Color Tune - Safety Warning !

[robert.schofield at philips.com]

>Don't look - in line of sight with the spark plug - just in case the quartz
>fractures and it goes in your eye, the little mirror supplied with the unit
>is for that specific purpose - so you *don't* ever look "Straight" in line
>with the plug.

Mike, while I appreciate the quality of this as a safety warning, it is a bit over the top - the glass in the plug 
is almost a 1/3 of an inch thick of crystal thermal glass (Fireglass). Gunson's have been selling these for 
around 25 years without any problems, and there are sufficient safety warnings on the packaging for users
to be aware of safety issues when using it. They do stress that it should not be used under load, only 
as a a diagnostic tool and low-stress tuning device. 

It is primarily intended for Carb tuning. It is designed to loose the centre electrode to stop firing the 
cylinder in the event it overheats, and the copper seat seal will oblate and 
blow past in over-pressure conditions. I am not stating it is fail safe, please note. Even the packaging 
states that the use of the mirror is optional - I rarely use it since vibration often renders the flame colour 
invisible in the mirror. If you go over the top with this type of warning, then I am sure people will just tend
not to use it, and hence lose out on the use of a potentially very useful, cheap little tool.

If people go ahead anyway and use it in an engine say, on a rolling road at high temperature and
high revs, then it's their own lookout, and more fool them. Careful and prudent use of this plug for short  
periods of time produce good results, idiocy produces injury. I would be more scared of a piece of the 
engine letting go than the ColourTune.

Having said that - I applaud your cautious stance, there is *absolutely nothing* more important than 
safety around car engines....

Rob Schofield
--
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he
will sit in a boat drinking beer all day.


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