Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

[ba_50]

Hi,

After soaking 3 carbs in cleaner overnight someone copied a note out of his school manual saying not to do this.

Has anyone experienced a problem doing this? Thanks.

 

[F_R]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I would like to know a qualified answer to that one myself. It is written in generic manuals that late model OMC carbs are treated with a porosity sealer that carb cleaner might remove. I would like to know if that's fact, and when they started using the sealant. I do know that we soaked carbs in cleaner every day back in "olden" days (pre-1978 when I was working on them)

 

[OBJ]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I/O manuals say the same. Don't soak carbs....(they got a $1.50 word for the coating. Called the tech help once to find out what that was and did.....they couldn't tell me) But I've soaked a lot of O/B carbs and have not had any ill effects as yet. The stuff I use seems to be a tad weaker that the old stuff I used. But it does a really decent job of getting the "gunk" out. I get it from NAPA in a gallon can.

How else are you going to be sure the passages are clean?

 

[monkeystealer]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I recently stripped a carb and left it dismantled in a small plastic bucket with a liberal coating of carb cleaner. When I got round to assembling it a while later, I discovered that the choke lever (plastic) had sort of melted. Wierd, but the other plastic bits were all fine.

 

[OBJ]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

Yeah, you got to be careful what you put into it. The stuff I've been using has yet to ruin any "plastic" type parts but I remove them any way just to be sure. Most cans of cleaner will advise not to soak plastics in them.

By the way....welcome monkeystealer!

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I also use the cleaner from NAPA. Never had any problems with it. I follow it up with spray carb. cleaner(Gumout) before reassembly...

 

[F_R]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I am familiar with the porosity sealant (I think). At least we used one kind at Hynautic to seal castings. It was made by Loctite. We put it in a vacuum tank to suck it into the pores, then into hot water to cure it. But not sure if it's the same product as what OMC/BRP is using.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I use the NAPA [Mac's 6402] in the gallon can with the basket. The instructions say to soak for 20 minutes and that seems to work beautifully.

I have always used Gumout aerosol after the soak.

I dont' think that there could be any original sealant left on the working surface of my alluminum carburetors as the youngest one is 20 years old. The old carbs always looked like they had some kind of sealer on the outsides but the inside surfaces always looked like bare polished aluminum.

 

[OBJ]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

That's the same stuff I use ezeke. I've left really fouled carbs in the can overnight and haven't as yet had any problems.

Just wondering if the "new blended" fuels have any effect on the porosity coatings.

I'd like to get opinions from Joe Reeves, dhadley or Paul Moir on soaking.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

The "new blended" fuels you mention are not new to us in the midwest since we've used it since 1997. There were some problems early on with small engine fuel systems (chain saws in particular) where fuel tank coatings would breakdown and clog fuel systems. The fuel pickup in the tanks would also crumble. However those were short lived problems. Components and sealers were quickly incorporated. As for soaking carbs, I too have not had any problems whatsoever. There are several different families of plastics so you definitely need to be careful that those pieces are not immersed in cleaners as they may be damaged or softened.

 

[Walker]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I've been using Chemtool dip for years on both aluminum and plastic barbs. Never had any damage done to either one. Rinse with Gumout spray and follow with compressed air.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

"How else are you going to be sure the passages are clean? "

On carbs that have a lot of o-rings and plastic bits to remove I've had really good luck with sonic baths.

Not a practical solution for everybody, but it does answer the question.

 

[OBJ]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

What kind of a cleaning solution do you use in the sonic bath iwonbat? Does it get the gunk out....like varnished fuel? How long do you need to keep it in the bath?

I've heard of these baths before and I'm curious about them....hence....all the questions.

 

[ba_50]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I used Gunk cleaner and it says it is ok to use on anything except gaskewts, plastic, and so forth. I tried to clean a 9.9 with spray can of carb cleaner but it didn't work. I soaked it overnight and it started on the first pull. Someone mentioned after 20 years any solvent would likely be gone anyhow.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I just use hot water, or a mild detergent. Then you blow it out with compressed air. It's really good at breaking apart varnish and dirt. What you can use depends on the type of bath you have. I've been able to use Por-15 marine clean in one before, and that worked really well - never tried it on a carb though. 10-20 minutes usually does the trick quite nicely.

It's not as good as a chemical bath, but it sure beats disassembling 90-brazillion o-rings, plastic bushings, and little bits o' fun. I suppose there's really no reason you couldn't use a caustic solution in the sonic bath, but since caustic does just fine by itself it's really overkill.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

Ultrasonic baths use high-frequency waves to create bubbles which rapidly expand and then rapidly collapse. This creates a scrubbing effect throughout the solution and losens any impurity in the submerged material.

 

[imported_outboardwizard]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

Hello some carbs have venturies that have lock tight sealant in upper body that soaking will remove. I use omc engine tuner for soaking bottom bowl and will make brass jets like new.the traitional carb cleaner can be used for rising and checking flow of other areas.

 

[bluediamond46]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

I dont know much, but when the boat i bought had set up for 15 yeatrs, i went to auto zone bought a gallon of chemtool with the basket, took the carbs off soaked for about two days, took them out and rinsed them in gas for a good while ,cleaned up and placed back on the 50 hp evinrude and it fired the first time. I Just did this because someone told me to do it but IT WORKED and is still working today, no problems.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

detrimental effects? chemtool b-12, splashed on sensitive skin (inside elbows, eyelids, etc) stings like crazy...that's about it...

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Has anyone had detrimental effects from soaking carbs in carb cleaner?

This is entering into the realm of the infamous Old Wives Tale. There was a caustic cleaner that was commonly used. It usually came in a 5 gallon metal pail. After soaking, you would rinse with hot water. You can't get it anymore, but some shops may still have the old stuff laying around. You can tell it by the smell. It'll dissolve your nose hairs, or seem like it does. The new stuff isn't harmful.

I prefer an ultrasonic cleaner with hot detergent. Second choice (especially for the nasty green stuff) is called Power Tune or Engine Tuner, depending who sells it. It's a cylinder decarbonizer that also dissolves varnish much better than carb sprays. Third choice is Berryman's B-12 available at WalMart and rather cheap.