Carb cleaning...a chemical carb dip or the Hornady Hot Tub?

[spudman]

I'm in the process of disassembling, cleaning and re-jetting the carb on my 99 Road Toad to the 02 Toad specs and I'd like to do a good job cleaning out the carb. With every removable component removed from the carb body and the float bowl, I was planning on soaking these two parts in some sort of chemical "dip" like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Berryman-Chem ... r/17491945
Then it dawned on me that a few years ago, I bought a Hornady ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning empty brass as well as gun parts. The thing works great on the brass and does a pretty good job on carbon removal with the other parts too. It uses two separate "solutions"; one for brass and one for other metal parts. So I'm wondering...might this be a good way to get the inside of the carb body and float bowl "really clean"? Something tells me that the previous owner may have already done a pretty good cleaning on this one, or at least he must have never used the reformulated gas (with ethanol) that is prevalent where I live (even though I don't have to drive far for the premium non-ethanol "good gas"). So what do you think...might this $500 investment of mine actually be a good way to clean the carb? Or should I just stick to the old fashioned chemical carb soaking?

[spudman]

Here's the Hornady cleaner:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/817430 ... eaner-110v

[dcooke007]

I shoot and reload also but don't have an ultra sonic cleaner...yet. Still vibratory tumbling my brass and small motorcycle parts in ground walnut hulls. Your sonic cleaner should be great to clean carbs...not sure what cleaner to use though. You could run a test piece...old carb body etc. for test.

I think Doug Gardner has a sonic cleaner he uses to clean parts.

Danny Cooke

[spudman]

I'm going to give it a try Danny. I did a bit more research last night and it seems quite a few people have had very good results with the ultrasonic cleaners and....wait for it....Pine-Sol! If the before and after shots in some of the You Tube videos I watched are any indication, this could be a very good solution. I'll post photos when I'm finished.

[MTrat]

You can buy a lot of lacquer thinner for the cost of a Hornady Hot Tub...

[spudman]

Trust me MTrat...lacquer thinner doesn't play well with an AR upper.

[MTrat]

If non-metallic parts are not included (neoprene/rubber etc.), lacquer thinner will and has cleaned many carburetors without problems.

[spudman]

Perhaps you're not getting me here...I already OWN the ultrasonic cleaner...for cleaning brass cases and firearm parts. I certainly wouldn't go out and buy one just to clean a motorcycle carb. I'm aware that the thinner will clean a lot of things. Just looking to see if an ultrasonic cleaner will do an even better job on the carb than the traditional methods. I should know in a few hours and will try to get some photos up of the results.

[hodakamax]

OK, on Max's "Day One Project" the carb has been all rebuilt but the outside looks drab. Any ideas for that new look?

Max

[spudman]

OK guys...the results are in. The images below are after one 30 minute cycle thru the Hornady Hot Tub ultrasonic cleaner. Temp was set to 140 F and the solution was about 25% Pine-Sol & 75% distilled water. Standard spray-down with brake cleaner was performed before I brought the carb in the house for disassembly. All the brass parts are now running through a 30 minute cycle with the Hornady brass case solution. Once the carb was pulled out of the solution, I rinsed it with distilled water and then blew out all the passages with compressed air. On the advice of another You Tuber, I then sprayed the entire carb with a light mist of WD-40. Not sure if it needed it or not, but the guy recommended it so the aluminum would not oxidize. As an added bonus, my entire house now smells "piney fresh".

[dcooke007]

OK, on Max's "Day One Project" the carb has been all rebuilt but the outside looks drab. Any ideas for that new look?

Max

This method of carb refinishing is kind of like using a hammer. Works well when used properly. But if care is not exercised, much damage can be done. I have used extra fine glass beads at 40 psi to shine up my carbs. All grease, dirt and oil residue must be removed before blasting the carb. If the carb is clean and dry it is not difficult to remove the remaining blast media when completed. After blasting the carb parts I flush all carb passages with spray carb cleaner and compressed air. Inspect all passages for reside and clean again if required. No glass bead residue can remain as it would not be good for your engine. I hesitate to make this known as some may not exercise the needed care for this method.

Link to glass beads for this method. http://www.ebay.com/itm/381023013384?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Another option might be to soda blast. Residue should dissolve in hot water. Have not tried this method yet.

Danny Cooke

[hodakamax]

Thanks Danny, None of this is available locally. I think the project is so small I'll just get out the dreaded Dremel and do a brush/polish job on it. Thanks again for your effort of course!

Max

[Darrell]

The carbs were so gummed-up on my projects that I couldn't think of anything better than to boil them in a pot of water on the camp stove.

At least I was able to pull the float bowls off after that.

[DGardner]

OK guys...the results are in. The images below are after one 30 minute cycle thru the Hornady Hot Tub ultrasonic cleaner. Temp was set to 140 F and the solution was about 25% Pine-Sol & 75% distilled water. Standard spray-down with brake cleaner was performed before I brought the carb in the house for disassembly. All the brass parts are now running through a 30 minute cycle with the Hornady brass case solution. Once the carb was pulled out of the solution, I rinsed it with distilled water and then blew out all the passages with compressed air. On the advice of another You Tuber, I then sprayed the entire carb with a light mist of WD-40. Not sure if it needed it or not, but the guy recommended it so the aluminum would not oxidize. As an added bonus, my entire house now smells "piney fresh".

Spudman
I have a ultrasonic cleaner that I have used for about 7 or 8 years now. The one thing I've found out is some aluminum will turn a dark gray color if you have to hot of water. I try and keep the water as cold as I can to keep parts from turning gray. I've never used Pinesol before.....I'm going to pick some up and try it out. Thanks for the tip! I use Dawn dish soap in my cleaner.

[spudman]

Yep...that's the one thing I noticed too. I probably should have tried it without the heating function first. The Hornady manual even makes mention that the heater can turn brass to a darker color, so they don't recommend heating when cleaning cases. The thing is, the heat helps remove the crud better on gun parts and in this case...carb parts, so it was a bit of a trade off I suppose. I'm going to be cleaning a friend's carb for his pressure washer soon, so I'll see how the unheated Pine-Sol solution works. Silver or gray...at least I know the Toad will now have an unobstructed fuel flow!