This is from the Pilots of America forum:
Champion very quietly just changed the internal design of their plugs to the same design that Tempest has. They didn’t even call it a change, they simply changed the description of the plug construction, without any reference to the previous design:
http://www.championaerospace.com/products/spark-plugs/
After all the defense of their spring-loaded unstable resistor, they now have a “Fired-in suppressor seal resistor prevents wear from voltage drain for prolonged plug life”
They also took their response letter (to the TATI SB calling for removal of fine wire plugs from turbo engines) off the main page and buried it in the back.
I guess they finally decided to make some changes after keeping their collective heads in the sand since 2011.
I read that Tempest license those fired resistors from Honeywell, so probably Champion are having to do the same now.
I think these REM37BY series Champions are the ones to use if your engine is eligible for them. They’ve been around a long time and have never had any problems. Good for a lot of four cylinder Lycomings.
Finally, it is pretty well in the open
etc…
What a crap way to run a business. The FAA should have shut down that production line…
“What a crap way to run a business. The FAA should have shut down that production line…”
The FAA is only interested in a proper paperwork and a paper trail it can follow.
The next question, can they change the plug design without FAA paperwork approval?
Although I’m glad that Champion has finally seen the light and changed the design, I’m afraid I still won’t ever use their plugs again because, if there’s ever another problem, I don’t think I can trust them not to go through the same process of denial for another five or six years.
Why would anyone that has changed to Tempest and not had a problem want to switch back?
bq. “What a crap way to run a business. The FAA should have shut down that production line…”
The FAA is only interested in a proper paperwork and a paper trail it can follow.
The next question, can they change the plug design without FAA paperwork approval?
NOOOOOOO! Spark plugs should not even NEED special aviation approval. Especially since the potential for an individual duff spark plug to cause death is extremely low. The solution to companies producing bad products and selling them at high prices is competition.
Certification for the bulk of light aircraft components is now detrimental to safety because it negative effect on competition allows bad products at high cost to survive. Especially in avionics.
The rule should be – if it doesn’t cause a crash, no need to regulate. If it causes only economic damage (mag damage because of duff spark plugs) or inconvenience (radio failure), let competition sort it out.
Especially since the potential for an individual duff spark plug to cause death is extremely low.
It is low in terms of directly causing a catastrophic engine failure, but some of the Champion plugs have had the insulator break up in the SR22 engines, and when that happens you just hope that the pieces fly out through the exhaust valve without doing any damage.
Mag damage can certainly cause a crash, though the Bendix D3000 mags are a lot more robust than the Slick mags.
There isn’t much competition now. Garmin have taken care of that pretty well…
When I first saw the Champion “resistors” I thought what a piece of crap this is. Even the thread on the screw which holds the resistor in place was crap – like something out of a 1970s Chinese toy. And those plugs were about 60 quid each (for the fine wire ones, which had the most problems). Funnily enough the Tempest ones are cheaper.
