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 Author | Topic: Side-gapping your spark plugs (Read 2,310 times) |
dwnthehatch
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|  | Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Thread Started on May 29, 2006, 12:15pm » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
I read this on hotrod.com. Do you think it will work on the ruckus?
You can improve your performance by side-gapping your spark plugs. Cut back the ground electrode to a point halfway across the “hot” electrode. To protect the center electrode, you can insert a piece of sheetmetal or a hacksaw blade when removing material with a file. Deburr edges when you’re finished and use the standard gap for your engine. We’ve found that this trick improves performance at part-throttle and produces a small increase in gas mileage.
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Dandy Dan
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #1 on May 29, 2006, 12:50pm » | |
Who wants to be the Guinea Pig? I'll do it if no one tries it by the weekend (I'm seperated from my Ruckus during the week) since I've got some extra plugs (I wish they didn't come in 2 packs). I doubt the difference will be significant though. Why wouldn't spark plug companies do this in the first place if it was better?
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suprtek
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #2 on May 29, 2006, 3:32pm » | |
I can see how some performance increase might be possible. I think the catch is that the plug won't last as long due to the center electrode only getting spark on one side. Effectively making it wear twice as fast.
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #3 on May 29, 2006, 8:41pm » | |
 Superteck is right, that use to be a common mod in race engines, we even use to file the center electrode in to a point as it is easier for the spark to jump from a point than from a blunt, cutting the tip exposes more mixture to the spark, so it travels across more evenly, other trick was to index the gap which is to make the gap face the top of the piston, and yes it does work, the down side is that it wears the center electrode faster, shortening the live of the spark plug considerably 
but it should help with your midrange performance 
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #4 on May 29, 2006, 11:24pm » | |
Learn something new almost everyday. I knew about indexing the gap but not the other. I wonder how much shorther the sparkplug would last on the Ruckus by doing this?
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Dandy Dan
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #5 on May 30, 2006, 9:01am » | |
I might try this with one of my extra plug....nothing bad can happen right other than needing to replace my plug more often? I think I've got 3 extra's laying around so I'm not too concerned about that.
To do this, should I first file it down to the center of the electrode as shown in the above picture and then file it to a point so the tip of the point is centered over the electrode?
Also, what's 'indexing' the gap? I'm a bit confused when you say 'make the gap face the top of the piston'.
Lastly, how much shorter life are we talking? This should still last a few thousand kms right?
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suprtek
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #6 on May 30, 2006, 4:43pm » | |
Chanito might have more insight on this but I would guess that it would require a little experimentation to find the best shape for the electrodes to suit the Ruckus engine. Obviously we are not dealing with the compression or fuel pressure that exists in a racing engine. The idea is to try to make the spark go in a direction that is across the diameter of the cylinder rather than in line with the stroke of the piston. This exposes the mixture to the spark a little more without it being partially hidden by the ground electrode. Theoretically it could have the effect of a small advance in timing and possibly a more complete burning of the fuel mixture. As far as how much this may reduce the life of the plug, that would probably be a matter of experimentation too but if I were to do it I would plan on about half.
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chanito
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #7 on May 30, 2006, 6:36pm » | |
 Supertek is right, on most engine the life of the plug goes to a little less than half, that said i guess that we should get about 2 to 2,5 thousand miles
Now for some theory. There is a common miscomseption that there is a explosion in the combustion chamber, No what we have is an enclosed burn and a rapid expansion, the mixture start burning from the tip of the plug and goes out expanding and pushing the piston down, so by exposing more mixture to the tip of the spark plug the burning is more centrally located and pushes down with the same force on a larger area, giving us some extra torque  the idea of indexing the spark plug is to begin the combustion in the center of the cylinder so it start expanding outward. By the way indexing is just making the open part of the spark plug tip face the top and center of the piston, so in the drawing the center top of the piston would be where the file is, we use to paint a line in the porcelain of the plug with a majic marker oposite the gap and it was just a mater of tightening the plug until it faced away from the center of the cyl. sometimes it required using special indexing gaskets (the metal sealing ring), it does work wonders at part throttle and it was our only option on total stock engines mandated by the santioning body, and in our easy to change spark plug engines, it seems like a worthy idea (why didn't i think of that)
Find a piece of thin metal and stick it between the center electrode and the side one, then file away until you are almost to the center, then start filing at it at a 45 degree angle until you get to the center then you do the other side until you have a pointy side electrode tip, remove the protective metal, gap the plug and you are ready to go
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suprtek
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chanito
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #10 on May 30, 2006, 9:03pm » | |
Just to clarify i decide to include a crude drawing so you guys know what i am talking about
![[image]](http://foxed.ca/img/chanito/sparkgap.jpg "[image]")
this is what a modify spark plug would look when properly file down
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suprtek
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #12 on May 31, 2006, 12:25am » | |
I think...Holy crow that's a big picture. Interesting to see what the expert has to say for sure. My only question is how would you gap something like that?
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suprtek
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #13 on May 31, 2006, 8:24am » | |
Sorry about the size of the pic. Not sure why it showed up so large. Gapping it would be a little tricky. I was told the way to do it was to make sure the flat feeler guage sits flat against the angled surface of the center electrode.
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Dandy Dan
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #14 on May 31, 2006, 9:29am » | |
Quote:Wow. Are we actually giving technical advice to Dan?  |
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 I've learned a lot about the Ruckus from my own trial and error mechanical experimentation and from guys online like Chanito but before I got my Ruckus I didn't even know what a camshaft was. Whenever a new idea or topic comes up though I have no idea because I don't have a racing background like Chanito. I can explain to you how a 4-stroke works cuz I've rebuilt mine but if you asked me how a stroke worked I'd be stuck in the basics.
Anyways, great thread guys. I'm hoping to try this, this coming weekend. It's nice to be apart of such a great think tank.
I feel like I should contribute to this thread somehow so here's a total guess:
What if I filed my center electrode to 2 point (like a snakes tongue)? Would I get a different spark shooting up to each point and thus maybe a better burn?
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suprtek
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chanito
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #16 on May 31, 2006, 10:11pm » | |
 Ok this is how the split fire works, by having the split tip they have the spark happening at the center of the combustion chamber the spark jumps from one tip and in the process warm it up, so the next spark jumps from the cooler tip, obviously the problem was very little spark plug life, specially now that you can get platinum tip sparkplugs that can last up to 100k miles, so a 5k mile spark plug was doom from the begining, i remember we use to have a member here that use to work for a big spark plug manufacturer, he would have been the perfect man to explain this better, he was the man who got the supertrapp muffler to work wonders for him.
I do not see the advantage of the slant center electrode as it will be on the path of the flame, and will increase the wear factor, and we use to test spark plugs on the engine dyno and the cut tip made the most power after the surface discharge race spark plug, however the surface discharge (is a plug with no side electrode and the center electrode is on the center of a flat porcelain surface, so the spark swims on top of the porcelain and is open to the combustion chamber) requires a thick insulated ignition wire and put a lot of stress on the ignition system, of the stock plugs the best were the V-type from NGK (it was a plug with a groove on the center electrode) and the U-type from ND (it was a plug with a grove on the side electrode), so the split traveling fire helps, but the side gapped spark beat them both and with a pointy tip it was even better
On a funny note the conventional plug outperformed the platinum tipped ones (that was 20 years ago)
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Dandy Dan
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #17 on Jun 1, 2006, 11:40am » | |
Alright a side gapped pointy tip one is coming up this saturday. I don't the difference will be noticable since even a new variator is only slightly noticable. I just want to center the tip of the point directly over the electrode right?
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chanito
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #18 on Jun 1, 2006, 10:26pm » | |
And you will probably feel the diference in that 25-35 mph accel
Let us know how it work out, it might be a good idea to invest on an extra plug
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Dandy Dan
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| | Re: Side-gapping your spark plugs
« Reply #19 on Jun 2, 2006, 9:15am » | |
I already have about 3 extras laying around.
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