good explanation Trout. but detonation is bad for all engines, regardless of whether its modular or not.
to the starter of the thread, the timing adjuster allows you to manually adjust how many degress before TDC (top dead center) the spark plug fires, ensuring a more complete burn of the A/F mixture. detonation/pinging occurs if the spark is too soon (or too late). a ping or detonation is when the A/F mixture is ignited in more than one spot, and the two explosions collide. usually the plug is offset on one side of the top of the combustion chamber, so when the plug sparks, the explosion burns across the top of the piston in one solid wave. a ping is when you have two explosions (or more, there will always be at least one spontaneus, or unwanted explosion in a detonation) that interfere with each others "burning progress". pinging is likened to beating on the top of your piston with a hammer. not good