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Missing electrode


Tim Jodice

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What causes this?
20200907_170913.thumb.jpg.7d0edc7f629e986f1c0dfa764b7ee804.jpg


I’m one of the people who had a lost electrode on my Tempest fine wires. Tempest told me they had outsourced the welding of the center electrode and brought it back in house when they saw issues popping up. They replaced all 10 plugs I had (8 in the plane and 2 new spares).


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1 hour ago, ragedracer1977 said:

This is an ongoing concern with finewires.  Seems they just can't get it right.  

 

This sucks. I spent the money because I thought that they last longer.

I just found this issue tonight and the only thing i could get before tomorrow morning were massives. I originally thought I would be using the massives temporarily but if the expensive ones fail rather than wear out like the cheap ones whats the point?

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Just now, Marauder said:

 


I’m one of the people who had a lost electrode on my Tempest fine wires. Tempest told me they had outsourced the welding of the center electrode and brought it back in house when they saw issues popping up. They replaced all 10 plugs I had (8 in the plane and 2 new spares).


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I just bought theses plugs in February. When did they change how they do things?

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I just bought theses plugs in February. When did they change how they do things?


I never got a definitive date range of the problem plugs. I sent them my serial numbers and they agreed to replace them. If you bought them in February, they still could be old new stock.

I would call them up and report the issue. I do not think this is a systemic issue with fine wires. I believe it is a manufacturing defect.

I posted on the site who I contacted. Let me see if I can find it.


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12 hours ago, carusoam said:

Tim,

Do you have any JPI data to go with that?

Oddly, we have seen about a half dozen of these events...

But, nothing stands out tall enough to indicate a problem...

Best regards,

-a-

I don't have any data. I have an old gem 602.

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In 20 hours since I started this thread i have been contacted by, John, Vince and Deb from Tempest. Exceptional service! They are having me send them back so they can see what happened. Everyone on here and Beechtalk seems to also had exceptional service.

Flew this morning with a set of new massive plugs. Slightly better starting and the egts are more even. I wonder if something wasn't right even before it broke off.

 

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17 hours ago, bradp said:

Report to tempest they will likely replace. 

Very true.  I'm on my third set across 2 engines.  The one plug I received that was damaged (prior to even installing it) was quickly exchanged for a new, and I received an additional plug at no cost "for my trouble".  This was several years ago, but reports I've read in BeechTalk of late seem to corroborate the excellent customer service Tempest gives.

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15 hours ago, Tim Jodice said:

This sucks. I spent the money because I thought that they last longer.

I just found this issue tonight and the only thing i could get before tomorrow morning were massives. I originally thought I would be using the massives temporarily but if the expensive ones fail rather than wear out like the cheap ones whats the point?

Honestly, you got one bad plug out of what are likely many thousands or tens of thousands.

The exception to the rule doesn't prove the rule.  Stick with the fine wires.

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16 hours ago, Marauder said:

I’m one of the people who had a lost electrode on my Tempest fine wires. Tempest told me they had outsourced the welding of the center electrode and brought it back in house when they saw issues popping up. They replaced all 10 plugs I had (8 in the plane and 2 new spares).

...and these are some of the reasons I do business with them.  Transparency, customer service, and a commitment to making things right when they don't go so well due to outsourcing (in this case).

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17 hours ago, RobertGary1 said:

I ran them awhile back. But the massives are so dependable with generally favorable failure modes that I went back to them. 
 

-Robert 

I had a fairly new set of massive plugs in my turbocharged Lycoming and was having hot start issues. I went to tempest fine wire plugs and the issue ceased. I also discovered using the fine wires that I could run much deeper lean of peak which helped me cool down cylinder head temperatures. Looking back I don’t think I would switch back to massive plugs unless there was some reason I absolutely had to. I have a set of massive’s in the spare parts bin with probably 50 hours on them at most as back up. I suspect they will end up rusty and get thrown away later in life.

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I had a fairly new set of massive plugs in my turbocharged Lycoming and was having hot start issues. I went to tempest fine wire plugs and the issue ceased. I also discovered using the fine wires that I could run much deeper lean of peak which helped me cool down cylinder head temperatures. Looking back I don’t think I would switch back to massive plugs unless there was some reason I absolutely had to. I have a set of massive’s in the spare parts bin with probably 50 hours on them at most as back up. I suspect they will end up rusty and get thrown away later in life.

Maybe the fine wires plugs are compensating for a magneto problem?
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4 hours ago, takair said:

Tim. Just clicked with me you also had mag failure. Did the magneto failure correspond to the bad plug?  Which issue occurred first?  Wonder if the plug fail stressed your magneto?

That was the first thing that crossed my mind. It was run by the good mag. 

Another question for all of you. All plugs are supposed to be gapped to .018-.021 right? 

This had to be at least a 1/4" jump. If there is enough power to jump a gap like that why not use .060 automotive like gap?

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8 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:


Maybe the fine wires plugs are compensating for a magneto problem?

Mags were about 40 hours SMOH.  It was the first place we stopped chasing the hot start issues. Now about 200SMoH and running like a champ since.   I really believe the fine wires are the elixir my engine wanted. Also noted was that it would idle much lower on fine wires. 

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2 hours ago, Tim Jodice said:

That was the first thing that crossed my mind. It was run by the good mag. 

Another question for all of you. All plugs are supposed to be gapped to .018-.021 right? 

This had to be at least a 1/4" jump. If there is enough power to jump a gap like that why not use .060 automotive like gap?

My Mooney Service Manual has two gaps depending on which type of plug you run.

-Robert

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