Spark plug cleaner

[texas slacker]

Went out this morning and rolled the Warrior out for a little soul
restoring and piston oiling. It totally fulunked the run-up, tried to
burn the crud off the offending plug, no joy. Took it back to the
hanger and started pulling plugs. They all felt hot so I pulled them
in order. The crudded up plug was the last one. Didn't have anything
small enough to get in the massive type gap. Finally took the plug to
the mechanic and he dug out a special tool to gouge out the offending
material. Put the plug back in and Warrior passed the run-up. Flew
for a half hour just to be sure and made a good cross wind landing.
Life is good.
Now - I need to buy or fabricate some sort of gadget to do a decent
job of cleaning the plugs. In looking around I see that Chief
Aircraft has a sand blaster type for about $23. This looks possibly,
has anyone ever used this particular gadget and did it do the job?
Anyone have a better suggestion? Thanks. Leo

[klp]

FWIW - They work but you will need ~80 psi air. Get a spare bag and
spare media, and spark plug washers.

Next time you go to the dentist for a checkup, also get a couple of
his dental picks. Use them carefully to pick out the lead chunks
before blasting the plugs. Don't blast the plugs too much but wire
wheel the threads before reinstalling them using a small amount of
anti seize. Preferably clean the spark plug hole threads too so they
will remove easier next time. Use a beam type torque wrench.

[Mike Noel]

Leo, about a year after I bought my Archer I started having chronic failed
mag checks with my O-360. I went through the usual high power leaning
procedure to get it temporarily cleared or, failing that, pulled the plugs
and dug out the crud with a straight dental pick (mine came from Sears.)

Then I discovered (U)REM37BY plugs and ground leaning. The 37BY plugs were
designed to run hotter and stay cleaner than the 40E's. For taxi I
aggressively lean the engine to near idle cut-off and keep the RPM around
1000 most of the time. When flying and not needing maximum performance, I
reduce power to 65% or less and lean to engine stumble, then slightly enrich
to obtain smooth power.

Since changing to the hotter plugs learning to lean as aggressively as
possible for the engine power setting, I have not had a bad mag check.

Best Regards,
Mike.

http://flickr.com/photos/mikenoel/
"texas slacker" > wrote in message
...
>
> Went out this morning and rolled the Warrior out for a little soul
> restoring and piston oiling. It totally fulunked the run-up, tried to
> burn the crud off the offending plug, no joy. Took it back to the
> hanger and started pulling plugs. They all felt hot so I pulled them
> in order. The crudded up plug was the last one. Didn't have anything
> small enough to get in the massive type gap. Finally took the plug to
> the mechanic and he dug out a special tool to gouge out the offending
> material. Put the plug back in and Warrior passed the run-up. Flew
> for a half hour just to be sure and made a good cross wind landing.
> Life is good.
> Now - I need to buy or fabricate some sort of gadget to do a decent
> job of cleaning the plugs. In looking around I see that Chief
> Aircraft has a sand blaster type for about $23. This looks possibly,
> has anyone ever used this particular gadget and did it do the job?
> Anyone have a better suggestion? Thanks. Leo

[[email protected]]

On May 20, 3:34 pm, "Mike Noel" > wrote:

> Then I discovered (U)REM37BY plugs and ground leaning. The 37BY plugs were
> designed to run hotter and stay cleaner than the 40E's. For taxi I
> aggressively lean the engine to near idle cut-off and keep the RPM around
> 1000 most of the time. When flying and not needing maximum performance, I
> reduce power to 65% or less and lean to engine stumble, then slightly enrich
> to obtain smooth power.
>
> Since changing to the hotter plugs learning to lean as aggressively as
> possible for the engine power setting, I have not had a bad mag check.

Some guys clean plugs just using the pick. Blasting erodes them
and shortens the life, especially if silicon carbide grit is used. I
use only glass bead. I use an electric engraving tool ($10) with the
Champion digger bit (more than $10) in it to clean out the lead
deposits.

Unison's UREM37BY plugs have given us nothing but grief. Some of
them had threads that were too large and seized in the helicoils in
the heads. Their internal resistors were failing in as little as 50
hours. I never cared for Champs but they were never this bad. The old
Auburn plugs were by far the best ever, until Champion bought them up
and shut them down. A sad day for piston pushers.

Now Champion has purchased the Slick magneto line from Unison.
Hope they don't screw it up, or increase the prices dramatically.

Dan

[[email protected]]

On May 20, 7:10*pm, wrote:
> On May 20, 3:34 pm, "Mike Noel" > wrote:
>
> > Then I discovered (U)REM37BY plugs and ground leaning. *The 37BY plugs were
> > designed to run hotter and stay cleaner than the 40E's. *For taxi I
> > aggressively lean the engine to near idle cut-off and keep the RPM around
> > 1000 most of the time. *When flying and not needing maximum performance, I
> > reduce power to 65% or less and lean to engine stumble, then slightly enrich
> > to obtain smooth power.
>
> > Since changing to the hotter plugs learning to lean as aggressively as
> > possible for the engine power setting, I have not had a bad mag check.
>
> * * Some guys clean plugs just using the pick. Blasting erodes them
> and shortens the life, especially if silicon carbide grit is used. I
> use only glass bead. I use an electric engraving tool ($10) with the
> Champion digger bit (more than $10) in it to clean out the lead
> deposits.
>
> * *Unison's UREM37BY plugs have given us nothing but grief. Some of
> them had threads that were too large and seized in the helicoils in
> the heads. Their internal resistors were failing in as little as 50
> hours. I never cared for Champs but they were never this bad. The old
> Auburn plugs were by far the best ever, until Champion bought them up
> and shut them down. A sad day for piston pushers.
>
> * * *Now Champion has purchased the Slick magneto line from Unison.
> Hope they don't screw it up, or increase the prices dramatically.
>
> Dan

I should also mention: The Champion REM37BYs are OK, as far as
Champs go. They don't run hotter that I know of. They have a very
shallow well and extended electrodes that can't be shorted by the
deposits that fill the wells of plugs like the 38 or 40. See this:

http://www.sacskyranch.com/faqsparkplug.htm

Go a third of the way down the page. Don't be fooled by the longer
reach of the plug on the right; it should be a shorter threaded plug,
with threads the same length of the 37BY. The BY's electrodes will
reach farther into the cylinder, so check to see that they're OK to
install in your engine. Champion has that info. Some engines have
pistons that come close enough they might hit such a plug.

Dan

[Stealth Pilot[_2_]]

On Wed, 20 May 2009 18:22:32 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:


>Go a third of the way down the page. Don't be fooled by the longer
>reach of the plug on the right; it should be a shorter threaded plug,
>with threads the same length of the 37BY. The BY's electrodes will
>reach farther into the cylinder, so check to see that they're OK to
>install in your engine. Champion has that info. Some engines have
>pistons that come close enough they might hit such a plug.
>
>Dan

Dan I run 100/130 avgas in my O-200 without any problems.
the standard REM40E plugs foul up enough to make the O-200 fart about
in a worrying fashion.
I use Champion REM38E plugs and have no real dramas. I think I pick
the lead out of maybe 2 plugs in 8 at annual.
I use an engineer's common old scriber point.

stop dropping the plugs bumblefingers :-)

[texas slacker]

On May 21, 6:53*am, Stealth Pilot >
wrote:
> On Wed, 20 May 2009 18:22:32 -0700 (PDT),
> wrote:
>
> >Go a third of the way down the page. Don't be fooled by the longer
> >reach of the plug on the right; it should be a shorter threaded plug,
> >with threads the same length of the 37BY. The BY's electrodes will
> >reach farther into the cylinder, so check to see that they're OK to
> >install in your engine. Champion has that info. Some engines have
> >pistons that come close enough they might hit such a plug.
>
> >Dan
>
> Dan I run 100/130 avgas in my O-200 without any problems.
> the standard REM40E plugs foul up enough to make the O-200 fart about
> in a worrying fashion.
> I use Champion REM38E plugs and have no real dramas. I think I pick
> the lead out of maybe 2 plugs in 8 at annual.
> I use an engineer's common old scriber point.
>
> stop dropping the plugs bumblefingers :-)

Thanks to all - I am running mogas so there is no lead problem like
when I ran avgas. This problem presents itself every 3 or 4 years, I
guess that is why I didn't have anything to go in the electrode gap.
I think I may try a pick for the main cavity and a feeler guage to
clean the electrode gap and if that doesn't work I'll go the carbide
route. Incidentally the identical looking carbide blaster turned up
on Harbor Freight for $10. Nothing is sacred anymore.

[[email protected]]

On May 21, 7:59 am, Texas Slacker > wrote:
> Thanks to all - I am running mogas so there is no lead problem like
> when I ran avgas. This problem presents itself every 3 or 4 years, I
> guess that is why I didn't have anything to go in the electrode gap.
> I think I may try a pick for the main cavity and a feeler guage to
> clean the electrode gap and if that doesn't work I'll go the carbide
> route. Incidentally the identical looking carbide blaster turned up
> on Harbor Freight for $10. Nothing is sacred anymore.

And then I would buy some glass bead to replace the carbide
grit. Cleans just as well and is easy on the plugs. Make sure you get
ALL grit out of the plug, whether it's glass or carbide, or it'll fall
into the cylinder when you reinstall the plugs and extensive cylinder
scoring will result.

Dan

[Ross]

texas slacker wrote:
> Went out this morning and rolled the Warrior out for a little soul
> restoring and piston oiling. It totally fulunked the run-up, tried to
> burn the crud off the offending plug, no joy. Took it back to the
> hanger and started pulling plugs. They all felt hot so I pulled them
> in order. The crudded up plug was the last one. Didn't have anything
> small enough to get in the massive type gap. Finally took the plug to
> the mechanic and he dug out a special tool to gouge out the offending
> material. Put the plug back in and Warrior passed the run-up. Flew
> for a half hour just to be sure and made a good cross wind landing.
> Life is good.
> Now - I need to buy or fabricate some sort of gadget to do a decent
> job of cleaning the plugs. In looking around I see that Chief
> Aircraft has a sand blaster type for about $23. This looks possibly,
> has anyone ever used this particular gadget and did it do the job?
> Anyone have a better suggestion? Thanks. Leo

I have cleaned lot of plugs and generally you will always find some
material. That was one reason that I aggressively lean while on the
ground. I noticed the little lead deposits were not there or smaller. My
mechanic had the "special" tool to first dig out the little nodules,
then I took it to his plug sandblaster to finally clean them out. It
looked like he had a awl that was filed and bent to get into all of the
areas of the plug. I have some old dental picks that my dentist gave me
that seem to work also. BTW, his sandblaster was a professional kind and
much more that $25.00. We also took a wire wheel and carefully cleaned
the threads before applying the antisiezing compound to the first two
threads. Oh, and blow out the plug with a air gun to get any grit out.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
Sold :(
KSWI

[Ross]

Ross wrote:
> texas slacker wrote:
>> Went out this morning and rolled the Warrior out for a little soul
>> restoring and piston oiling. It totally fulunked the run-up, tried to
>> burn the crud off the offending plug, no joy. Took it back to the
>> hanger and started pulling plugs. They all felt hot so I pulled them
>> in order. The crudded up plug was the last one. Didn't have anything
>> small enough to get in the massive type gap. Finally took the plug to
>> the mechanic and he dug out a special tool to gouge out the offending
>> material. Put the plug back in and Warrior passed the run-up. Flew
>> for a half hour just to be sure and made a good cross wind landing.
>> Life is good.
>> Now - I need to buy or fabricate some sort of gadget to do a decent
>> job of cleaning the plugs. In looking around I see that Chief
>> Aircraft has a sand blaster type for about $23. This looks possibly,
>> has anyone ever used this particular gadget and did it do the job?
>> Anyone have a better suggestion? Thanks. Leo
>
> I have cleaned lot of plugs and generally you will always find some
> material. That was one reason that I aggressively lean while on the
> ground. I noticed the little lead deposits were not there or smaller. My
> mechanic had the "special" tool to first dig out the little nodules,
> then I took it to his plug sandblaster to finally clean them out. It
> looked like he had a awl that was filed and bent to get into all of the
> areas of the plug. I have some old dental picks that my dentist gave me
> that seem to work also. BTW, his sandblaster was a professional kind and
> much more that $25.00. We also took a wire wheel and carefully cleaned
> the threads before applying the antisiezing compound to the first two
> threads. Oh, and blow out the plug with a air gun to get any grit out.
>

I should have read more posts before I responded. I seemed to have said
the same thing that everyone else said. One thing about the aggressive
lean on the ground is that if you try to take off and forget to push the
mixture in, the engine quits or sputters as a good reminder. Ask my how
I know :)

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
Sold :(
KSWI

[Mike Noel]

Ross, reading your post reminded me of another aspect of ground leaning. I
also start the engine with the mixture in the ground lean position, which is
maybe at most 1/2 inch forward of idle cut-off. Starting has always been
easy with just a single pump of the throttle both hot and cold.

--
Best Regards,
Mike.

http://flickr.com/photos/mikenoel/
"Ross" > wrote in message
...
> texas slacker wrote:
>> Went out this morning and rolled the Warrior out for a little soul
>> restoring and piston oiling. It totally fulunked the run-up, tried to
>> burn the crud off the offending plug, no joy. Took it back to the
>> hanger and started pulling plugs. They all felt hot so I pulled them
>> in order. The crudded up plug was the last one. Didn't have anything
>> small enough to get in the massive type gap. Finally took the plug to
>> the mechanic and he dug out a special tool to gouge out the offending
>> material. Put the plug back in and Warrior passed the run-up. Flew
>> for a half hour just to be sure and made a good cross wind landing.
>> Life is good.
>> Now - I need to buy or fabricate some sort of gadget to do a decent
>> job of cleaning the plugs. In looking around I see that Chief
>> Aircraft has a sand blaster type for about $23. This looks possibly,
>> has anyone ever used this particular gadget and did it do the job?
>> Anyone have a better suggestion? Thanks. Leo
>
> I have cleaned lot of plugs and generally you will always find some
> material. That was one reason that I aggressively lean while on the
> ground. I noticed the little lead deposits were not there or smaller. My
> mechanic had the "special" tool to first dig out the little nodules, then
> I took it to his plug sandblaster to finally clean them out. It looked
> like he had a awl that was filed and bent to get into all of the areas of
> the plug. I have some old dental picks that my dentist gave me that seem
> to work also. BTW, his sandblaster was a professional kind and much more
> that $25.00. We also took a wire wheel and carefully cleaned the threads
> before applying the antisiezing compound to the first two threads. Oh,
> and blow out the plug with a air gun to get any grit out.
>
> --
>
> Regards, Ross
> C-172F 180HP
> Sold :(
> KSWI

[Stealth Pilot[_2_]]

On Thu, 21 May 2009 11:37:25 -0500, Ross > wrote:


>> that seem to work also. BTW, his sandblaster was a professional kind and
>> much more that $25.00. We also took a wire wheel and carefully cleaned
>> the threads before applying the antisiezing compound to the first two
>> threads. Oh, and blow out the plug with a air gun to get any grit out.
>>
>
>I should have read more posts before I responded. I seemed to have said
>the same thing that everyone else said. One thing about the aggressive
>lean on the ground is that if you try to take off and forget to push the
>mixture in, the engine quits or sputters as a good reminder. Ask my how
>I know :)

but if you are fast you can roll almost to the yellow line clear of
the active area of the runway.
no amount of being fast will get the mixture back full rich in time
though.
I'll bet you know the same way I do :-)

jetlube coppercoat grease is my antisieze.

Stealth Pilot

[Stealth Pilot[_2_]]

On Thu, 21 May 2009 14:42:05 -0700, "Mike Noel" >
wrote:

>Ross, reading your post reminded me of another aspect of ground leaning. I
>also start the engine with the mixture in the ground lean position, which is
>maybe at most 1/2 inch forward of idle cut-off. Starting has always been
>easy with just a single pump of the throttle both hot and cold.

yeah but that depends entirely on how the throttle pump on your carby
is set up. (there are 3 settings on the schebler)
mine would behave like that but would die on throttle increases at
altitude. it is now changed to give correct prime with 3 pumps and
doesnt die when throttle is increased at altitude.
there is a little plate that drives the actual pump plunger that has 3
holes in it.
Stealth Pilot

[Ross]

Mike Noel wrote:
> Ross, reading your post reminded me of another aspect of ground leaning. I
> also start the engine with the mixture in the ground lean position, which is
> maybe at most 1/2 inch forward of idle cut-off. Starting has always been
> easy with just a single pump of the throttle both hot and cold.
>

When I had the plane (and had the opportunity to fly it Wednesday for
the new owner) my starting procedure for the Lyc O-360 was three primes,
turn the key and one pump on the throttle and it always started on two
blades. That was for first start. Any other start that day was usually
just turn the key and maybe one pump on the throttle. I never did the
lean during start. Now I understand fuel injected hot starts are another
issue.

--

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
Sold :(
KSWI