Spark Plug Magnifying Glasses - Page 2

Now it starts getting better. The last couple of magnifiers are ones that are worthy to inspect your spark plugs. These really are the best. Each has some advantages over the others, and again one can be used to inspect your ear drums. Yes, we include an 'Ottoscope' as part of the line up. Some of the people that are fanatical about the color and condition will want one, just to be that guy. Yes, you can be Dr. Spark Plug with the Ottoscope, but it's not my first choice. Read on!

Below are the Amazon Pics for these production, or ones that are upgrade due to age of what I have. Prices are better too!

Lighted Spark Plug Color Viewer

Not sure what to call this, but this is a well made magnifier for the price. Mostly metal as well as some black plastic. Runs on 2 AA batteries and has a 10x lens as well as a measuring graticule. The lens is large and LED lighting is bright and even. It came in a proctive plastic fibre case with a zipper. Batteries were not included.

Spark Plug Lighted Magnifier Graticule Removed

With the Graticule removed you can see the 3 LED's. Note, do not PULL the graticule out it simply twists out easily. I found out the hard way and bent the tabs that hold it in. No damage other then pride.

Lighted Magnifier Spark Plug View

This is the first magnifier that does the job 100%. The view is crisp and well lighted. Even the picture through the magnifier looks pretty good. You can see the fuzz and dirt from the plug sitting in the tool box. So far top of the heap. Downsides? Possibly a bit bulky but not too bad given the nice little case it comes in.

Ottoscope Spark Plug Magnifier

Ok, I mentioned you could get very fancy with these magnifiers. If you are that guy (or gal) you might want to look at one of these. They come in many price ranges, and lighting styles (LED and incandescent). The Dr. Mom brand seemed to have very good reviews (for checking ears and quality) and a price that was not super crazy. Some of these devices are in the hundreds of dollar range (Welch Allyn). Frankly even 45 bucks is too much I think, but this is a different class of tool then the other magnifiers.

Back Side of the Magnifier

The metal square vignette (fancy name for the square hole) has printed on the other side a metric and inch graticule. Power switch is on the upper handle it can be just seen under the '$' and is a small rubber button.

Ottoscope Ear Piece Removed

These typically come with a probe that you jam into the ear. This is not very useful and I tried it but left for such a small field of view that it had to be removed. After that it was better. This uses a single AA battery and has a nice bright (although small beam width) light. Tool feels similar to a lower end Maglight or aluminum flash light.

Ottoscope Pocket Magnifier - More Parts Removal

One thing that I didn't like was the small field of view. Somewhat microscope like. Also I would like a bit more magnification then what this came with. The specs for the Dr. Mom version I picked up (4th generation Dr. Mom Ottoscope) was unclear as the the magnification but I would expect int the 4x-5x range as that is what seems to be common with the Ottoscopes I saw. Removing the last screw on housing adapter opened up things a bit and gave a nicer spread of the LED light. Pushbutton light switch is at the bottom of the handle.

Ottoscope Pocket Magnifier - Lens

This is the part you look through. You need to get your eye right on this to get things in focus... Remeber you last ear check up? Just like that. Once all the stuff is removed this becomes a pretty good tool, and by far the most compact. It comes shipped in a cardboard box with foam and it's ok and useful as a storage container.

Ottoscope Pocket Magnifier - View

Sorry about the picture, best I could do. The lighting is not represented well and was actually pretty good. What you can see is that you do not have the magnification of the previous lighted magnifier, but again the picture is a bit misrepresenting it due to difficulties in trying to take the picture. For me the view was not as good at the Lighted Magnifier above, but not bad. The Ottoscope magnifier does look the coolest of the bunch and if you are that guy that will forego functionality for coolness then get one of these, you can look like you graduated top of the class I guess but you will definitly have to remove the 'Dr. Mom' lable first as you might get some crap about that.

Spark Plug Magnifier Review Conclusion

This was a pretty easy choice for me, the above picture has the line up from BEST to WORST. While I really wanted to have the Dr. Mom Ottoscope be the best it just was not as good as the one the left. My choice was based mostly on how well it worked and the clarity, brightness and cost make this a no brainer. The Ottoscope comes up second for being the best made, but smallest field of view and not quite enough magnification, next is the pocket magnifier, a good option and easy to store and carry. The last two are not really useful, after looking again at their problems you can get the top of the heap for about $15.