what are these Spark plugs

[Guest stv911]

Hiyaz..

 My father inlaw bought these and is trying to figure out from roughly what year and what they were used in.

 

 thnx

[JFranklin]

GIZMOS! Could they be spark intensifiers or noise surprisers?

[Guest AlCapone]

Obviously spark related, but I do not believe they are spark plugs. Wayne

[hddennis]

Either spark intensifiers or static suppressors.

Howard Dennis

[Guest stv911]

Ok...thnx

[Terry Bond]

Yup, aftermarket spark intensifiers.  There is an air-gap inside them so the spark has to jump.  That does actually intensify the spark a bit.  These were commonly sold to help cure oiled up spark pugs and help smooth out misfiring.  The idea was accidentaly discovered in Europe in around the turn of the century when engineers at Panhard-Levassor discovered that an "outside spark gap" produced a hotter spark at ignition.  That basic idea has survived ever since, even being incorporated into spark pugs themselves.   These devices were sold in all kinds of shapes, sizes and configurations, some with glass windows in them so you could actually see the spark jump.  The most well known of these is the Rentz Lighthouse spark plug that included an adjustable air gap inside a glass tube.  It must have been quite a show seeing cars equipped with these things running in the dark of night.

Terry

[Graham Man]

They are, have a set on my 1929 Graham-Paige 8.  I was going to get rid of them when I put new wires on.  I thought they were just to tell you had spark.  They were also common on snowmobiles, so you could see if your plugs were fouled.

[Guest stv911]

Thnx for the replies..

Are any of these worth anything or are they pretty common ?

Here is a few more if you don't mind looking at.

 

Thnx

[Restorer32]

I would love someone to explain how an additional spark outside the cylinder intensifies the spark inside the cylinder. I'm not being skeptical, would just like to understand the science behind it. Some sort of condensor effect maybe?