MSD Superconductor wires

Grumpy Bear · February 9, 2018

1 hour ago, joshc64311 said:

IMO

grumpy bear like to sh!t in cereal, and I guess I am wet behind the ears but I have better things to do than to voice my opinion when it's not needed! Did you guys ever hear the saying TOO EACH HIS OWN?

So says the guy who just did....twice...in consecutive posts.

Question. The post you quote to attack me vulgar; was I talking to you? Was I talking about you or did you just wish to voice an opinion not needed? Diyer2 offers you some adult perspective and you attack both he and I! You're like a feral cat in a burlap bag; mindless and striking at the air. Take a breath. Compose yourself and for crying out load speak in complete comprehensible sentences. Any idea how irrational you sound?

Pearl2017 · February 10, 2018

On 2/8/2018 at 7:30 AM, Paintor said:

Ohms law. Amps is equal to voltage divivded by resistance ohms.

48,000 volt coil pack divided by 2,000 ohms resistance=24 amps

48,000 volt coil pack divided by 60 ohms resistance=800 amps

Now the coil pack is not going to deliver 800 amps.....just more of its amps/miliamps will equal a bigger flash at the plug than higher resistance wires.

For that bigger flash we need to know actual voltage squared divided by ohm resistance:

48,000 volts squared divided by 2,000 ohms=1,152,000 watts

48,000 volts squared divided by 60 ohms=3,840,000 watts

math says lower resistance wires ROCK....bigger flash.

60ohm wires will allow over DOUBLE of the watts to be converted to spark.....than factory 2,000 ohm wires.

You're leaving one huge thing out of your calculation. The wire is not the only component in the electrical path from the coil to ground. You have a spark plug there too. your calculation ignores that there is a resistance across the air gap of the spark plug. That air gap is where the voltage is dropped and turns to heat and lights the fuel charge. Look up Ohms law in a series circuit if you pause for a second and ponder your own calculation how could a wire that is carrying 800 amps or 3,840,000 watts not burn up? ...i mean a 1,000 watt space heater glows red right. the answer is as I said the almost infinite resistance of the spark plug means that the resistance of the wire is minuscule in comparison and so insignificant for firing the ignition.

I'm not hating on anyone ...If you like the wires that's fabulous! they look great and you can wow your friends :-).

But when you show pictures of the difference in resistance it does infer that somehow you believe and want others to believe that it gives you some advantage in performance. physics says it does not.

Grumpy Bear · February 10, 2018

Pearl2017 said, "I said the almost infinite resistance of the spark plug means that the resistance of the wire is minuscule in comparison and so insignificant for firing the ignition.

Let's look at that.

It takes about one thousand volts per .001" of plug gap to jump the gap. .040" gap = 40K volts. Roughly. This also means if you have a 60K coil and a .040" gap. Gap voltage is still only 40K. Once the gap is jumped the atmosphere within in the gap becomes ionized (plasma) and resistance drops like a rock in a well. Near zero actually. It becomes a non-factor.

A easy reader: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_gap

Or if still in print Jacobson Electronics had a pretty exhaustive ignition text book at one time. Pay special attention of the terms 'breakdown voltage" and "holding current".

Like Ripley, Believe it or Not.

Paintor · February 11, 2018

There’s the Grumpy I like.....

Pearl2017 · February 11, 2018

You're missing a bit of the event... Relative to igniting the fuel/air charge, what happens to the resistance in the spark plug gap after the high voltage pulse breaks over and Ionizes is also mostly irrelevant. Because at that instant the the fuel is then igniting and the hard work is history. Only thing remaining is how long the spark lasts as the ignition pulse ramps down and depletes. Hold over voltage is more important if your welding something to maintain an arc.

To be clear ...an infinitesimal instant before the plug fires. Ohm's law for a simple series circuit applies. no need to make it any more complicated then that.

What you should be asking yourself if you wish to espouse a view of the principles at work. If the stock wires are 2000ohm and better ones are 600ohm. To give you a better spark wouldn't a really really good wire be 1 ohm? And if its all about current and watts shouldn't the wires all be 4 gauge? The reason none of this matters is that a spark plug is a voltage operated device and the gap ensures that 99.99999% of the usable voltage is dropped in that gap.

Grumpy Bear · February 11, 2018

It hold current not voltage. It's break down voltage and it looks as if it needs an explanation. Electron flow, transference of current, cannot happen without an electron path. Atoms willing to give and take electrons. Air isn’t one of those gases that is willing. Mixtures of hydrocarbon and air included.

Voltage is potential. A potential is a surplus of electrons headed toward a lack of electrons. When the potential becomes great enough it IONIZES the gas superheating it freeing electrons to flow and then and only then will current flow. Spark, visible spark is literally a viewing of ionized gas passing a current. Once ionized current will continue to flow until 1.) the generating field is deplete of electrons 2.) insufficient current is flowing to hold the gas in a superheated, ionized, plasma, conductive state. Hold current the minimum amount of current required to maintain gas ionization.

If this were not true a spark plug would work in a vacuum and it won’t. In fact vacuum is what power companies use to insulate very high voltage. 138,000 volts to be exact.

In the proposed example of infinite resistance no current flow is possible. If it were possible there would be no such thing as an insulator. It’s kind of the definition of it.

Ohms Law remains in tact.

DTOMKIDD · February 12, 2018

On 2/9/2018 at 6:30 PM, Pearl2017 said:

You're leaving one huge thing out of your calculation. The wire is not the only component in the electrical path from the coil to ground. You have a spark plug there too. your calculation ignores that there is a resistance across the air gap of the spark plug. That air gap is where the voltage is dropped and turns to heat and lights the fuel charge. Look up Ohms law in a series circuit if you pause for a second and ponder your own calculation how could a wire that is carrying 800 amps or 3,840,000 watts not burn up? ...i mean a 1,000 watt space heater glows red right. the answer is as I said the almost infinite resistance of the spark plug means that the resistance of the wire is minuscule in comparison and so insignificant for firing the ignition.

I'm not hating on anyone ...If you like the wires that's fabulous! they look great and you can wow your friends :-).

But when you show pictures of the difference in resistance it does infer that somehow you believe and want others to believe that it gives you some advantage in performance. physics says it does not.

I know your not hating on anyone and I appreciate that. But I want to make it very clear that I bought these wires with the intention of sprucing up my engine bay and because I wanted to perform a tune up. I never had the intention of trying to state these wires would add some kind of advantage in performance by posting those pictures. People have shown interest in other threads about what the actual difference between stock and aftermarket wires would be when it comes to resistance so I thought I'd throw my findings out there without any implication of which is better. It was merely a recording of results without any drawn conclusions.

Also I should have been more clear when I stated that my truck is running smoother that I also changed my spark plugs at the time of changing to these wires. So any change I did feel was probably a combination of the new wires and spark plugs, but if I had to put my money on what possibly made the truck run smoother it would be the latter of the two.

Donstar · February 12, 2018

On 2/9/2018 at 10:41 AM, joshc64311 said:

IMO

grumpy bear like to sh!t in cereal, and I guess I am wet behind the ears but I have better things to do than to voice my opinion when it's not needed! Did you guys ever hear the saying TOO EACH HIS OWN?

Comments like this and "you suck" spoil an otherwise interesting discussion. "TOO {sic} EACH HIS OWN" does not excuse this kind of personal attack. I agree with the cosmetic change offered by the bright red wires. They would be a waste for many of us that don't have friends who ask to look under our (vehicle) hood! When looking at used vehicles for my friends and family, I look for things like "upgraded" spark plug wires. They alert me to take a closer look to see what other aftermarket attention this vehicle has received.

SWOYER · February 13, 2018

This thread is hilarious. Just admit it, you're attacking the poor kid because you think its a waste of money and you want to flex your technical knowledge because that makes you feel as though you assert your opinions of whats wrong with todays world. Meanwhile, no assertion was made about performance gains, at all. Just stated an observation. And he was right, they DO have lower resistance... LOL what you choose to do with that information is fine, but leave the poor kid alone.

I'm going to buy a set just to piss everyone off lol

Grumpy Bear · February 13, 2018

1 hour ago, SWOYER said:

This thread is hilarious. Just admit it, you're attacking the poor kid because you think its a waste of money and you want to flex your technical knowledge because that makes you feel as though you assert your opinions of whats wrong with todays world. Meanwhile, no assertion was made about performance gains, at all. Just stated an observation. And he was right, they DO have lower resistance... LOL what you choose to do with that information is fine, but leave the poor kid alone.

I'm going to buy a set just to piss everyone off lol

Anyone have any idea who this guy it talking to?

kennerz · February 15, 2018

It's threads like these that are forum killers. you start to see people not posting very often . If that's the goal this is an effective thread. Knowledge is great to share, but not use as a large club to beat any unsuspecting poster up with like a baby seal on the beach. Honestly no bones to pick with anyone here -just I've seen many a once great forum go down because the general direction threads such as this one take. no real reason for it.

GM-trucks is a great resource, hate to see it turn into inter-nut garbage. People look for reasons to go back in forth like it's an imaginary conflict amongst other you don't know. very intensely lame. When that's happening you know it's time for some life to be gotten. (net criminal misuse of English).

Might as well argue the benefits of panel filters, or gains from throttle body spacers while we're at it. Maybe brands of oil?

One last comment- many times you can "feel" improved response that will not show on a dyno, or show in a time slip. Worthless mod,? to some yes, to some no. To each his own... drivability is subjective.

DONWT15 · February 23, 2018

Ran into this thread about an hour ago. May I say there is some animosity in some of these posts. Had me laughing most of the way through it.

To the OP, most likely the plugs made the difference. The red wires are sharp.

I prefer yellow myself.

chuckworkb · January 27, 2019

Not to stir the pot, but how about a part number for those MSD wires?

DirtyMarcus · January 27, 2019

All this arguing over plug wires makes my head hurt. Im on my way to trade in for a diesel now. Dont be starting no arguements over glow plugs or i swear ill trade for a ford.