Is there such a thing as Chinese NGK plug knock offs?

Looks like I've got some fake b7es here.
In the garbage now.

Glen

Dug the fake plugs out of the garbage and checked for continuity or zero resistance from top of plug to the electrode
One is good at zero resistance , two show infinite resistance, one shows 1500 ohms.
These are all new, purchased on eBay.

What can you expect from an eBay supplier, I should know better, right?


Then I checked a four pack of B8es which I bought at a local Auto Supply chain store.
By the info on the NGK site, these are not fakes, or at least their appearance is exactly correct for real NGKs.
2 are good, 1 shows high resistance (7,000 ohms),1 shows infinite resistance.

Then I checked about ten old Champions in my old Spark plug jar. These are N7y
and N5 s, all still working fine but removed due to age. All show zero resistance.
In the past, I've noticed that Champions seem to make a brighter kickover spark than NGK or Bosch.
Think I'm going back to Champions.

Glen

worntorn said:

Dug the fake plugs out of the garbage and checked for continuity or zero resistance from top of plug to the electrode
One is good at zero resistance , two show infinite resistance, one shows 1500 ohms.
These are all new, purchased on eBay.

What can you expect from an eBay supplier, I should know better, right?


Then I checked a four pack of B8es which I bought at a local Auto Supply chain store.
By the info on the NGK site, these are not fakes, or at least their appearance is exactly correct for real NGKs.
2 are good, 1 shows high resistance (7,000 ohms),1 shows infinite resistance.

Then I checked about ten old Champions in my old Spark plug jar. These are N7y
and N5 s, all still working fine but removed due to age. All show zero resistance.
In the past, I've noticed that Champions seem to make a brighter kickover spark than NGK or Bosch.
Think I'm going back to Champions.

Glen

Click to expand...

I always suspected what you found, good job! Buy them when you can!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Champion-S...ash=item237f2f9447:g:nswAAOSwB-1YuNUq&vxp=mtr

I buy from a reputable dealer (I've used www.denniskirk.com for 35 years) where, you do have some degree of accountability.

Not to hijack, but I found a box of 8 Champion N4G plugs on Fleabay and I snapped them up. Best plug I ever ran in a Britbike. Shame they still don't make them.

The B8es came from Napa!
Will let them have a look today.

I have some Champions ordered from another supplier.
In the past when fitting new plugs, I've checked gap and installed. From now on the continuity test will be done as well.

Glen

I bought a pair of NGK iridium's [ about $42.00 for the pair ] for my trip round NZ. Over 3000 miles. Before I got back, they were misfiring at low speed. Earlier I had bought a packet of 10 Champion N7Y's for $20.00. That's what I am using now. Exacltly what the bike came out with.
I wasn't impressed. i still have them but never bothered to test them.
Dereck

I have used NGK plugs in my 850 mk3 and they only lasted a few hundred miles I have stuck with champions .

There are all kinds of fakes. We had big problems with fake AC Delco parts. Check the box labels. You can usually spot the fakes. Mis spelled words and strange phrases.

One good thing for us Champion fans, its not likely anyone will bother faking cheapo Champions.

Just bought another dozen N4Gs for $30 shipped. $2.50 each ain't bad.

I been using Champions on my British bikes for over 43 years now and only had problems with them all thoughs years ago when a bad batch were made but running other plugs my Norton always had a misfire after a week of running them and always went back to the Champions, since putting my JH maggie on I have done over 30,000 miles on my last set of N7Y and they look as good as the day I put them in with no wear at all on the electrobe or carbon build up, I don't even clean them just put them back in, I had a new set in my shed but ended up giving them to a mate who has never replaced them have to remind him again when I see him.
As for Chinese rubbish it happening all over the world our Goverments are giving into them and all our jubs are going over there for cheap labour so companies can make more profits at our expense, you can get anything from there copyed and most things you buy these day are made in China and when we were kids growning up most toys were made there and only lasted a few days if you were lucky and what about clothing use to get clothes made local and they lasted for years but now they have gone to China or some other 3rd world country and your lucky if the clothes you buy now last a few months and the retailers are to blame profits over quality and now its to late to go back to the good old days when companies took pride in what the made, now its all about profit profit profit, who cares about the consumers.

Ashley

An NGK with infinite resistance can still work.

The top of the copper core loses contact with the terminal on top of the porcelain, but the spark still gets across. It can make RF interference worse.

All of these plugs still make a spark but I think the ones with infinite resistance are a bad idea with my tired old Lucas mag on the BSA. Not sure how the Norton with Boyer works with unintended high resistance plugs.

Glen

Just picked up 8 new Champions, various designation but all non resistor type.
6 test ok , 2 are high resistance.
Not so good there either!

Glen

Triton Thrasher said:

An NGK with infinite resistance can still work.

The top of the copper core loses contact with the terminal on top of the porcelain, but the spark still gets across. It can make RF interference worse.

Click to expand...

So is the resistance test is worthless?

Not a bit, who wants high internal resistance plugs in an ignition system made to work with spark plugs that have zero internal resistance and are gapped for that?
Even the modern systems designed for resistor plugs do not work well with old plugs that have increased internal resistance or an internal gap. Too much resistance can damage the ignition system. Broken down hi tension wires or plug burned to a wide gap do the same.

Good Shops test the new resistor plugs to make sure they are in the 4k to 6k ohm resistance range internally before installing.

i used champions years ago, and they fouled. even the N3G gold palladiums fouled. switched to NGK B7ES, B8ES, and B9ES, and they've worked flawlessly.

the answer to plugs always seems to be to try different ones until you find whatever your machine likes, then run with that. different machines will want different plugs.

An air gap of around 1/10” in the HT circuit makes no practical difference to the performance of the system. Consider a car with a distributor and a rotor arm.

I’m not saying it’s anything other than a sign of shoddy manufacture, but there are a great many people motoring around quite happily with plugs from NGK’s cheap range which would show infinite resistance between the top terminal and the centre electrode, if anyone ever tested them

jimbo said:

So is the resistance test is worthless?

Click to expand...

I don’t know. If lack of continuity at low voltage is caused by the top of the core slightly losing contact with the top terminal, then it doesn’t matter much.

Of course, it could be the core broken and rattling around, or a buildup of corrosion and that might matter.