Came across this and wasn't sure if it had been shared...thought it was good reading http://www.sparkingplugs.com/resources/Smith_Cleaning-Carbs_356+registry.pdf
They mention methylene chloride. That used to be the "good stuff", if toxic. It was also included in paint strippers. Makes sense, since old gasoline turns into gum and varnish. But it's been banned from paint strippers as well. Article says it's still available but they don't say where.
In my area methylene chloride is available at the local plastics store, but expensive. I don't know if it still is in paint stripper in Canada.
A type of methylene chloride is used in plastics for bonding purposes, it was available in small bottles (gl***) as a cement for plastic model cars, aircraft, etc. We have a large plastics & metal distributor in Turlock, CA. Just google 'plastics' in your area, dealers are numerous.
It's called "Industrial Plastics and Paint" and they sell sheets of plastic, rods, glues, solvents etc. etc. A neat place, I ***umed other large cities would have such stores.
I've been cleaning carbs with a cheap Harbor Freight ultrasonic and simple green and have had great results. It may take some time with really gunked carbs but while I do not clean a lot of them (I am not in this business) I've not had one not come clean.
This is the reason I found the article, I was searching for what to use and the ratio. I bought one just like the H-F one off Amazon, but sent it back and bought a more industrial stainless steel one for actually less money. Most of the carbs I will be cleaning are outboard 2 stroke carbs anyway
Looks great. Does the vapor blasting just do the outside though? Or does it clean the p***ages? I need to get all the small internal p***ages...I believe the ultrasonic will clean those
I don't generally promote Harbor Freight stuff but you can buy one for $90. Mine was less than that when I bought it 7-8 years ago. It's still working. They also have their coupons you can use that make it even less. You have to take the carb apart to get it to fit. Small carbs like a motorcycle carb will fit without taking it apart but you want to take it apart anyway. For some larger carbs you have to do one side and flip it over to get the entire carb. I had an ATV carb I needed cleaned. The local shop charged $60. Like I said, I do not do this for a living so I clean a few a year. I use simple green straight. If you are a shop you likely want a commercial one but for your own use it works just fine. You then have it around to clean anything that will fit. Did these recently.
In the Navy we used MEK and Naptha Alphatic to clean parts and there was a liquid freon for hyd samples.........no gloves worn....lol, except when we used baby ****/paint stripper.
We know this stuff as Methyl Ethyl Keytone, but the industrial hygienist at the hospital I worked at called it Methyl Ethyl Death.
What ever happened to the good old carb cleaner that smelled like creosote and would remove anything that wasn't metal, including your skin? A 5 gallon bucket of that stuff would last forever. I seem to remember Harbor Freight (?) having something similar. Not as potent, though. A neighbor bought a can of this to clean his carb but it took lots of soaking and some hand work. Small bucket, too. All the good stuff has been banned now. I have a squirt can of rubber cleaner that has meth choride in it. I use it sparingly and guard it with my life as it's probably too hazardous now. Used to be a very popular solvent.
Well it is dangerous if mishandled. So is water, get right down to it. They slipped over the line into silliness a long time ago. What happens, one person ****s their pants, so then we all gotta wear diapers. At minimum put up with a wall of text and warnings on everything. "DO NOT INGEST CONTENTS OF BATTERY"
Unfortunately, common sense is not a flower that grows in every garden. Bring up lye (not for carbs, they don't get along), and boy do the people bark about how dangerous that is. Thousands of pioneer women must have have been horribly disfigured or killed making soap. Not to mention all the Scandinavians preparing lutefisk.
I worked aerospace in the late 60's testing materials that went into the space craft for flammability after one burned on the pad. When I started most of the products we tested burned very well, and left a nasty mess in the test chamber. We used MEK and freon as well as 409 and anything else we could to clean the test chamber (they were aluminum, two or three feet deep and a couple of feet in diameter. I can't remember if we used rubber gloves, but I doubt it. In the same lab we had a chemist type guy that pulled samples off of the material to test for carbon monoxide/total organics and one day doing a base line he found cyanide in the air I'd still use MEK but I'd want to use it in a vented environment. It was good stuff.
1 1/2 gallon of distilled water , 20oz of Muriatic Acid , rinse 3x in hot water , soda blast and its as best as anything I have eve4 used to date . I also use an old crock pot and Simple Green . I never use wires to clean p***ages , I think the score the bores of p***ages and change flow as it was designed . Just my 2 cents also . No matter what you use , use the PPE , gloves and safety gl***es on first , please .
The Jalopy Journal
