At 01:43 PM 9/13/2007, David Kao wrote...
>I believe a cylinder with excellent compression will give you highest
>reading on the 4th stroke. A cylinder not in optimal compression
>will require 6 - 8 strokes to reach max. reading. So the reading as
>well as number of stroke should both be considered for judging the
>compression of a cylinder.

Keep cranking until the reading reaches a maximum. The number of
strokes is a matter of the cylinder displacement, the compression
ratio, and the additional volume added by the meter (hose, couplings,
meter). Also the cranking speed, due to both leakage and adiabatic
effects. For a given gauge, the number of strokes will be greater as
the displacement decreases, because it has more of an effect on the
volume.