cleaning spark plugs

[wbedwards]

Would a large brass tumbler clean carbon fouled spark plugs??

[dmsfrr]

A large brass tumbler?

In a previous lifetime I worked at a service station that had a spark plug cleaner.
It was a metal box about 1ft square with a fitting for an air hose on one side and a rubber bushed hole on top to insert dirty spark plugs, with a push button air control.
It had some sort of fine grit inside and was effectively a small sandblasting appliance.

[wbedwards]

I wish I had one of those. This is a vibratory tumbler made to clean brass shells after firing. It uses corn cob or walnut shell media to polish the brass before you reload them.

[fordy_nine]

I believe you need a device which uses an air blast powering some abrasive material. If you have an air compressor, there are small, cheap plug cleaners available from Harbor Freight and similar suppliers that will do the job. There are also many old Champion cleaner/testers to be found at swap meets...........Bob L

[willowbilly3]

I had one of those sand blasters new about 20 years ago. I used it to clean snowmobile plugs mostly but the airplane guys used them too. I can't see tumbling getting any of the crud out inside the electrode where it really needs cleaned.

Mine was like this and worked really well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Spar...wAAOSwX61ZC7ti

I've also owned a couple of these. They take up a lot of room but work good and also have a coil and a viewing window so you can power up a spark plug and put air pressure to see if the spark breaks down under compression. cool

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Champion-Spa...wAAOSwWxNYuwPr

[wbedwards]

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I guess they aren't that expensive, I'll get one.

[phonconn]

I would be afraid to loose the print off the porcelain son not exposing anything but the bottom would prevent this.

[Alaska Jim]

I just bought a spark plug cleaner from Harbor freight, while I was in Texas. It cost about $20.00. If you buy one do not forget to buy some extra blast media. they sell it in a bottle/can type container. it is not expensive. I bought this one to replace my old one that is at least 30 years old and the rubber seal was getting bad. the new one is a different brand and made off shore, and is no where near as good as the old is, but it gets the job done. a word of caution , after cleaning your plugs with one of these type of plug cleaners, use compressed air and make sure you blow any residual blast media off the plugs the may get wedged down in the plug where the electrode and porcelain are in the center of the plug. if you do not do this it is possible to get some into the cylinder when reinstalling the plugs. also if the plugs are oil fouled use carb cleaner to get the greasy stuff off before you try to clean them in the blaster, or you will have a very messy plug that is still oily and now has the blast media stuck to it.---Jim

[hotrodart]

My 11 year old grand son cleaned mine today using a wire brush......electrodes looked like new and no damage to the porcelain.....engine fired right up.

[tomfiii]

Use care with champion plugs as porcelain can be damaged with excessive blasting,and wire bush is good for metal parts.

[willowbilly3]

Just a preference but I would never use champions in a Ford. Back when I was in the repair business I saw way too many of them wash out and never fire again if the engine ever got flooded, even had it happen to brand new ones

[Dobie Gillis]

I wouldn't put a Champion in a lawnmower. I had one drop the center electrode in my flathead. I pulled the head to check for damage and found none so it must have spit it out through the exhaust valve, but never again. They're crap since they moved their manufacturing offshore.