Spark plug tester ?

[ebinmaine 62,961]

Is there a particular type or brand of spark plug tester that I need to use on these small engines?

 

[squonk 38,844]

Do you mean a spark tester?  I like these inline models. 2nd one has an adjustable gap

 

with engine running I use this one to see if the spark is dropping out. All these are available at Napa

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by squonk

[KC9KAS 4,741]

I just have my wife hold the spark plug wire. 

She told me that is what she had to do for her dad while growing up!

 

Seriously….this is the one I use 

[ebinmaine 62,961]

1 minute ago, KC9KAS said:

have my wife hold the spark plug wire. 

As much as I would love to try this...

I don't think it's in my best interest.

Trina's a black belt....

[The Tuul Crib 7,332]

5 minutes ago, KC9KAS said:

I just have my wife hold the spark plug wire. 

She told me that is what she had to do for her dad while growing up!

 

Seriously….this is the one I use 

 I just saw one of these the other day a guy had was testing my engine for spark  where can you find one of these 

[squonk 38,844]

2 minutes ago, The Tool Crib said:

 I just saw one of these the other day a guy had was testing my engine for spark  where can you find one of these 

Napa

[squonk 38,844]

12 minutes ago, KC9KAS said:

I just have my wife hold the spark plug wire. 

She told me that is what she had to do for her dad while growing up!

 

Seriously….this is the one I use 

[Chris G 3,274]

I got mine online I ordered 2 just to have a extra. Wasn't that much, but work well.

[pfrederi 17,128]

Harbor Freight frequently has them on sale for $3  usually  about $5

[clueless 2,898]

2 hours ago, squonk said:

Napa

If your local NAPAs are like the ones down here you'll have to wait till Monday, they are closed Sat. and Sundays, . 

[squonk 38,844]

When I worked at the one here, We we're open 8 to 4:30 on Sat. which in essence was 7:30 to 5:00. what a way to ruin a weekend! 

[bc.gold 3,399]

Every corner garage has a spark plug cleaner that also tested plug while under pressure..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1av7M70A3t8

Edited December 22, 2018 by bcgold

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

4 hours ago, pfrederi said:

Harbor Freight frequently has them on sale for $3  usually  about $5

Straight and 90° versions...https://www.harborfreight.com/90-in-line-spark-checker-63593.html. ..https://www.harborfreight.com/in-line-spark-checker-63590.html

[ACman 7,505]

This is one that’s at the family’s AC dealership as long as I can remember. Cleaned and checked many spark plugs with that thing.

Edited December 22, 2018 by ACman

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

1 minute ago, ACman said:

This is one that’s behind at the family’s AC dealership as long as I can remember. Cleaned and checked many spark plugs with that thing.

Takes me back to Vo-Tech auto shop back in high school...could also be used to "shock" your unaware classmates 

[KC9KAS 4,741]

Didn't realize there was one with a 90* boot.

I will have to get one of these! Thanks @WVHillbilly520H

[pfrederi 17,128]

OK Spark plug cleaning.  Used to be something commonly done.  Many of us probably have a "home version" to media blast a plug...but now days it is recommended you NOT clean the plugs as there is a chance of abrasive getting into the engine.  I still clean some and carefully check to make sure no abrasive is stuck in the plug (dental picks).  Mostly I clean the plugs for my Military vehicle as they are several $$ each....

 

Question is this a real concern or is part of our throw away economy (pushed by Champion)

Edited December 22, 2018 by pfrederi

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

11 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

OK Spark plug cleaning.  Used to be something commonly done.  Many of us probably have a "home version" to media blast a plug...but now days it is recommended you NOT clean the plugs as there is a chance of abrasive getting into the engine.  I still clean some and carefully check to make sure no abrasive is stuck in the plug (dental picks).  Mostly I clean the plugs for my Military vehicle as they are several $$ each....

 

Question is this a real concern or is part of our throw away economy (pushed by Champion)

I believe the NON cleaning of spark plugs are of the "precious" metals versions like platinum or iridium vs standard copper/nickel...https://www.knowyourparts.com/technical-resources/electrical/sparkplug-science-precious-metals/

[ebinmaine 62,961]

16 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

Question is this a real concern or is part of our throw away economy (pushed by Champion)

 

Just now, WVHillbilly520H said:

believe the NON cleaning of spark plugs are of the "precious" metals versions like platinum or iridium vs standard

 

 

 

Paul and Jeff, I just want you to know that when I was selling spark plugs back in the mid-90s we had little to no use for the precious metal style as of that point. Yet, Autolite and ACDelco we're both pushing replacement of spark plugs because at that point it cost less to buy a $1 spark plug than it did to pay a technician the few dollars per plug to clean one on an hourly rate. So at that point it was an economic based decision that was across the board of multiple brands. Marketing? Yes, definitely.

 

Not by any means saying that either one of you is right or wrong. Just saying that this has been a phenomenon that has been around for at least that amount of 25 to whatever years.

I had no experience selling champion at that time and I also had no experience selling precious metal plugs at that time.

 

 

[squonk 38,844]

I built a coil tester  when I was at Napa. Made a stand out of wood, Got a Chevy V-8 points distributor some wire , the adjustable spark tester I showed previous and one very "special" piece. A bracket from a west coast mirror. You hooked up a battery, connected the coil you wanted tested, and spun the distributor. If you got a spark at the spark tester, the coil was good. Now for that "special " piece. It was used as a ground point for testing GM HEI coils. You set the coil near it and spun the dist. and the spark would jump to the flat surface of the bracket. It would throw it quite a ways. One time one of the counter guys was hooking up a coil and the other counter guy was talking to the customer all the while moving that dist. gear. The guy hooking up the coil kept getting zapped! .

 

Another time a guy brings in an HEI coil to test. Just as the dist was spun he grabs that mirror bracket. He ended up on the floor! 

Edited December 22, 2018 by squonk

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

@ebinmaine, Eric somewhere I was told or overheard than abbrasive cleaning of the precious metal plugs actually caused them to wear at a far faster rate than just leaving them installed pasted their 100k mile change intervals, and I can assure you than I have bought a few used GM vehicles over the 100k mark with original iridium plugs that when I replaced them you could barely see any neglible wear on the electrodes vs the old standard copper/nickel ...just my experiences, Jeff.

 

 

[oliver2-44 8,835]

2 hours ago, ACman said:

This is one that’s at the family’s AC dealership as long as I can remember. Cleaned and checked many spark plugs with that thing.

We had one just like this back in the 70's at my Dads Airport/Farm shop.  

Today very few people even have a clue they existed.

 

[ACman 7,505]

That cleaner was quite handy during snowmobiling season in th1970/80’s.

[ebinmaine 62,961]

3 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

@ebinmaine, Eric somewhere I was told or overheard than abbrasive cleaning of the precious metal plugs actually caused them to wear at a far faster rate than just leaving them installed pasted their 100k mile change intervals, and I can assure you than I have bought a few used GM vehicles over the 100k mark with original iridium plugs that when I replaced them you could barely see any neglible wear on the electrodes vs the old standard copper/nickel ...just my experiences, Jeff.

 

 

Yes, that's absolutely true.

Autolite's reps told us that the Platinum pieces would be very quickly removed with the files we were all using back then.

Many of us shied away from using Platinum plugs for a long time because we didn't want to waste the money on something we couldn't "fix" again by cleaning.

I wasn't indicating that your original statement was incorrect.

What I was saying is that we were told not to clean ANY spark plugs. Precious metals or otherwise. It wasn't a good financial decision. One thing for a do-it-yourselfer but to pay a garage to do it didn't make sense.

 

[953 nut 51,516]

You got my curiosity up, you can buy all the testers you want on  for $ 200 and up, don't know if they work though.

I have been using an old spark plug cleaner for years, just old school I guess.