DIS Explainations

[Clint Corbin]

At 10:17 AM 3/22/98 +0100, you wrote:
>On Sun, 22 Mar 1998, you wrote:
>
>> I can offer no clues as to why the waste spark only consumes 20-30% of
>> the spark energy in a DIS ignition system that fires two plugs at once.
>
>The clue is that one cylinder is at atmospheric pressure (or thereabouts)
>whereas the other plug is at compression pressure. Air is an insulator,
>the effect of which increases with pressure as you note. This means that
>the resistance at the plug exposed to low pressure is much less than the
>resistance at plug exposed to high pressure. Basic Ohms law tells us that
>the voltage drop over the high pressure plug will be much higher.  Since
>the current is the same, the energy at the high pressure will be higher.
>
>Egil

Don't forget, the gas in the cylinder that's get the wasted spark is also
very, very hot.  Good chance that a lot of this gas is already ionized,
further
reducing that plugs resistance.