Craftsman snowblower spark plug

[Nick R]

Just a heads up to those of you with somewhat new Craftsman snowblowers with the "Craftsman OHV" engine (any displacement, I think, Chonda engine) The replacement for the piece of junk "Torch" chinse spark plug that it comes with and sears sells for it is...

The NGK BPR6ES and it is carried by AdvanceAuto. There are a few others, that you can use to cross reference it with.

 

[J. A. Rizzo]

NGK also makes the BP6ES, which is the same plug, sans resistor. It may fire a little stronger but may result in some noise on your radios, TV, or phone. I also have the BPR6EIX Iridium plug in my generator right now just to see how it holds up, but I bought that for curiosity's sake, not for saving money. It's running as well as any new plug, but admittedly I don't have that many hours on the genny.

 

[Nick R]

Thanks, I'll look into that. Creates radio interference? Huh, never heard of a good spark plug doing that before. Put it in, filled it up (with some StaBil since it won't be used for a few months), changed the oil with Castrol Syntec 5w30 (had a quart laying around), and it runs a lot better with the new spark plug (changed that first) than it did with the old one.

 

[greenaccord02]

The reason you never heard of a good spark plug doing that before is because almost every spark plug has a resistor by default. It's very hard to find them without it. Most of your champion plugs have the letter "R" in their code (RJ8 RJ12 RJ19LM) which stands for resistor. They started putting them in sparkplugs in the 1960s. So, if you have an older champ plug, it'll be the same code but sans the "R" (J8, J12, etc.)

I'll see if I can get a picture. I know I have some old plugs around here somewhere...

 

[greenaccord02]

You can see the left pair and the right pair are the same plug (or are at least close) except that one has an "R" and the other doesn't. The center two are just old plugs that are interesting to look at. Another interesting thing is that the "LM" in the right pair stands for "Lawnmower".

 

[J. A. Rizzo]

Nice collection there, greenaccord02. Thanks for the pics! Interesting that they have the LM for lawnmower. Did you ever experience any weird interference issues with non-resistor plugs? I only did on a 4-cylinder Ford 9N tractor, but on a single-cylinder engine it's never been a problem.

 

[greenaccord02]

I never have, but to be honest I'm always out cutting the grass when there in use, LOL.

I use E3s in pretty much everything I have now, so it's not too much of an issue. The only other plug I have is one Iridium NGK in my honda generator and it's got a resistor, too.

 

[Nick R]

Could a spark plug really put out enough RF noise to cause a noticeable interference on electronics in the house?

 

[greenaccord02]

I think it's possible. I don't know what the range might be, but I'd think it could have an effect on a TV signal or in a audio amp.

 

[tom slick]

There's no benefit to using a non-resistor plug. The coil compensates/creates enough voltage to overcome the increased resistance.

non-resistors in a car will make noise (static) on the radio. I don't know about a lawn mower and a home tv or stereo.

 

[bigbird_1]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Could a spark plug really put out enough RF noise to cause a noticeable interference on electronics in the house?


Absolutely. Back in the mid-80's I lived on a lakefront. In winter every time a snowmobile went by about 50' in front of my house, the TV picture went to a herringbone pattern and if AM radio was on I'd get a buzzing until the snowmobile passed by. Thank goodness for modern resistor plugs.