Re: 2-stroke vs 4-stroke spark plugs;am I dreaming

[frankr]

The theory is that the spark jumps easier from the center electrode to the side electrode of the plug. There is some validity to that theory, just how much is debatable. I just looked it up and the book said 15%. So why does it jump easier from center to side? Well first we have to accept the truth in which way electricity flows. The truth is that it flows from negative to positive. That is known as the Electron Theory of current flow and that electrons are of negative polarity. The other theory is that it flows from positive to negative, known as the Conventional Theory of current flow. Almost everybody believes the Conventional Theory, so that is pretty much accepted teaching even though not true. Now let’s think about the vacuum tubes used in old radios. It would be difficult if not impossible to understand how they work if you want to cling to the Conventional Theory. The flow of current through a vacuum tube is from cathode to plate (anode). That is made to happen by applying a high voltage between the two, negative to the cathode and positive to plate. But even that is not enough to make the (negative) electrons break loose from the cathode and travel through a vacuum to the plate. The cathode is heated by a filament which makes the electrons in its atoms excited and dance around and thus they can be attracted away by the plate. The hot filament is the glow you see within a tube and the reason the old radios had to "warm up" before it would work after you turn it on.

With that limited understanding, it is easy to see where the theory concerning spark plugs came from. They figured that the center electrode was the hotter of the two electrodes, and it’s negative electrons are excited and dancing around and easier to attract to the positive side terminal. So there ya go, believe it or don’t.