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Author Topic:   E3 Brand Spark Plugs

cgodfrey posted 09-07-2009 04:28 PM ET (US)
Has anyone used the (relatively new) Arnold or E3 brand Spark Plugs? I noticed them at a big box home improvement retailer this morning, and also noticed the hefty price- $6.98. Each. Dazzle me with stories of increased power and reduced consumption and pollution from the DiamondFire technology.--CG

hauptjm posted 09-08-2009 10:52 AM ET (US)
Interesting!
high sierra posted 09-09-2009 11:04 PM ET (US)
Hi, looks to me like a version of a splitfire plug of a few years ago which I used for a while. They were a ripoff. Doubtful these would produce any more power as the ignition is producing only so much energy. If you let plugs go so far they start to misfire ,the additional electrode may help. Try them and let us know. high sierra
cgodfrey posted 09-10-2009 12:26 AM ET (US)
If they are junk, they've done a better job getting their product out to mainstream retailers than Splitfire ever did.
I've now seen them in the lawn and garden section at both Lowe's and Sears.
We don't have to necessarily limit this topic to marine applications.
cgodfrey posted 05-09-2010 10:02 PM ET (US)
I'm going to give this topic a second chance. If no one's interested, I promise not to dredge it out again.
The price of the E3 brand spark plugs seems to be more competitive than in the past. I splurged and spent the extra two dollars for the E3 over the Champion brand for my old lawnmower with a 40 year old Tecumseh 3hp engine.
I was not displeased with the result. My fuel economy seemed to decrease very slightly, but the mower seemed to run just a touch smoother and stronger as well.
Could various factors, including placebo effect, have influenced my perceptions? Absolutely.
But I must admit that my interest in experimenting with a set of E3 spark plugs in one of my old outboards is piqued.
Has anyone chosen E3 plugs for their outboards this season?
CG
RevengeFamily posted 05-10-2010 07:03 AM ET (US)
I'm running twin 1999, 225 V6 Mercuries on my 1999 285 Conquest, that totals out to $84.00 plus tax which is another $7.00 to install the E3 plugs in my engines. However, I might give them a try in one engine and do a side by side comparison. My gut instinct is that it's all hype.
Norm
cgodfrey posted 05-10-2010 07:43 PM ET (US)
I decided to splurge because (1) I was buying only one spark plug, for an old lawnmower I got for free (2) My local Sears had them on sale for $4.50ish, as compared to $2.50ish for the Champion equivalent.
If I were tuning up a large, multicylinder engine, at significant expense, I doubt I would be inclined to purchase the E3 plugs just for the sake of experimentation.
CG
69boo307 posted 05-11-2010 08:28 AM ET (US)
I don't buy into spark plug marketing myself. If the combustion chamber has a sufficient spark to ignite all of the fuel/air mixture at the right moment, combustion is gonna happen. If you have a plug with the appropriate dimensions and heat range, it should work fine. Anything beyond that is marketing hype in my opinion. They need to come up with something creative to convince people that they need a different kind of spark plug now. :)
I've done alot of 'hotrodding' with both old and modern cars, and I had a particular vehicle that came from the factory with expensive 'iridium' spark plugs. I tried some different spark plugs with it, and it ran just as well on a conventional copper plug that cost $2.50. I raced this car at the dragstrip, so I had a fairly consistent way to quantify what 'running good' meant.
Ridge Runner posted 05-11-2010 12:50 PM ET (US)
About a year ago I put E3 plugs in my 2004 Suburban, run well for about 6 months then started to run rough. I found two plugs hard slight hireline cracks. I went back to iridium plugs.
RevengeFamily posted 05-11-2010 05:21 PM ET (US)
69boo307 and Ridge Runner,
If it didn't happen at the strip it's not going to happen in my Merc. Thanks for saving me some cash.
Chuck Tribolet posted 05-11-2010 06:59 PM ET (US)
Iridium plugs aren't about running BETTER but rather about
running LONGER. Many many thousands of miles longer.
I'm very glad my Pathfinder has fancy plugs. It's about
a three-hour job to change all six. Fortunately, it only
has to be done every 105,000 miles.

Chuck
krbernier posted 05-13-2010 10:14 AM ET (US)
All these plugs with non conventional electrodes (splitfire ect) That rely on a design where there is multiple points to supposedly provide two or more arcs will soon only produce only one arc. Each time the plug arcs the electrode wears slightly. Eventually the points on the electrodes will be at different distances and the arc will follow the easiest path.
Marketing gimmick.
Hoosier posted 05-13-2010 11:24 AM ET (US)
If you want a really exotic spark plug check these out.
http://www.pulstar.com/
I have them in two cars and they do what's claimed.
krbernier posted 05-13-2010 02:47 PM ET (US)
the Pulstar design is garbage as well. An ignition coil generates around 30,000 volts.A capacitor can store energy. The capacitor in the Pulstar plugs can only store what is supplied. So the plug could store the 30,00 volts. When the ignition coils fires again guess how many volts go to the plug? Thats right 30,000.
The only time a capacitor is of use is when there is a large load like an electric motor starting. the large load at start will drop the voltage and the capacitor will help keep the voltage up during the inrush period of the motor starting.
In my opinion a 30,000 volt discharge is a 30,000 volt discharge. Capacitor or not
Hoosier posted 05-13-2010 05:12 PM ET (US)
What Pulstar is claiming is that their plugs deliver the energy in the spark in a very short pulse. A 30KV charge fired in 2 nanoseconds has a higher energy density than the same charge fired in a 1 millisecond spark. Anyway, I noticed the difference in my cars and soon I'll see how they work on the water.
krbernier posted 05-13-2010 09:59 PM ET (US)
I may be mistaken but electricity travels at a constant speed. Don't drink the cool aid

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Author	Topic: E3 Brand Spark Plugs
cgodfrey	posted 09-07-2009 04:28 PM ET (US) Has anyone used the (relatively new) Arnold or E3 brand Spark Plugs? I noticed them at a big box home improvement retailer this morning, and also noticed the hefty price- $6.98. Each. Dazzle me with stories of increased power and reduced consumption and pollution from the DiamondFire technology.--CG
hauptjm	posted 09-08-2009 10:52 AM ET (US) Interesting!
high sierra	posted 09-09-2009 11:04 PM ET (US) Hi, looks to me like a version of a splitfire plug of a few years ago which I used for a while. They were a ripoff. Doubtful these would produce any more power as the ignition is producing only so much energy. If you let plugs go so far they start to misfire ,the additional electrode may help. Try them and let us know. high sierra
cgodfrey	posted 09-10-2009 12:26 AM ET (US) If they are junk, they've done a better job getting their product out to mainstream retailers than Splitfire ever did. I've now seen them in the lawn and garden section at both Lowe's and Sears. We don't have to necessarily limit this topic to marine applications.
cgodfrey	posted 05-09-2010 10:02 PM ET (US) I'm going to give this topic a second chance. If no one's interested, I promise not to dredge it out again. The price of the E3 brand spark plugs seems to be more competitive than in the past. I splurged and spent the extra two dollars for the E3 over the Champion brand for my old lawnmower with a 40 year old Tecumseh 3hp engine. I was not displeased with the result. My fuel economy seemed to decrease very slightly, but the mower seemed to run just a touch smoother and stronger as well. Could various factors, including placebo effect, have influenced my perceptions? Absolutely. But I must admit that my interest in experimenting with a set of E3 spark plugs in one of my old outboards is piqued. Has anyone chosen E3 plugs for their outboards this season? CG
RevengeFamily	posted 05-10-2010 07:03 AM ET (US) I'm running twin 1999, 225 V6 Mercuries on my 1999 285 Conquest, that totals out to $84.00 plus tax which is another $7.00 to install the E3 plugs in my engines. However, I might give them a try in one engine and do a side by side comparison. My gut instinct is that it's all hype. Norm
cgodfrey	posted 05-10-2010 07:43 PM ET (US) I decided to splurge because (1) I was buying only one spark plug, for an old lawnmower I got for free (2) My local Sears had them on sale for $4.50ish, as compared to $2.50ish for the Champion equivalent. If I were tuning up a large, multicylinder engine, at significant expense, I doubt I would be inclined to purchase the E3 plugs just for the sake of experimentation. CG
69boo307	posted 05-11-2010 08:28 AM ET (US) I don't buy into spark plug marketing myself. If the combustion chamber has a sufficient spark to ignite all of the fuel/air mixture at the right moment, combustion is gonna happen. If you have a plug with the appropriate dimensions and heat range, it should work fine. Anything beyond that is marketing hype in my opinion. They need to come up with something creative to convince people that they need a different kind of spark plug now. :) I've done alot of 'hotrodding' with both old and modern cars, and I had a particular vehicle that came from the factory with expensive 'iridium' spark plugs. I tried some different spark plugs with it, and it ran just as well on a conventional copper plug that cost $2.50. I raced this car at the dragstrip, so I had a fairly consistent way to quantify what 'running good' meant.
Ridge Runner	posted 05-11-2010 12:50 PM ET (US) About a year ago I put E3 plugs in my 2004 Suburban, run well for about 6 months then started to run rough. I found two plugs hard slight hireline cracks. I went back to iridium plugs.
RevengeFamily	posted 05-11-2010 05:21 PM ET (US) 69boo307 and Ridge Runner, If it didn't happen at the strip it's not going to happen in my Merc. Thanks for saving me some cash.
Chuck Tribolet	posted 05-11-2010 06:59 PM ET (US) Iridium plugs aren't about running BETTER but rather about running LONGER. Many many thousands of miles longer. I'm very glad my Pathfinder has fancy plugs. It's about a three-hour job to change all six. Fortunately, it only has to be done every 105,000 miles. Chuck
krbernier	posted 05-13-2010 10:14 AM ET (US) All these plugs with non conventional electrodes (splitfire ect) That rely on a design where there is multiple points to supposedly provide two or more arcs will soon only produce only one arc. Each time the plug arcs the electrode wears slightly. Eventually the points on the electrodes will be at different distances and the arc will follow the easiest path. Marketing gimmick.
Hoosier	posted 05-13-2010 11:24 AM ET (US) If you want a really exotic spark plug check these out. http://www.pulstar.com/ I have them in two cars and they do what's claimed.
krbernier	posted 05-13-2010 02:47 PM ET (US) the Pulstar design is garbage as well. An ignition coil generates around 30,000 volts.A capacitor can store energy. The capacitor in the Pulstar plugs can only store what is supplied. So the plug could store the 30,00 volts. When the ignition coils fires again guess how many volts go to the plug? Thats right 30,000. The only time a capacitor is of use is when there is a large load like an electric motor starting. the large load at start will drop the voltage and the capacitor will help keep the voltage up during the inrush period of the motor starting. In my opinion a 30,000 volt discharge is a 30,000 volt discharge. Capacitor or not
Hoosier	posted 05-13-2010 05:12 PM ET (US) What Pulstar is claiming is that their plugs deliver the energy in the spark in a very short pulse. A 30KV charge fired in 2 nanoseconds has a higher energy density than the same charge fired in a 1 millisecond spark. Anyway, I noticed the difference in my cars and soon I'll see how they work on the water.
krbernier	posted 05-13-2010 09:59 PM ET (US) I may be mistaken but electricity travels at a constant speed. Don't drink the cool aid