Dirty carbs

[Karl321]

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!

[86FJNJ]

looks great, what fluid do you use for the ultrasonic cleaner and what temp and for how long?

[Karl321]

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.   

[Warp84]

Simple Green is what burned the coating off my carb bodies. I'll have to see about that Tillbrook Cleaner you mention.

[Karl321]

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.

[MarioR]

Simple Green is what burned the coating off my carb bodies. I'll have to see about that Tillbrook Cleaner you mention.

10% simple Green + 10% vinegar + 15 min in 50-60 degree process = decent results but still no original effect.

Anyone tried Omega Clean solution yet? Pics?

https://www.omegasonics.com/product/omegaclean/

Thanks

[red]

Simple Green is what burned the coating off my carb bodies. I'll have to see about that Tillbrook Cleaner you mention.

10% simple Green + 10% vinegar + 15 min in 50-60 degree process = decent results but still no original effect.

MarioR,

EEK! The regular Simple Green is NOT suitable for any use with aluminum. There have been problems, described by the maker as "hydrogen embrittlement," causing cracks in the aluminum over time.
The maker now offers an "aluminum safe" version of Simple Green, but the container has a very different label. So you know, there really was a problem there.

[Troyskie]

Red is right.
Just checked the SDS for the Simple Green Pro HD, purple colour. It states the pH is 10-11.5.
Never allow pH greater than 8.5 anywhere near aluminium.

Aluminium is stable in pH ranges from about 4-8.5. Greater than 8.5 and aluminium is susceptible to alkaline attack.

Essentially the outer passive aluminium oxide layer, or anodic (anodised) aluminium oxide layer is stripped.

As aluminium is highly reactive (conductive), it tries to re-grow the oxide layer immediately, thus accelerating surface pitting.

If, as in the very warm ultrasonic cleaning environment, there is a lack of oxygen in the solution near the aluminium it becomes self sustaining (autocatalytic), a process known as hydrolysing (possibly where the maker mentions hydrogen embrittlement).

Overall, aluminium is tough, but incredibly reactive to alkaline attack. If there is any salt/chlorides/chlorines etc, and free oxygen is taken up by other processes, in a solution that has pH higher than 8.5 the cleaning solution will be very aggressive and damage the surface.

Troyskie

[MarioR]

Simple Green is what burned the coating off my carb bodies. I'll have to see about that Tillbrook Cleaner you mention.

10% simple Green + 10% vinegar + 15 min in 50-60 degree process = decent results but still no original effect.

MarioR,

EEK! The regular Simple Green is NOT suitable for any use with aluminum. There have been problems, described by the maker as "hydrogen embrittlement," causing cracks in the aluminum over time.
The maker now offers an "aluminum safe" version of Simple Green, but the container has a very different label. So you know, there really was a problem there.

Correct, aluminum safe version, not old formula.