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General Category => Maintenance => Topic started by: Karl321 on February 16, 2026, 07:42:26 AM

Title: Dirty carbs
Post by: Karl321 on February 16, 2026, 07:42:26 AM
I'm in the middle of a carb clean and rebuild, just waiting on parts.  But I thought I'd share a pic of the dirtiest carbs I've ever seen.  (This is about my 10th set of carbs that I've rebuilt.) My heart sank when I opened these up, I thought they were a lost cause and I'd be hunting down a replacement set.  The slides, the floats and the butterflies were completely frozen, and the corrosion looked extreme.  I can't believe I didn't break off one of the float piers driving out the float pins.  But they eventually cleaned up with BP Blaster and several sonic baths, and should be just fine. We'll see!
Title: Re: Dirty carbs
Post by: 86FJNJ on February 16, 2026, 08:56:35 AM
looks great, what fluid do you use for the ultrasonic cleaner and what temp and for how long?
Title: Re: Dirty carbs
Post by: Karl321 on February 16, 2026, 03:07:49 PM
I buy Tillbrook Ultrasonic Cleaner on Amazon.  My machine has a 30 minute timer and heats to 175 degrees.  I usually run parts through a 30 minute cycle at around 150 degrees.  I ran these carbs through a cycle once to free everything up, and two more times after they were completely disassembled.

The first few carbs I cleaned I just used Simple Green.  It seemed to work okay.  But I switched to Tillbrook after getting a recommendation from a bike mechanic to use something specifically for ultrasonic cleaning.  He recommended Omega Clean, but I couldn't find it.  So I bought Tillbrook carb cleaner.   
Title: Re: Dirty carbs
Post by: Warp84 on February 16, 2026, 08:49:53 PM
Simple Green is what burned the coating off my carb bodies. I'll have to see about that Tillbrook Cleaner you mention.
Title: Re: Dirty carbs
Post by: Karl321 on February 17, 2026, 11:12:15 AM
It's $36 on Amazon for a gallon of concentrate that mixes to 8 gallons.  It says its safe for all metals, but that could just be the marketing department.