Rfabbre

My Feedback: (6)

I understand Rcexl makes a spark plug they call the Iridium CM6 or ICM6. Is anyone familiar with or have experience with this plug? How does ii compare to a CM6?

Thanx<br type="_moz" />

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I costs more than the regular CM-6

The NGK CM-6 has been firmly rooted in everyone's mind.

The RCEXL Iridium has not taken over yet? There has not been much talk about it other than its existence.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

The Rc Exl "iridium" plug which is an NGK trademark btw, has been run and tested. No significant performance gains but some are reporting slightly smoother idles. I'm certain that will be something eveyone will be able to take advantage of when flying their planes......

I fear that people are seeking some magic way of boosting the performance of their engines by a significant amount to avoid buying the larger engine they should have gotten to begin with. Ain't gonna happen folks. Not for only a couple of bucks.

Experten109/40

My Feedback: (-1)

true enough. I found that a plug is a plug is a.... plug. if a particular engine runs well with brand X plug.
it won't run any better with a high priced irridium. and those with reports of a smoother idle, the old plug
probably had to be replaced anyways. the ONLY real difference in a plug that I've ever seen in making
more horspower is when the plug was indexed to face the incoming fuel charge. that was worth a 1%
increase on a V-8. guessing next to nothing increase on a single cylinder 2-stroke gas engine.

Rfabbre

My Feedback: (6)

OK-Thanx to all.  I guess I'll just stick with the CM6.

STUKA BARRY

O'Reilley's Autoparts sells them for $3.79 and should have them instock.

blikseme300

My Feedback: (118)

Yep, and the CM6 is tried and trusted. Have been using CM6's for a long time without any problems so why take the risk and change. If it aint broke....

Bliksem

captinjohn

Makes me wonder....who is having spark-plug problems?? Capt,n

mpascual

My Feedback: (1)

I've tested the ICM6 on many engines of differents brands. No noticeable increase of rpm (+50 rpm on some engines)
My results:
- Better start and steady idle on some engines. No change in others.
- Comes with electrode gap already set for RCEXL ignition, and a protective plastic cap.
- On my country , cheaper than NGK-CM6 on most hobby shops
- Much better than stock spark on Chinese engines
- The ground electrode comes tappered, (i've read this trick on some post here as a method to improve stock spark plug, but i cannot confirm the benefits).

For me , this ICM6 plug can IS very interesting NGK or stock spark plugs replacement , and maybe will last more than NGK (time will confirm)


Regards

fujiman

My Feedback: (133)

the advantage of the ICM6 over the CM6 is the electrode. the Iridium composition electrode is very resistant to wear and erosion and will last much longer and become less prone to oil fouling and buildup. many auto manuf. install ''I'' plugs and boast no tune ups for 50,000 to 100,000 miles!!!!!!!!! i have a 2006 mits. outlander with the ''factory'' plugs with 35,000 miles on them and they still look new, same air gap as new. try that with a standard plug!!!!!!!

Antique

My Feedback: (4)

My Dodge Dakota 318 V8 went 98.000 on the first set of factory plugs, now has 185,000 on the second...Didn't run any better when the first set was replaced....Don't rmemeber the brand, certaily not iridium....
Stock CM6s are just fine, 3W has been using them for years...Same goes for DA...

mpascual

My Feedback: (1)

After hundreds of ICM6 iridium spark plugs sold and installed on many engines, now i think this plug is better than NGK for our application .

One question for the gurus :
The NGK CM6 was designed for two stroke engines ?
Yes, ICM6 from RCEXL was. [8D]

(edited)

If the central electrode is tappered and sharply-edged , the spark jumps easily (Benjamin Franklin .....

Regards

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

The original NGK CM-6 was developed for Honda generators, so no, they were not two stroke specific. I'm not going to buy into two stroke specific spark plugs for weed wacker and chain saw engines.

As for Iridium plugs, significant performance benefits can be had but only if yu pump a whole lot of voltage through them. I do use some iridium (CR) plugs in some engine designs but not one of the hobby ignitions on the open market can deliver the 30,000+ volts that's driving those plugs. With that kind of voltage they don't last any longer than a CM-6 because the electrodes wear quickly and the grond electrode gets whittled away just as quick.

People that want to buy some iridium version of a CM-6 are most welcome to do so but there will not be a significant gain in performance. Some might see a better idle, but I'm not so sure about an easier start. Maybe 50 or so RPM more even, although those kind of differences and more can be credited to changes in the barometer. The people that tuned their engines right always have an easy start.

bcchi

I have some of them now,but forgot to take one to field Sun to try out in the DL-20&30..
they say will be 27 below tomorrow so guess I won't be out again for a few days. Will report if I can tell any difference. I doub't it.
BCCHI

mpascual

My Feedback: (1)

I know the NGK CM6 story, and i will continue using ICM6 spark on my engines, also as stock spark replacement and on engines repaired. My experience says that, and practical results are good for me.
I know is difficult to open the mind for new products, and people with good results and experience with NGK CM6 will not change, but evolution and technical advance is based on NEW products and ideas. That's the reason to change the stock chinese spark plugs fitted on most Made in China engines. Some people try with a genuine NGK and got better results. Why not doing the same with ICM6 ? I've done it.
You are in doubt about any performance gain with this spark plug. For me, performance when we are talking about a spark plug is the global result of engine starting, easy tuning, idle, reliability, warm starting , acceleration and top rpm , duration, price, ...... Not only gain a couple rpm on top.

Regards

ceecrb1

Just thought I would add to this post.
Yesterday I received my first ICM6.

Today I took the plane to work and in my lunch break I fired her up. First off this is a little more "complicated" a test than normal

I have JUST finnished the motor's (jc28 evo2) first 5 litres of 1:32 break in fuel.. and TODAY it had its first taste of 1:40.
So
I directly started her up with the 1:40, and clearly it was acting as tho it were rich (due to the lowered oil content).
I was getting a stableISH idle around 2200-2400 rpm, but it kept giving me the feeling that it would die out and I had to give it a touch of gas now and then to keep it running.
Without touching ANYTHING I swapped to the ICM6.

INSTANT change. I was able to get the idle down to 1700 or so rpm and it wasnt giving me that "i',m going to die" feeling.

Basically to me it seems it can do as described, help in the idle range... In my case it will be helping keeping the idle more rich than usual... ie better cooled..


I dont think its a "wonder fix".. but it looks like it might just eliminate that odd deadstick that happens once in a while at idle level.. even if it prevents one in ten deadsticks.. its one less.

cant complain.. I'll be keeping to it from now on.

jedijody

My Feedback: (1)

Did you try a new NGK as well, could have just been the new clean spark plug.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

People will glom on to anything new if it's presented right. Doesn't matter if the benefit gained fails to equal the money spent.

That someone is out measuring how low an engine can idle says a lot by itself. What does that number really equate to? Does it mean the plane sits still longer on the runway than it did before? Does the plane fly or land any better? Better fuel economy? Not that anyone in hobby flying pays any attention to that. Does the engine run hotter or cooler? Bet they don't know.

If all a plug does is provide a slightly better idle it's not worth the effort or expense. Especially if that improved idle provides no other benefit. Until hobby vendors produce an ignition that can deliver a significantly higher level of energy to the spark plug, and if that spark plug can handle the increased energy without breaking down, why bother with more expensive spark plugs. The odds of hobby vendors producing a high energy ignition are virtually nil. The ones already out there cannot be obtained for copying purposes so the vendors don't have a source for theft. From what I've seen in this forum people already sqweak if a plug costs more than $2.50.

Then again, if they wanted improved idle performance they would have bought an engine that came out of the box providing it. But that would have cost more too. You don't try to overcome an induction or port deficiency by improving the spark plug.

ceecrb1

Good point.
I'll try that tomorrow as I have one here.

WRK

My Feedback: (2)

Iridium plugs will ignite the fuel mixture with an ignition that may have a little less available ignition voltage, they require a bit less High Voltage to fire the plug gap.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

Over half a million documented flight hours using a CM-6 and people suddenly think an Iridium plug is going to save them from themselves. Just how stupid are we?

Whistling Death

If you have the desire to pay more for a spark plug get the iridium, or just get the CM-6 at your local auto parts store and save yourself a lot of money for a plug that does exactly the same thing.

Tired Old Man

My Feedback: (1)

I know the standard CM-6 will easily last well ove 100 hours of continuous use. Don't know about the new latest, greatest. I wan't absolute dependan=bilty and reliability. i'm not on a quest for 50 RPM at either end of the sacel because I can't tune that tight unless I have a CO meter and fuel flow gauge. I know absolutely that a slight difference in barometric pressure will alter the engine performance levels by as much as 150 RPM betwen one day and the next at the same location.

For me it's not about being open minded. I'll use anything I know to work, work the way it's supposed to, and work that way over the long haul. A couple hundred RC engines tell me nothing. They run for what? 15, 20 minutes at a time? I run stuff for 8 to 16 hours at a time, with many places at a time doing the same. I don't need a short term romance with something that has zero track record, and RC flying isn't going to provide the performance history required.

I'm also not trying to turn a cheap engine into an expensive better performing one. What I put in my DLE also goes in my 3w, DA, BME, and Brison engines. Why, because I know they work, function as they should, do so for a long time, and do it every day. No, I don't use engines with price points or quality levels less than DLE. I know better. I also know the quality of the CM-6 copies that DLE provides with their engines and therefore won't use them.

If and when DLE provides a good plug at the point of shipping I'll consider using another of their spark plugs. Until then I would feel a little foolish doing so. Can't provide a good plug with a new engine? Fine, but that doesn't mean I'll have to buy a new plug from you to make it right. I can get good plugs anywhere.

WildeOne

My Feedback: (1)

This discussion reminds me of a similar one in an entirely different area, but has some common lessons. For a number of years, people have been promoting the use of LED boat trailer lamp assemblies. There is a superb design, which has been around for many, many years, which uses conventional incandescent lamps. I should point out my family was in the retail boat business for many years. The beauty of this old design is it's simplicity (it doesn't depend on sealing, which almost always fails in a wet environment) and it always WORKS and it way less costly than any of the LED designs. It was so good, it was the only lamp assembly my family's business stocked. This design (called DryLaunch) was like an inverted glass, with the terminations and lamp up in the housing, where water never went. On one of my own trailers, I had these lights for over twenty years, never did any maintenance, never replaced a single lamp, and they always worked. Yet people still promote LED lamps because they are NEW and slightly brighter. So much for new, without any customer benefits. 'Old' had both seller and user benefits: neither was troubled with failure, other than due to mechanical damage. New for new's sake isn't always better! TOM is on to something here.

StangFlyer

My Feedback: (17)

So my son and I had the opportunity to try a CM6 Iridium in his DLE 55 today. An instant gain of roughly 300 rpm. As for smoother idle? Yup...it's got it. As for overall performance increase? Yup, it's got it. And not to mention midrange burble is almost non existent. From what I see first hand, that 55 has always ran awesome in the two years he has owned it but NEVER this good. My DLE 55 ran about the same as his. Always easy to start, reliable and never a dead stick. I am pretty sure I am going to be giving the Iridium plugs a whirl in my own birds.