Tempest Finewires

[gsxrpilot]

Just a quick Pirep.  On Sunday, I installed a full set of Tempest finewire plugs in my C.

I have been using Champion massives prior. In two years and 300 hours, I've never had a perfect Mag check. I always got a little more drop on one then the other and also a barely perceptible roughness on one rather than the other.  I've got relatively new Slick mags and had replaced a couple of the Champion plugs at different times.

After getting a good deal on the Fine wires from Mike (N601RX) on this forum, (thanks Mike), I decided to try the Fines.

I must say, the engine purrs like a kitten now, the mag check was dead even and smooth as butter.  And I've never seen all four cylinders as dead even on temperatures.  We'll see how they work out over time, but I gotta say I'm VERY happy with them after the first few hours.

[gsengle]

Anyone use em on an IO550?

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[RocketAviator]

I use Fine wire in my TSIO 520 Rocket.  Tried Champion, very noticeable improvement.  I run seriously LOP, now with well over 650 hrs on them they still preform well.  I do see some lead build up at annual.  I only clean with pick, never sandblasting.

Was a challenge to choke down the cost but I would do it again.

[StevenL757]

10 hours ago, gsengle said:

Anyone use em on an IO550?

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Yes.  Religiously.  Tempest URHB-32S.  Never had reservations about spending the additional money on them and the engines have never run better...both when I had my IO550-G6 and now the IO550N.  One of the first things I did when the new engine was unpacked and mounted was install 12 of these new.  One of the best investments I've ever made.

[ryoder]

My original engine ran poorly until I put fine wires in it.  It was night and day. It felt like a brand new engine with perfect mag drops and smooth idle.  Well worth the expense.

[Johnnybgoode]

Okay then, which ones do I need to consider for my '65 C? Is there an application chart anyone has handy?

I see they're available thru ACS, but no info on which one for which engine.

Thanks!

[Raptor05121]

Here you go. Don't ask me about heat rating. I'm watching Mike Busch's seminar on spark plugs right now.

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pdf/TempestAppGuideV3-07-01-13.pdf

[1524J]

12 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Just a quick Pirep.  On Sunday, I installed a full set of Tempest finewire plugs in my C.

I have been using Champion massives prior. In two years and 300 hours, I've never had a perfect Mag check. I always got a little more drop on one then the other and also a barely perceptible roughness on one rather than the other.  I've got relatively new Slick mags and had replaced a couple of the Champion plugs at different times.

After getting a good deal on the Fine wires from Mike (N601RX) on this forum, (thanks Mike), I decided to try the Fines.

I must say, the engine purrs like a kitten now, the mag check was dead even and smooth as butter.  And I've never seen all four cylinders as dead even on temperatures.  We'll see how they work out over time, but I gotta say I'm VERY happy with them after the first few hours.

I'm not happy Paul.....after that review I'm going to have to buy four more for the top plugs and I haven't even got to try the ones I bought for the bottom set.

[MHemperly]

I bought a set for mine last year. I have about 100 hours on them and the engine runs smooth. Mag drops are even and smooth and idle is smooth. It is much improved from the massives I had before. Good luck! Spend the money. You won't be disappointed 

 

Mike 

[Ratherbflying]

6 hours ago, 1524J said:

I'm not happy Paul.....after that review I'm going to have to buy four more for the top plugs and I haven't even got to try the ones I bought for the bottom set.

I've been running Tempest on the bottoms and Champions on the top for a year and a half now. Same results as Paul. You'll be happy.

[DXB]

On 5/10/2016 at 10:36 AM, gsxrpilot said:

Just a quick Pirep.  On Sunday, I installed a full set of Tempest finewire plugs in my C.

I have been using Champion massives prior. In two years and 300 hours, I've never had a perfect Mag check. I always got a little more drop on one then the other and also a barely perceptible roughness on one rather than the other.  I've got relatively new Slick mags and had replaced a couple of the Champion plugs at different times.

After getting a good deal on the Fine wires from Mike (N601RX) on this forum, (thanks Mike), I decided to try the Fines.

I must say, the engine purrs like a kitten now, the mag check was dead even and smooth as butter.  And I've never seen all four cylinders as dead even on temperatures.  We'll see how they work out over time, but I gotta say I'm VERY happy with them after the first few hours.

FWIW I previously had fairly new Champion plugs- massive on top, fine wires on the bottom, with <200 hours on them.  They had just been cleaned, gapped, and passed in the bomb tester at annual- but the shop blew me off when I asked them to resistance test them.  So I decided to pull and resistance test them myself after I got the plane back. All were way out of spec, with 6 of 8 testing open circuit.  I decided to replace all with new Tempest massives (UREM37BY) and I was immediately just as pleased - perceptibly smoother starting, smoother running, no more misses at low RPM, flawlessly uniform mag checks on the ground and in the air when leaned out at cruise, holding up for my last 50hrs of using them.   

I realize iridium fine wires have other clear advantages (fouling resistance, LOP applications), and their longevity can offset the much higher cost. But I wonder how much of the benefit here is from getting rid of Champion plugs that develop this resistance issue, not putting in fine wires per se.  Supposedly Champion has now fixed this issue, but I ain't going back to 'em.

[DonMuncy]

Has anyone had an issue that responded to a plug change (massive to fine wire, or Champion to Tempest) on a continental.

Please pardon me if this has previously been posted and I missed it.

[LANCECASPER]

I had Champion massives in a Continental IO-550 Ovation and it would not run smooth at low rpm, a couple of times even died at low idle - not a good thing.

The plugs looked great and had been swapped upper for lower. Everything else had been checked out. I finally decided to go with Tempest massive and pull the Champions. Half of them showed very high resistance so they all got tossed. With the Tempest plugs it purrs like a cat in a creamery, very smooth.

[Robert C.]

On 5/10/2016 at 10:41 AM, gsengle said:

Anyone use em on an IO550?

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Hi Greg,

I had my Champions swapped for Tempest Fine Wires at my annual and like the other Pireps you're seeing I find the engine smoother and easier to start. I'm a convert too

Robert

[Bob_Belville]

Fine wire Tempests were the first change I made, within less than 15 hours, after buying this M20E. It eliminated the fouled plug issue. I've put 250 hours on since w/o even thinking about the plugs except at annual. I probably put well over 1000 hours on a set of Champion fine wires in my first '66E in the '70s & 80s. I believe.

[Parker_Woodruff]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 11:59 AM, DonMuncy said:

Has anyone had an issue that responded to a plug change (massive to fine wire, or Champion to Tempest) on a continental.

Please pardon me if this has previously been posted and I missed it.

Don,

The switch to Tempest Fine Wires on my M20K was one of the best things I ever did to my plane.  The higher altitude "miss" that would occur every 5-10 minutes with the Champions ceased to exist with the Tempest Fine Wire plugs.

[bradp]

I found a dead Champion massive at 6000 feet during night VFR flight coming home above the Allegeny mountains. Switched to fine wire and haven't looked back.  

 

Reminds me I need to shop for a twin turboprop ;-) 

[nels]

Is there any improvement to starting problems when hot?