The hot shot is a great glow ignitor and I never had any problems with mine. I did however quit using it and switched to a metered glow ignitor 2 years ago and would never go back. I have not had one problem with my metered ignitor and it will tell you if a glow plug is bad or not which is why I like it. There are other ways to determine a bad glow plug so the importance of that feature is up to you but I love it, it works great when you are about to go race and your buggy wont start and you need a quick diagnosis.