Recently had #3 bottom plug foul with some lead deposits. Others were mostly clean.
Stumbled (no pun intended) on this article and thought I would share, as I found a couple of bits most interesting. (Red text)
I think I understand the article for the most part, but want to confirm, is it just a catch 22 to run lean during cruise? Because I do, but don't have an engine monitor other than the ol' cessna 4-in-1 EGT to really monitor anything else.
Thoughts?
Lead Fouling of Spark Plugs
Lead fouling of aviation spark plugs is a condition likely to occur in any engine using leaded fuels. Lead is added to aviation fuel to improve its anti-knock qualities. The lead, however, has the undesirable effect of forming lead oxide during combustion. This lead oxide forms as a solid with varying degrees of hardness and consistency. Lead deposits on combustion chamber surfaces are good electrical conductors at high temperatures and cause misfiring. At low temperatures, the same deposits may be good insulators. In either case, lead formations on aircraft spark plugs prevent their normal operation. To minimize the formation of lead deposits, ethylene dibromide is added to the fuel as a scavenging agent that combines with the lead during combustion.
Lead fouling may occur at any power setting, but perhaps the power setting most conducive to lead fouling is cruising with lean mixtures. At this power, the cylinder head temperature is relatively low and there is more oxygen than needed to consume all the fuel in the fuel-air mixture. Oxygen, when hot, is very active and aggressive. When all the fuel has been consumed, some of the excess oxygen unites with some of the lead and some of the scavenger agent to form oxygen compounds of lead or bromine or both. Some of these undesirable lead compounds solidify and build up in layers as they contact the relatively cool cylinder walls and spark plugs. Although lead fouling may occur at any power setting, experience indicates that the lead buildup is generally confined to a specific combustion temperature range. Combustion temperatures outside this specific range minimize the lead fouling tendency.
If lead fouling is detected before the spark plugs become completely fouled, the lead can usually be eliminated or reduced by either a sharp rise or a sharp decrease in combustion temperature. This imposes a thermal shock on cylinder parts, causing them to expand or contract. Since there is a different rate of expansion between deposits and metal parts on which they form, the deposits chip off or are loosened and then scavenged from the combustion chamber by the exhaust or are burned in the combustion process.
Several methods of producing thermal shock to cylinder parts are used. The method used depends on the accessory equipment installed on the engine. A sharp rise in combustion temperatures can be obtained on all engines by operating them at full takeoff power for approximately 1 minute. When using this method to eliminate fouling, the propeller control must be placed in low pitch, or high rpm, and the throttle advanced slowly to produce takeoff rpm and manifold pressure. Slow movement of the throttle control provides reasonable freedom from backfiring in the affected cylinders during the application of power.
Another method of producing thermal shock is the use of excessively rich fuel-air mixtures. This method suddenly cools the combustion chamber because the excess fuel does not contribute to combustion; instead, it absorbs heat from the combustion area. Some carburetor installations use two-position manual mixture controls that provide a lean mixture setting for cruising economy and a richer mixture setting for all powers above cruising. Neither manual mixture control setting in this type of configuration is capable of producing an excessively rich fuel-air mixture. Even when the engine is operated in auto-rich at powers where an auto-lean setting would be entirely satisfactory, the mixture is not rich enough.
