Knock Question

[M&D]

I mentioned the site because they claim to use the spark plug as an
"in-cylinder sensor", and I was thinking that between sparks you could use
the plug the same way to detect ionization levels. I agree about the ign.
amplifiers being basically a waste of money, the people I know who are using
the specialized version for the wankel are all running >12PSI of boost, or
have old 12A engines with 150K miles on them.

Michael Harrington
91coupe at bellsouth.net
91 RX-7 Coupe "Pearl" w/ some mods
N3WJE Ham

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Harris <bob at bobthecomputerguy.com>
To: diy_efi at esl.eng.ohio-state.edu <diy_efi at esl.eng.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Sunday, March 15, 1998 11:04 AM
Subject: RE: Knock Question


>What I am looking for is information on how to detect the sharp increase in
>ionization that is a result of a knock event, which other than excessive
>advance, is generally not related to an adequate ignition system.  Once I
>have a methodology, I intend to use it rather than acoustics as a knock
>detector and adjust timing accordingly.  The cheap microphone with
filtering
>works for a manufactor with thousands of engineering hours to fine tune it
>to a specific engine, however, I'd like a fast acting, reliable, non fussy
>detection method sometime before the asteroid arrives.
>
>The Jacob's Ignition address's a totally different non-problem for the
>engines I am trying to improve.  They feature fast burn, good swirl, closed
>chambers - thus making them remarkably resistant to improvement by wallet
>weight reduction. The benefit of all (pick your favorite brand and insert
>here) enhanced ignition systems is inversely proportional to the goodness
of
>the chamber and other mechanical design factors and directly proportional
to
>the crappiness of the fuel and mixture.
>
>But thanks for the link - Dr. Jacob's is always worth looking at - even if
>you choose not to use his stuff.
>
>From: "M&D" <91coupe at bellsouth.net>
>Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 23:59:33 -0500
>Subject: Re: Knock Question
>
>I think the Jacobs Energy-pak aftermarket ignition amplifier uses this very
>method (sparkplug) to see the condition of the combusting mixture. see
>http://www.jacobselectronics.com
>
>Michael Harrington
>91coupe at bellsouth.net
>91 RX-7 Coupe "Pearl" w/ some mods
>N3WJE Ham
>
>
>
>