Cleaning spark plugs

[daugen]

I have about twenty pounds of spark plugs sitting in an overflowing bowl in the parts storage area I have.
I have a lot of small engines and change the plugs usually once a year for some and once every other year for others that don't get used
very much.

so over the years I have quite a collection of not very dirty spark plugs. Growing up, there were always JC Whitney spark plug cleaners to ponder, but then someone said
the abrasive was bad for the conductor and someone else said something else they likely knew little about and the spark plug cleaners got a bad rap. Do they still?

It's kind of like sharpening knives. I wouldn't mind sitting down and recovering about three quarters of these. Not one of them shows any physical wear other
than the normal crud you get on plugs. Not for a car but for a lawn mower, where it will probably only be used one year?
I'm asking for reasons I suppose why not to...
thanks

let's see:
too cheap to worry about
won't come clean and crap will get in the engine
overheats the porcelain
breaks eleven OSHA rules...

 

[V1Rotate]

Don't forget about the EPA. You will probably have to recycle the sand after you clean those plugs.

 

[DeereMann]

EPA will sick FBI on you. :laughing:

(so please don't tell 'em I use emery cloth on occassion for my low hour use 2-stroke engine plugs)

Yes, slight cleaning of regular copper core plugs is fine, as long as they don't have a lot of hours on them (pitted conductors, cracked insulators, etc.). I do it all the time, as did my dad.

Of course, you don't want to do that to automotive platinum plated plugs for obvious reasons!

 

[ETpilot]

I have an aircraft spark plug cleaner/tester. Once I clean them I can bomb test them to see if they are good. Bad spark plugs can show a spark when testing while cranking engine. When you test them with 80psi of air they can fail miserably. I had this problem on my ATV. Plug showed a spark but when I tested it, it did not spark at all. New plug was the cure.

On the bad side this tester is a bit expensive. Not for the average home shop.

 

[daugen]

ET, is "bomb testing" the 80psi part?
I always wondered why someone didn't make a
low impact powder cleaner/blaster made of something that
cleaned out thoroughly.

So what's different about an aircraft spark plug and/or tester, and other than being for a plane,
which of course triples the cost, what do you get for the money? Is the cleaning part foolproof?

thanks. When I think of all the plugs I have thrown out over the last fifty plus years. The recycle bulb didn't come on
until late in life for me. Now I hate to throw stuff in the dump.

thanks for the info. One thing most of us have is spark plugs.

 

[daugen]

Customer Image Gallery for Sunex 3912 Spark Plug Cleaner

Another important issue is what is the best media to use? Not the one this guy used for sure.

 

[DarkBlack]

I've never changed a plug in any of my non-auto engines, and I've never needed to.
I must be lucky.

 

[daugen]

I've never changed a plug in any of my non-auto engines, and I've never needed to.
I must be lucky.

or a lot smarter than I am. How you can do that with chain saws and weed wackers I don't know; do you use a lot of carb cleaner?

 

[DarkBlack]

Maybe it's the heated garage?

 

[murphy1244]

Why save them if your changing them with new plugs every year? Don't change them then you won't have to clean them.