E: Engine Ignition Advance

erik

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I`m a Dentist , 5mm pin is no Problem and you can leave it as Long as you like it.Maybe one meter is a Little bit to Long.
 

vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Re the reported failure of KLG plugs because of contamination of the ceramic the other VOC magazine Fishtail contains a letter saying the writer soaked the offending plug overnight in domestic oven cleaner and has used it ever since without a problem.
Now I havent tried it but it might be worth an experiment...
 

ClassicBiker

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VOC Member
What About sand blasting the plug?
I've been told no, don't do it, but I haven't had a problem. But I will also say that after blasting I look deep into the plug recess for any grit still trapped in there. Which is a good thing as I often find a few bits. Fortunately I am on friendly terms with a couple of dentists who have been kind enough to give me their surplus to requirement dental picks. So with those in hand I very carefully pick out the offending debris before it causes any problems. The picks also allow you to scrape the area of the central electrode that is shaded by the earth electrode.
The down side is the abrasive wears the glaze off of the ceramic and allows any fouling in the future a better grip. I used to work with a guy who swore that once a plug was fouled it was better to just trash it and get a new one. He wouldn't even wire brush them with a soft brass wire brush because he was of the opinion that even that destroyed the ceramic coating and made the plug useless. With that in mind I've tried cleaning fouled plugs with all sorts of solvents and blowing them out. I've tried solvents, wire brushes, and air. I've even tried burning off fouling with a propane torch. Nothing seems to work like blasting.
I've often wondered about oven cleaner. I sorting out a long running richness problem on my MG I've got a couple of fouled sets that are in need of a cleaning.
Once after blasting a set I also dropped them in my bench top ultra sonic cleaner with a strong mixture of simple green. Even after rinsing in fresh water and thoroughly drying with compressed air the metal developed that fuzzy white corrosion. After a quick going over with a brass wire brush, they still worked.
Spark plugs can take an amazing amount of abuse a still function.
 

oexing

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Spark plug sand blasting is done routinely with aircraft plugs when running them in avgas fed engines and their lead content. There you get lead fouling quickly when not caring for lean mixture and only full rich for take-off. You don´t bin aircraft plugs at 30 Pounds each easily. The Gunson type in the link below is quite allright for home use when you got an air compressor. But certainly it lacks a real tester with buzzer ht coil and pressure testing at max. 10 bar. Long time ago there were blasting and testing devices like from Champion, often found in car garages but these days you find them in Ebay at collectors prices mostly - or new from India, like in the youtube link.

Vic
Gunson blaster

Youtube tester:
tester
 

ClassicBiker

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
That's the bench top blaster that I have. Like I say I haven't any problems after blasting I just make sure that all the grit is out.
 

LoneStar

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I give them a blast in the bead blasting cabinet. It only takes a few seconds to remove any deposits, and then remove any beads with carb cleaner spray and compressed air. Seems to work.
 

vibrac

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Wonderful how oven cleaner morphed into blasting:)
If I had an NGK crap plug I would sneak in the kitchen and try some cleaner
if it works its better than picking out bits of grit....
 
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