Do Pulstar Pulse plugs work?

[MetroMPG]

The fact remains that the quality of the "supporting data" on which they're basing their claims leaves a lot to be desired. Why are they soliciting members of the public to generate even less reliable data for use in testimonials?

I wrote to Tony, the engineer who runs fuelsaving.info. He declined to participate in this thread (too busy - new family), but gave me permission to post his response after reading what's been offered here so far:

I agree with your view that they don't have enough (any?) repeat testing to give statistical certainty. The sparkplugs.com dyno testing showed gains apparently well inside the test-to-test variability - including torque, where Pulstar claim to have a particular benefit.

The principle of increasing the spark power (though not energy) seems sound, but as I explain on my Web page, it's hard to see how that can give a big economy benefit compared to a conventional system in good condition. You could gain a percent or two through reduced misfires / partial burns, and that might be enough to justify the plugs for some people. But anything beyond that seems highly unlikely, not least because the ignition timing is optimised for the conventional system and a faster burn, even if theoretically helpful, would not give a practical benefit unless the spark was retarded.

As well as some better EPA-type economy measurements, Pulstar ought to invest in some burn rate analysis using in-cylinder pressure transducers. A competent engine lab at a university could probably do that for a few thousand dollars, and this would really prove (or not...) the theory that it gives a faster / hotter / "better" burn.

[cfg83]

Hello -

More bad news for Pulstar plugs, at least in Saturn S-Series waste-spark ignition systems. I sent my used set to a far more qualified individual than me with the same Saturn DOHC engine on saturnfans.com :

Pulstar Spark Plugs - SaturnFans Forums

I jumped in at post #23 :

SaturnFans Forums - View Single Post - Pulstar Spark Plugs

Results were catastrophic failure :

Pulstar Spark Plugs - Post #28

...
Pulstar Plug Test

Thanks again to cfg83 for providing the plugs for the cost of postage only.

I received them yesterday and installed them this evening after performing some electrical measurements on them, as well as on some NGKs and Bosch Super+ (standard) plugs I have.

The NGKs have the lowest resistance (the internal RFI suppression resistor). The Bosch was in the middle. The Pulstars have almost 4x the resistance each on average (see list below).

The Pulstars also have about 50x the capacitance from tip to connector, and 4x the capacitance from connector to the body as the other two. This immediately raised concerns for me.

Based upon these readings I think I know what they are doing internally and it is not good IMHO.

************************************
Readings for all four Pulstar Plugs (pre-install)-

Resistance- 11.81k, 11.83k, 11.78k, 11.84k (ohms)

Capacitance (tip to connector)- 99, 97, 106, 103 (picofarads)

Capacitance (connector to body)- 40.8, 41.0, 41.3, 41.2 (picofarads)
************************************

Comparison numbers for sample "standard" plugs-

Resistance- 6.27k (Bosch), 3.16k (NGK)

Capacitance (tip to connector)- 2pf (Bosch), 2pf (NGK)

Capacitance (connector to body)- 11.9pf (Bosch), 11.6pf (NGK)
************************************

The high resistance of the Pulstars alone could cause misfires on "S" series cars because there are two plugs in series with each coil AND the plug wires have 6,000-10,000 ohms resistance per wire. So it adds up to around 35,000 ohms, which is a LOT of resistance in ANY coil circuit.

OK, now for the road test.....well sort of......

I gapped the Pulstars at 0.035", exactly the same as the plugs I pulled out (ACs). The literature sent with the Pulstar plugs says explicitly to gap them "per factory recommendations", and that is the FSB gap for my car.

I reset the engine computer as they said to do by disconnecting the battery for about 1 minute. The plugs were installed carefully.

Upon starting the car it IMMEDIATELY ran very rough and barely idled. Even so, I pulled it out onto the street and tried to go down the block. I got about 200 feet when the SES light began to blink (hardly a surprise, really).

It ran so poorly that I instantly turned around and pulled it back into the garage. So my test run was a total of about 500 feet.

The code was a cylinder 2 misfire. So I decided to pull the #2 plug and swap it with the #3 plug to see if the misfire followed the plug. The #2 plug was very black and sooty (see photo). I wondered if it was a "polarity" problem since the #2 and #3 plugs share the same coil (as do #1 and #4).

I decided to also re-gap all of them down to 0.032" to see if that might help.

When I tried to pull the #1 plug its ceramic insulator came off completely inside the connector boot.


END OF TEST.....

Now, there was no indication of any problem with the #1 plug before installing it, and I was very gentle with all of them (padded socket, etc). I didn't drop them or anything else.

Upon examining the #1 plug remains it is very clear that it had been arcing badly internally (see photos). This almost certainly cracked the insulator by means of thermal shock. It appears in fact to have been doing that for some time, much longer than was possible in my 1 minute, 500 foot run.

I put the ACs back in, and the car ran perfectly again. Ran it entirely around the block this time and it seems very happy.

So, what can I conclude based upon this "extensive" test run?

1) The plug on cylinder #1 may have been already cracked but this seems unlikely because of its electrical measurements being "within range" of the others, no looseness noted, no discolorations of the insulator, no carbon tracking (internal resistance to ground), etc.

2) The misfire was not on the #1 plug, it was on the #2 plug, and despite being cracked the #1 plug tip is still clean! So the #1 and #4 plugs must have been firing. Also, the #3 plug which shares a coil with #2 was firing.

3) The high resistance of the plugs means that they probably are not good for "S" car ignition systems in the first place.

4) The #1 plug was likely defective from the factory. I can only guess that it was not right from the start, arc'd internally, and it just decided to give up on my car.

5) The #1 and #2 plugs are on the opposite sides of their respective coils. That may mean that they run opposite polarities, or it may mean nothing because of the way the coils are driven. I don't know.

Summary-

There is NO WAY I would recommend these plugs for use in Saturn "S" cars. Period, end of story, not even if more were given to me.:drool:

If cfg83 and I just got a bum plug (or two), for $25 a pop this is totally inexcusable.

Even if I assume that the #1 plug breaking was a fluke, the #2 plug was the one that misfired terribly!! So #2 was not working right, #1 cracking is just another defect.

cfg83 had similar misfires which was why he took them out. Something was wrong with them from the start it seems, at least as used in our "S" car ignitions (waste spark system).

Perhaps the pulse circuit does not like being reverse polarized and cycled back and forth. Maybe given their very high resistance they simply overheat. We'll probably never know.

So, my ultimate conclusion- A poor product at best, snake oil at worst. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

Since they appear to be mechanically similar to the plugs used in our garden tractor, I think I'll take #3 and #4 and try them in it. Who knows, since it is NOT a waste spark system, maybe I'll get 40 lawn cuttings to the fill.....

Oh well, I've spent $5 on worse things and gotten less out of it.

...

CarloSW2

[blazerbuster]

Don't waste your money on pulstar pluggs. They DO NOT work, in fact I just spent $1500.00 in repairs due to them. They are too hot for most street engines
& your distributor will retard the spark back to factory settings and possibly burn up your fuel injectors and shorten the life of your ignition system.

[Frank Lee]

I've had a set of PulseStars in the Sport Coupe for years with nothing blowing up except the fuel/air charge. Runs fine on them. Won't make any fe claims for them because they seem to be the same as the regular plugs.

[Domman56]

Bosch platinum's work great in all the benzes for us FE isn't mentionable but runs much smoother

[Ryanrpm]

I recently invested in a set of 8 Pulstars - Be1 G3 for my Tundra. They work fine, with no mishaps or malfunctions. Too soon to tell if they help with fuel economy. I mainly got them because of the hotter spark they produce....this will work very well with the AquaThrust I have.

BTW, read up on the improvements they made between the generation 2 and the gen 3's. There is a world of difference and they've worked out the bugs.

Oh, and one last thing.....I paid $13/ea for mine. Not that must more than the Iridium's my truck calls for.

[123456]

Originally Posted by Z man

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere, but would these plugs be a good investment?

If anyone has Pulstars tell me if they work!

If not, what are the best spark plugs to have?

no, they work as spark plugs but they do not create any magical mpg or hp gain. a bunch of guys in an auto club i'm in run them and have seen no difference in any aspect other than the price. i've been running NGK plugs and they're great! (and cheap )

[mwebb]

"As a result combustion products from a pulse plug are lean."

for the record
this statement highlighted above is compete blarney , anyone who would make such a statement has no clue what he is speaking about

the fact is
although
the mixture of individual puffs from varying cylinders can be different
based on conditions at the time .
the mixture of each combustion puff in the system from the combustion chamber to the tail pipe
IS EXACTLY the same as when it entered the combustion chamber , it does not and can not change .
so if the mixture entered combustion at stoich it left the tailpipe at stoich as well
there is NO OTHER POSSIBILITY assuming no leaks in the exhaust .

the spark plugs can not have any effect at all on the mixture ,
to suggest that they might demonstrates a lack of credibility and the complete absence of knowledge of the subject by the poster.
who just happens to be the CEO of the company .

i challenge the CEO DParker to submit documentation to dispute my assertion .
ready
begin

====================================
...."trikkonceptz,

Also right. We make power by burning the hydrocarbons in the cylinder instead of the catalytic converter.
As a result combustion products from a pulse plug are lean.
BTW, 35% of vehicles using Pulstar are still under warranty and many of the vehicles we test are older than 10 years...they give us the very best results.
"....

Originally Posted by dparker

whitevette,

You are right. We call that squish velocity. Spark plugs can tolerate a squish velocity of about 10 meters per second, but Pulstar can take 100 meters per second due to its compressed power.

trikkonceptz,

Also right. We make power by burning the hydrocarbons in the cylinder instead of the catalytic converter. As a result combustion products from a pulse plug are lean. BTW, 35% of vehicles using Pulstar are still under warranty and many of the vehicles we test are older than 10 years...they give us the very best results.

ajax_6531,

I understand your point. It's hard to visit all the different forums out there talking about Pulstar and have the time to detail them all. I would love to understand your methods. If you read my posts you will see that I have detailed ours. Please, someone explain how you go about testing. I think of Pulstar as a green product. Do you know that 1 gallon of gasoline weighs 6.2 lbs. and generates 19.4 pounds of carbon dioxide a prime greenhouse gas? If you have ideas of how we can get our green message across I am all ears.

All,

Thanks for listening. I welcome your insights. We are a new company with an exciting technology, but we don't always know the best way to describe it to people. There has been so much snake oil out there, that any new plug would logically be guilty on arrival. We are only looking for a fair chance to prove ourselves.

Thanks

[jamminjimmy]

yeah.... I would think any product/part/mod that improves combustion(thus causing the O2 sensor to sense a lean-burn condition), would have a mod/instructions to compensate for the change in O2 sensor signal so that the ECU doesn't "dump" more fuel in to compensate.....

thanks for this thread, I was wondering about them, and there isn't much info out there....

[mwebb]

if your system has an 02 sensor
what is described below is NOT possible

with an 02 sensor for feedback
in closed loop;
the system can only operate at lambda or stoich or 14.7 to 1

if the 02 sensor is cycling from 150mv to 850mv in 100ms and back in 100ms which is what it is designed to do which is how it is designed to operate ,
then the system is at 14.7 to 1 air to fuel ratio .

if the 02 sensor is pinned near 150mv the ECM thinks the system is
an UNKNOWN amount leaner than 14.7 to 1 and the ECM will set a DTC for lean condition

if the 02 sensor is pinned near 850mv the ECM thinks the system is
an UNKNOWN amount richer than 14.7 to 1 and the ECM will set a DTC for rich condition

to have a system that operates leaner than 14.7 to 1 in closed loop
you need to have an Air Fuel ratio sensor for feedback

after the mixture enters the combustion chamber
the mixture can not be changed by the combustion process

after the mixture enters the combustion chamber the mixture can not be changed by the combustion process

after the mixture enters the combustion chamber
the mixture can not be changed by the combustion process

no matter the quality or lack of combustion
the mixture does not change

Originally Posted by jamminjimmy

yeah.... I would think any product/part/mod that improves combustion

(thus causing the O2 sensor to sense a lean-burn condition),

would have a mod/instructions to compensate for the change in O2 sensor signal so that the ECU doesn't "dump" more fuel in to compensate.....

thanks for this thread, I was wondering about them, and there isn't much info out there....