A carburetor caution

Soaking Carburetors?

Do not dip the butterfly valve in POR 15's cleaner-degreaser.

I got wind off the internet that some were using POR15 brand Cleaner Degreaser to dip their carbs. It is formerly the Marine-clean solution, rebranded.

After two days of soaking, My butterfly valve was BLACK. I tried to wipe the black off, thinking it was simple discoloring or light corrosion, to discover that

The metal had BURNED.

ASH came off what used to be a beautifully engineered, precision butterfly valve.
What was left was a pitted, misshapen, thinned out echo of the metal that used to be the centre of the heart of my beautiful motorcycle.

The moral of the story:

POR 15's cleaner degreaser does not work on the butterfly valve of your hitachis.

Now I must buy new valves, and hopefully not have to pay for another clean. I'm returning home to check on the bodies today. Hopefully the POR15 tank cleaner i used on the tank, which eventually got into the tiny passages will have dissolved, and the rest of the metal is still in beautiful shape.

Wish me better luck.

 

Sorry to hear that. Did you read the instructions? It does caution that contact with specific metals must be limited to brief amounts of time. They also state that "Marine Clean is a powerful caustic solution that leaves an alkaline finish on metal." Carb cleaner is probably the best for carb cleaning.

I've used the tank relining kit before with good results, you should be okay there!

 

So POR15 will get more of my money... sigh

 

It's not burnt, it's been chemically anodized. That does not hurt the function of the part in any way.
It's not POR-15's fault that you didn't read the warnings on the container. Soaking aluminum in any chemical cleaner for that long will discolor it.

 

POR-15 makes great products. I have used many of them. Cleaners like that are only meant to be for a few hours and not 2 days. Any carb cleaner or degreaser you put brass or aluminum parts in for days will pit and discolor them. I have lost carb bodies because I forgot to take them out of the cleaner. One night is all it takes to do that.

 

I'm going to log what has happened, for posterity and as a warning and guidance for others who might learn from my mistake.

So about a month ago, I decided I was tired of cleaning my carbs because of my rusty gas tank. So i made the choice to seal it.
I removed my petcock, the cap, I got some vinegar, a lot of it, and poured it into my gas tank with a bunch of nuts and bolts. I shook the crap out of it, let it sit, and poured out a load of red fluid. Nice. After a while I ride the bike and realise I have some time to seal it, and finish the deal so that none the remaining rust has the chance to escape into my tiny passages.

Do I emptied tank and let it dry for a couple hours. Should've let it dry for a day or two.

I pour in the POR15 tank sealant, rotate the tank so that I get all the spots. I let that dry for four hours. For hours was not enough to dry the POR15. But I pour in gas, and ride. About a month and it's okay, but then the bike begins to sputter. So I clean the carbs. I did not soak them, I thought it was only the pilot circuit. My mistake.
A few more times cleaning the carbs, and she won't start up again. Now I'm sad.
Now, I look inside the carb, and there is a gummy glue which is evident in the circuit, as it's being pulled out of the tiny mixture holes in the main passage, a sort of exhaust streak on the inside wall, beginning at the tiny hole.
So I know what I must do

I got some POR15 cleaner degreaser. I soak the bodies, bowls, butterfly valve disks and jets in the degreaser for a few days... and disaster.
The cleaner seemed to have reacted with the glue created out of the sealant mixing with gasoline, and turned the glue into a hard, crusty material. A substance which is very difficult to scrape off the walls of the inside of the main mixture passage.
So I can only imagine what the tiny holes are filled with...
Not only that, but the butterfly valves, which I did not consider were made if a different material, had corroded on the surface, leaving a black substance, which, when removal was attempted, turned out to be ASH. Chemistry was teaching me a lesson here. My butterfly valves are pitted, thinned out, and, definitely ruined.
After coming to terms with my ignorance, I get some MEK, like I should have from the start. I did a trial soak on the float bowls to see how long I could do for, seemed indefinite, so I soak the bodies.
After about six days, the crusty material hasn't given.
So
I construct a little rig to house my electric sheet sander, put one the bodies into a can, fill it with MEK, and effectively create a makeshift ultrasonic cleaner, in hopes to save any money so I won't have to buy entirely new carb bodies...
I will report with results. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

 

An hour in, and the crusty material I'd a lot easier to scrape clean... so there may yet be some hope.

 

Excellent warning.
Thank you for sharing.

Fellas: I know it's against the basic nature of us males, but sometimes you really do need to read the directions.