Goodbye Sparkplugs, Lasers on the way

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

According to a Denso meeting I was at the other day...

 

http://www.laserweekly.com/laser-powered-car-engines/

 

BBC News - Lasers could replace spark plugs in car engines

[leafcut]

Very interesting but will no doubt be very expensive initally just like everything else. I recall the first commercially available DVD players, cost about £150 when they first came out, now you can pick up a brand new one that covers all regions for £25. A big positive all the same...Nick.

[Alycidon]

If thats Nippon Denso which it looks like then I was one of their first UK agents in the late 70s. Normally plugs were changed at 6,000 miles, they said their twin groove electrode ones would do 100,000 miles. I put a set in my 1.6 OHC Cortina Mk4 and did 120,000 with them no problems at all. Really good gear let down a bit by so so marketing, or thats what is was like then.

 

A

[morten]

According to a Denso meeting I was at the other day...

 

http://www.laserweekly.com/laser-powered-car-engines/

 

BBC News - Lasers could replace spark plugs in car engines

 

Mind you... It's not as if my life has been ruined by spark plug problems. In fact, I have never had a problem with a spark plug on a saw. But I guess the coil would go too. Although it is anyone's guess how reliable a high performance laser is when compared to a spark plug that has evolved over more than 100 years.

 

Only time will tell

[djbobbins]

I'm curious, a spark plug will still work even when it is fouled up. But a laser is light based, so what happens when a few carbon deposits build up? Will the light be able to get through?