IONIZATION from rotating components.

[Bobby Kbro]

In my previous career I was a Helicopter mechanic on Bell Helicopter products. I know from that experience that the Rotor blades turning through the air creates a static electrical charge that is released when the aircraft touches the earth. So I know that dynamic rotating components create this electrical IONIZATION effect. I wonder if the same effect happens to a distributor rotor? And if it does, how does the charge go away? Being that the tires insulate the car from the ground. Can this static electrical charge cause ill effects to our motor or components?

Just a random thought.

It's pretty scary, I have many more. I don't know how deep anyone would want to get in this old man's mind but here is another example of my weird thoughts:
Where does all the rubber from tires go? I know that tires do wear (lord knows I buy enough sets of them) but I also know that not all the rubber goes to the pavement. Look at the number of cars on the roads in Southern California. If all the rubber was going to the pavement, why aren't the roads 10 feet thick? If the rubber just turns into particles that blow off the road, why aren't there black rubber snow banks on each side of the road? Where does it go?

The top paragraph is technical content, the bottom one is just thought provoking from a strange mind.

[Fool_Fire]

Excellent questions.

Ionization in distributors generally only occurs with very small caps, and is not a problem with today's distributors designs. For example, MSD's distributors have vanes which prevent ionization due to the fact that they "stir" up the air, so to speak.

Because the spark has to jump from the rotor to terminal within the distributor cap, the voltage build up does cause the gap from the rotor to the terminal to be ionized but only until the point when the voltage because high enough for the spark to jump that gap.

So, yes, ionization is still present even in the most high tech distributors, but it generally isn't an issue except in very high cylinder pressure applications. The vent hole is designed to avert this issue, but it can cause other issues (weather related, water in the distributor, etc.)

This is one of the reason the Modular and LSX engines are distributor-less. Less rotating mass, greater engine control.

[Bobby Kbro]

Cool Thanks.

What about the rubber from tires?

[StangUndercover]

Google Answers: Where does worn tire rubber go?

The Straight Dope: When the rubber meets the road, where does it go?

[Bobby Kbro]

Wow. That's pretty disgusting. Do Not read those links unless you really want to know. Yuk.
Don't want to think about that one again.