What carb dips are you all using? A bunch of years ago I bought a gallon can of Berrymans Chem-Dip. Bright fluorescent green and just about the nastiest liquid you could imagine. But damn it cleaned well - I dipped a carb from a 1942 military generator (jeep engine) and the carb came out sparkling clean as if it just came off the line. This has lost its potency and the liquid is now rusty brown and it hardly cleans at all. Three or four years ago I purchased a 5 gallon can of carb dip from NAPA. Never did work half as good as that Berryman's, and it is already worn out. I am sure that the safety nazis don't like these aggressive carb dipping solutions. I have not been anle to find Berryman's locally anymore, and I am sure that there are rules about shipping these liquids. What is the best one available today, and where do you get it?
I used to have a 5 gallon can of Berryman's for years, until it finally rusted through the can. Very caustic stuff. The shop smelled horrible for a few weeks. Now I use a ultrasound cleaner with water and dishwashing liquid. I think that it does as good a job or even better than the Berryman's did. More than likley from the vibrations.
I have a 5-gal of that berrymans too. The can I have is still rediculously potent.. almost to the point of making me nervous that I'll wake up one day with a 3rd arm or something growing out of my back. The stench though is horrible.. and it doesn't just was off.
I've used both Permatex & CRC 5gal carb cleaners and not happy with either. They start pretty good but after just 3-4carbs the level of cleaning falls right off and then they just do ok but it takes a lot of hand cleaning to get something i am proud of. I'll be watching this thread too to see if anybody has found better. Thanks for bringing it up, oj
I'm glad to hear that the Berryman's is still available. No one around here has sold it for a while. Is it still that bright green when new? I wonder if they have changed the formula. You are right about the potency of that stuff. Just opening the can makes the shop stink; get one drop on your skin and the smell is with you for days. It seems to get absorbed right into your body. Guess that is not so good LOL.
That's exactly what happened with the NAPA branded stuff I bought. Even when new it hardly cleaned compared to the Berrymans, and it lost potency right away.
Berryman's changed their formula here in CA at least 10 years ago. You can still buy it, but it's nowhere as good. I haven't yet found a decent replacement. Devin
The Berrymans site lists both regular and California compliant dips. Is the regular one the same bright green liquid?
My can of Berrymans was not green when new (15years ago) but if i recall, the main ingredient is only MEK (MethylEthylKetone) which should be available in bulk from suppliers of, well, bulk chemicals. An yes a single drop will make your world stink for weeks.
My Berryman's isn't bright green, closer to yellow. But yes, it's still quite good in my opinion. I bought mine at local O Reilly parts store about 2 years ago.
Try this...# 14104 tyme..5 gal "yellow opaque solution" Sold by CRC ( the brakleen folks ) Almost 40 years in the parts / machine shop biz... used both berrymans and tyme. Both have the NASTY smell but worked great ! The secret to long life is a pint of water on top so the nasty stuff wont evaporate, and keep the lid on tight ! Dave
I've been using spray cans for years, don't work as good as dip, but it's a heck of a lot easier to put up with.
Berryman's is also still available at Advance Auto. But, it ****s for cleaning anymore, just smells. I now use no caustic chemicals just a boiling tank that is ultrasound equipped. Gerts em' "cleaner than a spacked baby's bottom'.
Will somebody post up some info on an ultra sound unit-machine(or whatever you call it). I looked on the internet, but I need to know what is realy working in a shop on car parts.
I blasted the gunk out of my carbs using this super low buck home-made soda blaster, then had them tumbled. I think they look great now. I don't have a before pic, but you can see what they look like now in the album of my '54. http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/
watch out, it's an oxidizer, it will dull the finish and stain aluminum but carbs are made with zinc potmetal. it definitely will release the baked on goo and you don't need to call safety service. bad thing is it turns synthetic oil into thick grease when the water hits it. I just use it for carbon removal
A 24 hour dip in the 5 Gal berrymans ( Supported on wood as on the side of can when in use) a dip in the solvent tank, then into my hot water sink fpr a good rinse and final inspection followed by air blowing p***ages and on to the work bench for final inspection. Sometimes I still have to use Berrymans spray for final claen and detail. The ultasonic cleaners rock, but I have't scored one yet, looking for a deal on a used one. I do 20-40 carbs a year and get about 3-4 years out of a 5 gal of Berrymans.
I ruined a carb with this stuff when I was a kid. I would not recomend trying it on anything you care about.
I fully ***embled my blown Hemi to get it started/tuned, before final cleaning all the "as cast" aluminum parts on it. I want all the aluminum natural finish, not polished, and figured I'd need to dissasemble all that stuff to clean it up. I didn't want to use anything on the ***embled engine to clean up the aluminum and ruin the paint job on the engine. I'm going to do the soda blast trick on the aluminum parts on the ***embled engine and see if that will clean up and leave the "as cast" look to the parts...then just rinse of the engine with water... Thanks a BUNCH, ******, for the soda blasting tip. It MAY just save me hours of work. By the way, the real Berrymans stuff is still for sale at Advance Auto here in FL...
Look for a ultrasonic cleaner on www.labx.com or www.dovebid.com. You can find smaller ones new on www.fishersci.com but they are expensive. If I have something really nasty I will put berrymans in the ultrasonic cleaner then in a chemical hood and just let it cook for 30-40 minutes with the heat on. Cleans everything but got to have the chemical hood as it will throw the cleaner into the air.
Well, I did not learn about vibro-cleaning yet, but this ''blaster by ******'' looks like it should kick boodie when it comes to cleaning carbs! BTW, great picts. and website, I put it in my favorites-THANKS MAN!!
that sounds scary. Blasting usually lets abrasive get into places it shouldn't be, no matter how careful you are to avoid it.
I have to agree with squirrel on this one ! It you treasure the parts , then take the extra time to take the parts off , then clean them ! If you do the cleaning on the engine , you are asking for trouble ! RetroJim
Yup, squirrel, you made a great point, but do ya think that it would be OK to do carbs with then really wash em good (soda is water soluble). Then blow them out real good and spray them with that "Blaster" spray that I have become such a fan of?
i once bought a winch from this hf place. it went sour after 4 uses. if this here gadget works fine i might just jump on it..any feed back on it..any one?
Berryman's B-9 Chem Dip is the one you want not the other stuff, B-24 I think it's called. I just bought a 5 Gal. bucket of B-9 from O'Reilly and it's the good stuff just like the original Gunk HydroSeal. The main ingredient is MethyleneChloride not MEK, far nastier than MEK ever dreamed of being. Works best if you can keep it between 70 and 90 degrees and it WILL freeze. I had a "carbsicle" on my hands last week, it thawed out with no harm done but I was sweatin' it for a couple days.
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