Your neon tube device is a good one, David, if you have a running
multi-cylinder
engine, and suspect that one plug is not firing - you can spot the bad boy
immediately. But if you have a non-runner or something similar, I have a
different tool that I made 35 years ago, and it still works perfectly: it is a
used clean spark plug with a small battery clip attached by a heater hose
clamp.
Simply attach the clip to any ground on the engine and connect the spark plug
to
the top of the plug in the normal manner. The quality, color, and intensity of
the spark is quite visable and under (more or less) working conditions,
something that the neon light will not tell you. Since a picture (supposedly)
is
worth 1000 words, you can see an image of the tester at
<http://public.fotki.com/mikesloane/tools__equipment/ignition_tester.html>.
Another advantage of my tool is that the spark can be seen easily even in
bright
sunlight, whereas the neon light may be hard to discern.
Mike
David Scheidt wrote:
> I recently bought a new spark plug firing tester. This is a thing
> that you hold near a spark plug or plug wire, and as (and if...)
> the plug fires, a little
> neon light flashes. I've had one for years, made by Lisle (and available
>from
> car quest) which works fine. But it's got a ground lead that has to
> be clipped to something. On a car that's not really a problem, but
> on somethings it can be. The one I've just got (At Wal-mart, $3 or
> $4 bucks) doesn't have that.
> It's just a pen-shaped thing with a neon tubein it. Hold it next to
> the wire or
> plug, and it flashes.
>
> David
--
________________________________________________________________
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
Email:(msloane@att.net)
Website: <http://www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Tractor images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those
who could have acted;
the indifference of those who should have known better;
the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most;
that has made it possible for evil to triumph."
- Haile Selassie
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