Frankzao Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Who's heard of these? Autozone sells them for $25 a pair..... http://www.pulstar.com/index.htm Actually it’s called a pulse plug – and here’s why its technology should be in your engine. Until now, every gallon of gas you bought was ignited by a simple spark plug- an outmoded technology that has barely changed in 100 years. But now you can change to a new eco-friendly pulse plug that uses an advanced technology to make every drop of gas burn better and cleaner. This new technology, with its eight patents, is based on plasma research supported by the world famous Sandia National Laboratories – and yes, that’s definitely rocket science. Here’s how it works: Electrical energy from the engine’s power coil is stored in the built-in capacitor. At the exact moment needed, that energy is released in an amazingly powerful and quick (two nanosecond) high-energy pulse. The result: The improved combustion efficiency burns fuel sooner and more effectively, which equals improved mpg, less CO2 based emissions, and better overall drivability. Even the green get greener! For example, in this EPA US06 fuel consumption lab test, even the icon of fuel economy and eco-friendliness- the Toyota Prius- saw notable improvements in mpg. Test results: * 4.4 more mpg * Reduces CO2 by a quarter ton annually. Looking for more engine horsepower? Pulse plugs create horsepower by generating more peak power than spark plugs. Pulse plugs have 10 times more peak power than spark plugs and ultimately improve the performance of your vehicle as well as the performance of all aftermarket performance products. Increase Towing Capacity - Pulstar generates more low-end torque for towing applications. Increase towing capacity at it's source by replacing your spark plugs with Pulstar™ pulse plugs. No need to buy a bigger vehicle that only promises more towing capacity. You can actually improve low-end torque and towing capacity simply by installing Pulstar™ in your vehicle. This is because of the unique way Pulstar™ ignites fuel and generates additional cylinder pressure. With increased cylinder pressure, the pistons are pushed down with more force. This generates more torque in the crankshaft, more liveliness to the throttle and more power and low-end torque. In other words… more power to the wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt64341 Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I did a lot of research on these a while ago, there are reviews that go both ways. There is a lot of info on them that should be ignored. Pulstar says that their tests are 100% legitimate, but I don't think they should be taken as fact only because they are selling the product. There are too many variables to take personal dyno runs as good information also, the air temp, engine temp, condition of plugs replaced, whether or not the engine computer had adjusted to the plugs for the run, and dyno error. And the mental power gain that people feel should be ignored also. If I payed $25 a plug I would feel a difference in power also, and replacing old plugs with anything new will give some improvement. There was one thing that I did find that made a lot of sense though. A smog technitian replaced the plugs in his car with new ones and did an emmisions test, and then swapped in the pulstar plugs and repeated the emmisions test. For both he drove and let the computer adjust. Both tests passed the smog, but the Pulstar plugs produced significantly lower emmisions. By using equations he determined that the Pulstar plugs were burning the fuel more completely. I have also read complaints that they have broken on some cars, but it seems like specific applications and not all Pulstar plugs. I don't know if they actually make enough of a difference to justify their price, but they seem like they might live up to at least some of their claims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveSter Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 The thing im scared of is if they have a much higher resistance than OEM sparkplugs they may fry the sensitive coils of the 2.3. Should make a nice improvement on the 2.5 though. Why cant the 2.5 Millys use an MSD ignition system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankzao Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 resistance and current draw....are my concerns.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginph Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I bet this is a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt64341 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I doubt I will ever try them because I am very skeptical of them. It is one of those things that if it were as great as they say it is, car manufacturers would be jumping on it, and they are not. I would be worried about the quality and lifespan. I think the resistance of the air between the gap is more significant than the resistance of the plug, but it could be compensated for by decreasing the gap slightly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Good [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Great [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Greatest plug ever! [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Don't know [ 1 ] ** [33.33%] Piece of crap [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Interesting [ 2 ] ** [66.67%] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Not looking good at all Sir Zao. http://www.mx6.com/forums/general-automoti...ulse-plugs.html http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e5...park-plugs.html http://www.ek9.org/forum/general-chat/1274...pulse-plug.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankzao Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Hi Gentlemen. I am the CEO of Enerpulse, the maker of Pulstar pulse plugs. I noticed your comments concerning Pulstar and thought I might add some food for thought. Pulstar works differently than spark plugs becuase it has a pulsed power device sometimes referred to as a bi-polar high power capacitor. The capacitor intensifies the spark much like a camera flash intensifies light. This generates a larger spark aperture than spark plugs transferring more energy to the fuel charge yielding greater ignition precision and efficiency. It does not retard timing as some might think. If anything it will advance it slightly due to the high peak power during the brief streamer (2 nanoseconds) phase of the spark. I would welcome any questions or comments you might have for this new technology in hopes of clarifying misconceptions about it. We have performed tests on stardard BMWs with very promising results. At the present time, however, we do not have a 12 MM version so M class owners can't test it yet. But, we expect to have 12 MM early in 2009. We would be interested in finding a few M3, M5 owners willing to test Pulstar so that they can experience it and share your experience with others. Cheers We do 3 tests: fuel economy, torque pull at WOT and acceleration from 40-80 mph. We tap into the fuel line to get accurate fuel flow through a digital flow meter and perform a standard a EPA US06 test where the driver follows a speed line on a computer screen (takes some skill). The test ranges in speeds from 0 to 80 mph with some fairly steep acceleration ramps (not for you guys). It takes about 10 minutes per test. We precondition the vehicle with new OE spark plugs and run all the tests. We then change to Pulstar pulse plugs and run them again. Then we compare the results. Just out of curiosity, why would you say the M5 is not a good platform to conduct tests with? I would think just the opposite because of its higher engineering standards. Certainly the tests we do are standard industry tests used by the automakers and performance engine builders. I agree if we saw large differences among multiple runs there would either have to be something wrong with the dyno or the car. But, the testing methodology is well documented and accurate. As far as timing goes, we must remember that the electrical system is magnitudes faster than the mechanical system. So, even a slow ignition system beats a fast mechanical system hands down. But, the speed of a spark plugs and a pulse plugs are identical. The spark from both spark plugs and pulse plugs have 3 phases: the ionization phase when the voltage is trying to overcome the air resistance in the spark gap (5 microseconds), the streamer phase when the spark is actually formed and the resident phase when all the power from the coil is dissipated. During the ionization phase spark plugs store energy as heat while pulse plugs use it to charge the capacitor. Then during the streamer phase the pulse plug dumps all the accumulated power in the capacitor to the spark in only 2 nanoseconds. This is a lot of compressed power…roughly 20,000 times the power of a spark plug. The technology was developed with the assistance of Sandia National Laboratories in their Pulsed Power labs (hence the name Pulstar). See http://www.sandia.gov/media/z290.htm. BTW their Z Accelerator is amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 He vanished after the discussion got heavy though. The MX6 one is a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankzao Posted July 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I see.....makes me wonder what he was doing there in the 1st place...looks like he never returned or posted again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Must be like ///BHR... goes quiet once pwned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankzao Posted July 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 agreed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
///BHRpowered Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 incorrect, I was simply without internet access, instead I traded it for a sunburn. And I would not use them, the millenia doesn't like random crap, NGK plats in the oe config wor kgreat, as do the stock champions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginph Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hi Gentlemen. I am the CEO of Enerpulse, the maker of Pulstar pulse plugs. I noticed your comments concerning Pulstar and thought I might add some food for thought. Pulstar works differently than spark plugs becuase it has a pulsed power device sometimes referred to as a bi-polar high power capacitor. The capacitor intensifies the spark much like a camera flash intensifies light. This generates a larger spark aperture than spark plugs transferring more energy to the fuel charge yielding greater ignition precision and efficiency. It does not retard timing as some might think. If anything it will advance it slightly due to the high peak power during the brief streamer (2 nanoseconds) phase of the spark. I would welcome any questions or comments you might have for this new technology in hopes of clarifying misconceptions about it. We have performed tests on stardard BMWs with very promising results. At the present time, however, we do not have a 12 MM version so M class owners can't test it yet. But, we expect to have 12 MM early in 2009. We would be interested in finding a few M3, M5 owners willing to test Pulstar so that they can experience it and share your experience with others. Cheers We do 3 tests: fuel economy, torque pull at WOT and acceleration from 40-80 mph. We tap into the fuel line to get accurate fuel flow through a digital flow meter and perform a standard a EPA US06 test where the driver follows a speed line on a computer screen (takes some skill). The test ranges in speeds from 0 to 80 mph with some fairly steep acceleration ramps (not for you guys). It takes about 10 minutes per test. We precondition the vehicle with new OE spark plugs and run all the tests. We then change to Pulstar pulse plugs and run them again. Then we compare the results. Just out of curiosity, why would you say the M5 is not a good platform to conduct tests with? I would think just the opposite because of its higher engineering standards. Certainly the tests we do are standard industry tests used by the automakers and performance engine builders. I agree if we saw large differences among multiple runs there would either have to be something wrong with the dyno or the car. But, the testing methodology is well documented and accurate. As far as timing goes, we must remember that the electrical system is magnitudes faster than the mechanical system. So, even a slow ignition system beats a fast mechanical system hands down. But, the speed of a spark plugs and a pulse plugs are identical. The spark from both spark plugs and pulse plugs have 3 phases: the ionization phase when the voltage is trying to overcome the air resistance in the spark gap (5 microseconds), the streamer phase when the spark is actually formed and the resident phase when all the power from the coil is dissipated. During the ionization phase spark plugs store energy as heat while pulse plugs use it to charge the capacitor. Then during the streamer phase the pulse plug dumps all the accumulated power in the capacitor to the spark in only 2 nanoseconds. This is a lot of compressed power…roughly 20,000 times the power of a spark plug. The technology was developed with the assistance of Sandia National Laboratories in their Pulsed Power labs (hence the name Pulstar). See http://www.sandia.gov/media/z290.htm. BTW their Z Accelerator is amazing! The spark plugs store energy as magnetic field in the coil, not as heat. Even if there is a high density capacitor somewhere (and the industry is dying to find one reliable and cheap), i doubt it can survive in that harsh environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 well these are the reports from a local who was given a free set to run some tests on. He's got a slightly modded C5 Corvette Quote: Originally Posted by David View Post Well for those that remember. I convinced the makers of pulstar plugs to send me a free set. For my car that comes to $200.00 worth of plugs.. These plugs were suppose to crank up the spark.. increase compression and power.. I worked out a time to borrow the dyno at dynosport to run some test. What i had in my car going to the dyno were all Acdelco uraniums with about 4,000 miles on them.. THey are 100,000 mle plugs so i figured they were still good... at this point its giving the pulstars the advantage.. Well after doing some averaging.. it was concluded the pulstars increased power by 1hp and lost 1tq at the wheels over my used Acdelcos. I left them in to see if it would increase fuel econ. At first it seemed like i gained a couple mpg in town.. but after a few weeks that tappered off. I assume the difference wasn't the plugs but possibly gas/driving/enviroment and all the lil maintance i did before going like cleaning my maf. Long story short.. they dont' work atleast not as advertised.. All the cars they test are stock... My car is no where near stock.. however considering the method they are suppose to work... there should be equal improvement on my car over a stock... Welll it gets better. My car started acting up after the first snow storm... I kept thinking it was probably my 02's. They needed to be replaced but this didn't feel like 02s. although the rich smell and hte o2 codes said otherwise.. Well to get to my o2's i have to lower my headers. NOT an easy task... because of the way they drop i have to remove my sparkplugs... which means remove the pulstars... the first one came out just fine... looked just fine (color of the plug thats in the head) but that was the last one that came out that way.. every other one came out breaking... the ceramic coating that is... one was broken before i even put the socket over it. i had a hard time getting my socket over it.. because of the ceramic piieces laying underneither the plug on the head... so after strugglling for about 5 mins with it i finally go it off and it came out in peices.. just the top half everything inside the head was ok.. but this was obviously my problem.. So long story short they dont' work and are piles of [shizzle]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveSter Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 Good to know, I have heard enough. Not worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 I Save. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankzao Posted July 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 as do we all..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt64341 Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 I found this online on a website that had nothing to do with Pulstar plugs: “Incomplete burning of fuel is insignificant in modern cars. Fuel combustion today typically exceeds 98 percent.” John Heywood, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and an authority on internal-combustion engines. and this even 100% combustion, with zero unburned hydrocarbon emissions (which it will not), we would only realize an additional 1% - 2% increase in thermal energy. The diesel engine is about 50% thermally efficient, (gasoline 30%) with 50% of the energy of the fuel available to turn the engine while the other 50% is being shed primarily as heat from the radiator and exhaust. This would leave an increase of .5% to 1% of usable energy that could be applied to overcoming friction in transmission, wheels, radiator fan, etc. and increasing mileage. Assuming our mileage averaged 18mpg, we would realize 18mpg + .5% to 1% = 18.09mpg – 18.18mpg in theory with the practical amount a fraction of that. Pulstar claims that their plugs are better because they burn the fuel more completely, which they might be able to do, but there is such a small margin of improvement that can be made they wouldn't be worth it. Plus with the complaints of the quality, regular plugs seem like the best way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troutman Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 London's Daily Telegraph newspaper is reporting that Ford is working with the University of Liverpool to develop a laser ignition system for internal-combustion engines. That's right: engines with lasers strapped to their heads. http://www.cnet.com.au/spark-plugs-may-be-...s-339297460.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginph Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 London's Daily Telegraph newspaper is reporting that Ford is working with the University of Liverpool to develop a laser ignition system for internal-combustion engines. That's right: engines with lasers strapped to their heads. http://www.cnet.com.au/spark-plugs-may-be-...s-339297460.htm IF the engine doesnt melt the optics.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankzao Posted July 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 what about the burn off leaving dirt residue on the optics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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