Spark plug cleaner

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

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.

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

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

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

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 :-)

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.

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 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

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