australian 2001 vx V6 Commodore), which has a DFI module that the coil packs sits into, each coil is connected by pins from the DFI module, there is a connector to the DFI module which is controlled by crank angle sensor, how do I connect to each one, without schematics for my wiring I am not sure how to wire the wasted spark modules up.

Is there an off the shelf CDI/MSD available or your car?

Wasted spark as you can see in my presentation for my Subaru is a bit complicated. It works, but using 2 coil packs back to back was the only way to get the same polarity on all 4 plugs.

[heysoundude]

I have purchased both your ebooks on (Plasma Ignition and wasted spark), I have also been studying wasted spark methods, not sure how to implement your wasted spark system, I have sourced the leads from grantatelli they suit the American 2001-05 Buick Electra, Le Sabre 6 Cyl 3.8l Product ID : 26-1711S, which is similar to the motor I have (Australian 2001 vx V6 Commodore), which has a DFI module that the coil packs sits into, each coil is connected by pins from the DFI module, there is a connector to the DFI module which is controlled by crank angle sensor, how do I connect to each one, without schematics for my wiring I am not sure how to wire the wasted spark modules up.

Based on what I'm familiar with GM having done in that time period, this may (or may not) be of some help to you if your car's ignition is from the global supply chain/parts bin:https://www.diyautotune.com/support/...omer/gm-dis/If, however, your ignition coils are of this style (https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=h...-l1000.jpg&f=1) with a 6 pin connector to the chassis harness, you and I are in the same proverbial boat with our cars: the computer handles the switching of each coil (there are 3 in that pack, and in the one depicted above), so placing the diodes is key to prevent damage. You'll have to look into the electrics of your car to figure it out. (Is there an ignition immobilizer as part of your car's "security/anti-theft" features? that's what's tripping me up, and slowing me from applying it to my car.) I suspect the factory equipment can be made to get the plasma discharge to happen as simply as Peter has shown in the videos, with the appropriate application of only a diode, rather than an aftermarket module. In our wasted spark vehicles, I'm certain we'd need a diode per cylinder, blocking the correct wire on the harness to each primary