I agree with what he says about not being able to measure the resistor with a simple multimeter – except it is a whitewash when it comes to the big QA issue they had (and possibly still have) with disintegrating resistors in their finewire spark plugs.
There is no engineering reason for using their silicon carbide resistors, when Tempest finewire plugs use a fixed resistor which doesn’t have the problems and their plugs are slightly cheaper on top. I used to use Champion RHS38S and now use Tempest URHM38S.
Finewire (iridium) plugs (of either make) don’t appear to show any electrode wear after 800hrs – the longest I have flown with any set (they were changed for unrelated reasons).
Peter
I can’t get the video to play on my iPad, can you post the URL for it?
Many thanks!
http://www.youtube.com&;watch?v=7T6ZaJ3CWQ8
BTW you can open any Youtube video directly by clicking on the Youtube logo
which is visible on the bottom right of the video when you hover a mouse over it.
Thanks for this!
Peter, Champion have changed their design in 2014 to use the same resistor setup as Tempest.
The Youtube ‘clip’ is dated 25 Jul 2013 – so probably doesn’t include changes to the resistor. I didn’t go much on the oil filter wire-locking – looked a bit slack to me! It has been common work-shop practice to anneal the copper washer for ages and in my experience has never caused a problem. Of course if you over tighten the plug it will crush the washer and make it difficult to get off the plug. Should also say that I’ve been using Tempest products without any noticeable problems!
I too was going to say that NO WAY would have shown that crappy wire locking in a corporate video 
But it shows how many 100% clue-less people were around to see it before it was published. I am not even an aircraft engineer and I spotted it in 1 second.
I re-use spark plug washers, several times. The ones I use are solid copper and they take on a slight “form” so they have to go back in the same orientation. They don’t get compressed like e.g. the one on the sump strainer plug which can be used once only.
What is the cost of a new copper washer?? Why re-use?
What opinions on Finewire vs Massive?
Good point on the magnetic filters….
What is the cost of a new copper washer?? Why re-use?
Really just a matter of convenience – not sure of the cost! But every little helps as they say – and then there’s the environment to think about!
I am not aware that anybody has shown a performance gain with iridium plugs, but they definitely last a lot longer. In fact I have never seen any wear on mine.
They are also possibly less likely to clog up, but if you lean aggressively on the ground, that is very unlikely to happen anyway. My last clogged plug was in 2005. It did eventually clear. Just as well, since this was at San Sebastian where there were no facilities and I was about to look for the Spanish version of Halfords for a plug spanner. After that I have always carried a full toolbox. But probably now I would just fly with it…
