CLEANING YOUR CARBS

I have a great way to clean carbs! Use a ULTRASONIC CLEANER with some Simple Green,mix some in water. THIS WORKS SO WELL THAT YOUR BIKE WILL RUN BETTER THEN EVER! IT EVEN CLEANS THE PORTS INSIDE THE CARB BODIES!
It will not hurt rubber or plastic and is so easy to use. I use a 2 Quart cleaner I found a Harbor Fraight for $79 It comes with a heating mode!
I just love it!

Just thought you would want to know about it.

 

Holy crap! That sounds fantastic!! I thought about using some simple green before. Lets see what the Gurus gotta say

 

before and after pics?

You just drop the whole rack in there? any prep work, or disassembly?

 

I'm curious too if a full rack will fit in that cleaner.

 

Sorry no pics
You have to take the carbs apart so they fit in the cleaner but it works realy well! YOU SHOULD TAKE THE BOWLS, RISERS AND FLOATS OFF AND PUT ALL THE PARTS OF ONE CARB IN IT AT A TIME! Make sure you blow all the parts off with air to get the water out. It will idle so well you won't beleve it! If you have tried to clean the body ports with wire or whatever you have that may fit then you know that it sucks and my not even work well. I hate using carb cleaner it stinks and then I stink and my woman lets me know about it. I can clean carbs in my living room now! lol
If they are realy bad you may want to use carb cleaner to get the real gunky or crusty stuff first.

 

You may be able to find a bigger Cleaner and put the whole rack in but not the one I have. If I had a bike shop I would buy a bigger one for sure!

 

Simple Green on aluminum? :?:

How long did you leave it in the cleaner?

 

My carbs where vary dirty and I had to restart it 4 times. It has a 5 min timer, 20 min. You can not hurt your carb rubbers like with solvents so just do it until it's clean. You can tell when it's done it will look like a new carb!

 

Simple Green says no longer than 10 minutes exposure for aluminum.

You my friend, just doubled that! lol...

Simple green can cause accelerated corrosion, as the link Tina gave shows.

Ultrasonic, sure... but I would use something different. Probably just do it with lemon/lime juice...?

 

100% Simple Green?
I only mix about 20% with water.

 

Bookmarked! I will be trying this for sure.

 

yeah that might be the key right there. That would make it less harsh, but maybe want to do a plain water sonic rinse a couple times to make sure all the simple green is off the metal.

We have them at work for cleaning our resin based RP parts in IPA works awesome!

 

That sounds sound too me!
By the way you can use dish washing soap or even Diesel if you want!
Never Use Gas!

 

Sounded like such a good idea to me that I went out at lunch and bought the $80 cleaner from Harbor Freight on lunch today. If there is interest, I'll take a few before & after pics!

 

definitely ;-)

Thinking outside of the carbs here too ;-)

Pictures would be great

 

will do. I'll be leaving work in about 1/2 hour unless something else happens.

I'm planning to try the simple green (20%), but was also considering purple power - anyone have any thoughts on that approach? I have an "extra" set of carbs, so if I damage one I'm still ok.

 

I ordered one. Hopefully I will finally be able to start the bike cold WITHOUT starting fluid eventhough I tried cleaning the carbs 6 times or so.

 

After some reading I found out that Purple Power will eat your carbs!
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW GREASE LIGHTNING WOULD WORK?
Baking Power will stop, neutralize any acid reaction. So you may want to use that for your last cycle. If you use a acid based product.

 

I was just thinking about your bike starting problems!
Did you check the vacuum line that goes too the petcock? Put your finger on the end and turn the bike over to see if it is sucking strong enough to open you petcock. It might work fine when running and have enough reserve in the fuel line to start when warm but when the bike sits the line may drain out and leave you dry with out enough vacuum until you get it running with starting fluid. Just a thought
When you go through the carbs make sure you check the rubber seals on the plungers for your choke enrichening.

 

Well jamings67, I completely agree with you - this is an awesome way to clean the carbs! Have a look at the pics below. I used 20% simple green / 80% water. This did not take away the rust staining, but cleaned them very thoroughly.

edit - I'm assuming the pics will display in the order I add them, but as I do that I'm not so sure!

 

wow, very nice - did it flush out that bottom port on the carb bowl too? that alone would have saved me hours ;-P

 

flushed and clear! used one of those "computer duster" can of air to verify - nice flow!

 

dmschuler

I am glad you like it!

 

I used Purple Power on my carbs. I diluted it maybe 50/50 placed it in a spray bottle, hosed the carbs down, sprayed into holes, let sit 25-30 minutes and rinsed very well. They look fine and nice and clean!!

 

I ran out of gas on my first road trip(over 5 miles). I poured gas in the tank & switched to prime. Started and ran instantly. Ran fine the whole trip. The rubber seals on the plungers fit snug where they rub. The bike runs great but will not start without starting fluid after sitting 5 hours or more.




I left a piece of aluminium foil soaking in 100% simple green for 14 hours.
There was no damage that I could see. Looked the same. Bent the same. Felt the same while tearing it in half.

 

Qff topic but I started it lol
Ok check to see if your bowls are draining when it sits. Try to putting you petcock in the prime and see if starts.

 

Let me know how it runs when you get it back together!

 

Did you use the heat function while you were cleaning?

 

Yes I did use the heat! I even put hot water in to begin with.

 

^---- Not appropriate?


Anyway.


I am intrigued by those photos...
Mainly for the carb bodies/hats.

Must research cleaners now... O_O

dmschuler - did you use any baking soda in the mix or afterwards?

 

Aluminum foil is pure aluminum (almost), carb bodies are a zinc-aluminum mixture. It's the zinc part that can get stained.........

 

Once again I only use 20% Simple Green and 80% water.

This will do the job and I never had any problems at all.

 

Len- does the baking soda trick avoid the staining?

I think someone mentioned the staining with lemon/lime juice too.
I think I remember someone saying coat it with baking soda after taking it out, then rinse with carb cleaner?

 

Don't really know, haven't attempted cleaning them with the acid mixtures, although as you point out, baking soda will neutralize the acids. Whether the staining has already occurred during the lemon juice hot-tub treatment is really the issue.

And I'm not really sure that the ultrasonic cleaners really work all that well on carbs that have fuel varnish in the internal passages.

I have a tabletop heated ultrasonic, and it won't EVER un-plug the float bowl starter jets when they have become fully plugged, so I have my doubts whether it will clean up the pilot jet etc. passages deep within the carb bodies.

In fact, I've even taken them to industrial places that have 220V, dishwasher (actually, larger) ultrasonic cleaners, and even they won't clean out those starter jets if they are really plugged.

Immersion in a strong solvent (like carb dip) followed up with mechanical displacement is the only way that I've found that you can RELIABLY clean them all the time.

It's possible if they weren't really plugged up that much, that the ultrasonic will work just fine. I tend to use "torture test", worst-case scenarios for my recommendations as the "proper" way to clean things, as that way there is no doubt as to whether someone else will be successful in their efforts, when following my advice.

"If there is ANY doubt, then there is NO DOUBT" is the motto that I try to follow when giving advice to others!

 

Didn't think the aluminum foil would be a problem. No staining yet, but the parts were dried shortly after cleaning them, so there shouldn't be any reaction - I hope!

I did not use any baking soda either in the solution or afterwards. After taking the parts out I rinsed thoroughly under running water.

I won't have it running for at least several more weeks, but will post again once it's all back together and tuned.

 

I have cleaned my internals as you have said to do, and they work great.

But my main idea for the ultrasonic is the exterior of the bodies.
I do believe the acid only reacts with the zinc IF there is air present.
Hence the reasoning for nailing it with baking soda once it comes out.

I heard someone mention that on this board sometime, so I may have to use the SECA carbs as a test platform... have to get a cleaner first!

 

Don't worry about it they are fine.

Not my first time at the rodeo.

 

Harbor Frieght has this ultrasonic cleaner on sale now. $59.99 instead of $79.99. Part number 95563-VGA.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :middle:us

Here's a huge 6.5 qt ultrasonic unit.