I had never heard of Ed Almquist - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TwitchKitty · #1 08-10-2015, 10:23 PM

Folks Of Interest - Ed ALmquist, 1921-2015 | The H.A.M.B.
1951 Crosley Almquist H-Mod | Conceptcarz.com
1948 Almquist Crosley: Lightweight Fun
Never Seen One: 1957 Almquist Sabre | Bring a Trailer
Ed Almquist, Motorhead, Inventor And Pioneer: By Donna Kessler, Times Herald-Record Newspaper - forgottenfiberglass.com

cmac2012 · #2 08-11-2015, 01:38 AM

I read the last one. Interesting guy. The only one that I wondered about was:
"the six-electrode Sparkomatic spark plug."

t walgamuth · #3 08-11-2015, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

I read the last one. Interesting guy. The only one that I wondered about was:
"the six-electrode Sparkomatic spark plug."

I've seen pictures. I believe it has a central electrode and six bars coming in from the sides. Making six places the spark can choose to go. I don't know how it worked out.

cmac2012 · #4 08-11-2015, 12:47 PM

I used a 4 electrode variety on my BMW. Didn't last long. I later discovered they're held in low esteem in E30 circles.

BatteredBenz · #5 08-11-2015, 08:08 PM

All available and applied electrical energies being equal, multiple spark gaps only increase the probability of multiple sparks all of which would individually be weaker than a single full energy spark, pretty much guarantee that a single powerful spark is better than multiple lesser powered sparks even if cumulative, based on the near universal dominance of the single powerful spark across automotive engineering right up to the present.

Now multiple powerful sparks such as multi-plug heads have some advantages but of course will require more spark producing energy.

But there is not much evidence the larger power supplied to multi sparking plugs offer much advantage or they'd have been incorporated into the range of automotives more widely.

t walgamuth · #6 08-11-2015, 09:34 PM

The special body to the crosley looked pretty cool!

Idle · #7 08-11-2015, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BatteredBenz

All available and applied electrical energies being equal, multiple spark gaps only increase the probability of multiple sparks all of which would individually be weaker than a single full energy spark, pretty much guarantee that a single powerful spark is better than multiple lesser powered sparks even if cumulative, based on the near universal dominance of the single powerful spark across automotive engineering right up to the present.

Now multiple powerful sparks such as multi-plug heads have some advantages but of course will require more spark producing energy.

But there is not much evidence the larger power supplied to multi sparking plugs offer much advantage or they'd have been incorporated into the range of automotives more widely.

I had an Audi long ago and it came from the factory with the four prong plugs. They didn't last long and I didn't feel any loss of power when I changed them to one prong plugs.

Idle · #8 08-11-2015, 10:17 PM

That name rang a bell and after reading an article just now in Hemmings I remember where I had heard it. In 1966 I was working on a Ford Falcon, a 1963 with a 260, and was approached by a guy that worked for the company that made the water injectors Ed came up with. He called it a vapor injector.

It was supposed to cool your valves under heavy loads. I don't know if it ever did that but it did increase mpg. But then it was injecting a mix of water and alcohol so with the burning of the additional alcohol I don't see how it would not 'increase' your gasoline mpg.

This friend of mine was amazed that I had never heard of Ed so I guess he was rather popular at one time. He gave me a unit to try out and it took up so much room I don't know where you would put one on a modern car.

I did buy a few things from Sparkomatic but only because they built a few things that no one else did. I don't recall the quality being all that great but when you are the only game in town you can get away with lower quality. I think I still have one of their FM convertors that would allow you to get FM radio on the AM band. I do remember I paid $19.95 for it in 1971.

cmac2012 · #9 08-12-2015, 02:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BatteredBenz

All available and applied electrical energies being equal, multiple spark gaps only increase the probability of multiple sparks all of which would individually be weaker than a single full energy spark, pretty much guarantee that a single powerful spark is better than multiple lesser powered sparks even if cumulative, based on the near universal dominance of the single powerful spark across automotive engineering right up to the present.

Now multiple powerful sparks such as multi-plug heads have some advantages but of course will require more spark producing energy.

But there is not much evidence the larger power supplied to multi sparking plugs offer much advantage or they'd have been incorporated into the range of automotives more widely.

Makes sense. When I took my four prongers out they were badly fouled, I forget the mileage but it wasn't high. A less than hot spark might lead to that.