On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 22:20:25 -0500, "Don Young"
wrote:

You might check on parts for oil-burners as used in home heating furnaces
and in the "torpedo" type space heaters as these use high energy spark
ignition.

Right. It isn't really a spark, but more of a soft arc: about 20
KV open-circuit voltage and about 1000 to 1500 volts at about 25 mA
once the discharge is established. They'll ignite a popsicle stick
in a second or two. In an oil burner the arc is blown into the
combustion region; the electrodes are not directly exposed to flame.