Carb Cleaning Methods

[panasonic]

Some thoughts. ..


https://youtu.be/DS4eev-EbqY

https://youtu.be/8rgZwnH51aE

[ausnoelm]

Cleaning means different things to different people, to some, giving it a wash, or a spray is cleaning it, some even use additives in the fuel, when in fact, lots of small passages and jets need to be clear of blockages, not just "look clean" how this is achieved varies according to the equipment you have, some just have access to some solvent and some thin wire for poking through holes, and that can work quite well.

[cleddau1]

Most how to videos are too verbose; less is more.
Having put at least one jet into orbit using my compressor and dropped tiny springs onto the workshop floor never to be seen again for carbs I now use:
A small brightly lit conservatory with a smooth uncluttered floor
A canister of compressed air
Plastic bristles to clean jets rather than wire
Nothing to make exterior shiny as long as it is clean
Cotton wool buds
Various solvents
Tact and a small present to stop my wife moaning about my using the conservatory.......

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Well, the outside is nice and clean. Soda blasting seemed to work well however, that varnish inside the float bowl WILL come off in the sonic cleaner.

I never saw him, (or mention), blowing out the orifices with BRAKE or carb cleaner to confirm the carb orifices WAS actually clear.
No mention of blowing air thru the orifices either..

Also, the float, all those little carb parts, should have gone in the sonic cleaner, would have worked fine.

How he cleaned them, dunno, (never said) but those jets need to be spotless.. Again, confirm everything is CLEAR by looking thru the jets, all passages are now open.

Seems he was more concerned with the outside looking pretty (which they did). For a DIYer, the first time, all the above, ^^^ (IME) is mandatory and common sense..

**About a month ago, I had a customer with a Kawasaki 300 motorcycle carb. The bike would NOT start cold. That carb uses a simple plunger to open up a fuel way to the float bowl (to allow extra fuel to be sucked up when the valve/choke was opened). You could follow the casting (and pathway of that choke orifice). That orifice was LONG and took numerous turns (PIA)...

It took at least THREE 20 minute runs thru the sonic cleaner, 140PSI with the compressor AND sprays of carb cleaner before it finally opened up. Confirmed NOW, by shooting cleaner thru one end and NOW seeing it come out the other... Done... (carb was already apart when I got it).

IE:

Previously posted images, from a larger generator engine, before and after, SONIC cleaner only:

(Carb was apart when it went in the tank). Note, the nut that holds the bowl on, IS the main jet. Very small orifice drilled sideways
in it.

Before:


After (exact same carb, float, etc):

[panasonic]

Most how to videos are too verbose; less is more.
Having put at least one jet into orbit using my compressor and dropped tiny springs onto the workshop floor never to be seen again for carbs I now use:
A small brightly lit conservatory with a smooth uncluttered floor
A canister of compressed air
Plastic bristles to clean jets rather than wire
Nothing to make exterior shiny as long as it is clean
Cotton wool buds
Various solvents
Tact and a small present to stop my wife moaning about my using the conservatory.......

Last time I heard use of the word "conservatory" was playing the board **** CLUE....lol

You a lucky man having a wife letting you in the house cleaning carbs.

[panasonic]

Well, the outside is nice and clean. Soda blasting seemed to work well however, that varnish inside the float bowl WILL come off in the sonic cleaner.

I never saw him, (or mention), blowing out the orifices with BRAKE or carb cleaner to confirm the carb orifices WAS actually clear. No mention of blowing air thru the orifices either..

Also, the float, all those little carb parts, should have gone in the sonic cleaner, would have worked fine.

How he cleaned them, dunno, (never said) but those jets need to be spotless.. Again, confirm everything is CLEAR by looking thru the jets, all passages are now open.

Seems he was more concerned with the outside looking pretty (which they did). For a DIYer, the first time, all the above, ^^^ (IME) is mandatory and common sense..

*About a month ago, I had a customer with a Kawasaki 300 motorcycle carb. The bike would NOT start cold. That carb uses a simple plunger to open up a fuel way to the float bowl (to allow extra fuel to be sucked up when the valve/choke was opened). You could follow the casting (and pathway of that choke orifice). That orifice was LONG and took numerous turns (PIA)...

It took at least THREE 20 minute runs thru the sonic cleaner, 140PSI with the compressor AND sprays of carb cleaner before it finally opened up. Confirmed NOW, by shooting cleaner thru one end and NOW seeing it come out the other... Done... (carb was already apart when I got it).

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee...480457775.html

IE:
Previously posted images, from a larger generator engine, before and after, SONIC cleaner only:
(Carb was apart when it went in the tank).

I knew you would comment Scott.!! I thinks the point of his video was just to show the baking soda in action, not a full carb clean. He is also considered about appearance as they are exposed on a motorcycle.


He does some decent videos....here is another he done on cleaning carbs....carb cleaner, compressed air...ect.

https://youtu.be/8rgZwnH51aE

I put this link in the original post also as it may help someone with their carb cleaning.

[boscoe99]

I suggest making sure appropriate goggles/glasses are used. A spritz of that Berrymans in the eye is no fun.

I don't like letting Berrymans get in my beer either. It may be less filling but it is not smooth.

[rodbolt17]

dunno.
did my first carb on my mini bike at age 8.
been doing carbs for a living since age 15. I am now 56.
never used a sonic cleaner.
used dip baskets and spray cleaners.
back in the day the chemical in the dip basket would cause the skin to crack open and bleed in about 20 seconds after contact.
the dip you buy at napa now I could use as a hand cleaner.
I use CRC 06064, a lot, for everything.
hard on the eye balls but it works well.
I have probably done more SU,Holley,Q-jet,dou o jets and carbs in general than most posters have ever actually laid an eyeball on.
does not matter the method simply the results.

[TownsendsFJR1300]

dunno.
did my first carb on my mini bike at age 8.
been doing carbs for a living since age 15. I am now 56.
never used a sonic cleaner.
used dip baskets and spray cleaners.
back in the day the chemical in the dip basket would cause the skin to crack open and bleed in about 20 seconds after contact.
the dip you buy at napa now I could use as a hand cleaner.
I use CRC 06064, a lot, for everything.
hard on the eye balls but it works well.
I have probably done more SU,Holley,Q-jet,dou o jets and carbs in general than most posters have ever actually laid an eyeball on.
does not matter the method simply the results.

Do you find the CRC 06064 ( https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/CRC06064 ) much stronger / better than say Walmart, or x brand?

Did my first carb at 12, (3.5HP Tecumseh on my first mini-bike), 59 now, still doing them (but not for a living).

[99yam40]

Back when I was in elementary school I rode a MoPed and worked on it also.
there were 2 other kids in town that had the same one. their parents would bring them over to me to fix them too.
Took Automotive in high school and then Automotive technology (TSTI) after HS.
Worked in auto shops during that time and after for some years before my brother and Uncle convinced me to get a job at a large chemical company where I be came an Electrician and Instrument Tech

Yes the carb dip we used back in the late 60s and early 70s was not something you wanted on your bare skin.
seems I remember you soaked in it, then washed it in water ,and then blew it out with air.
good idea to wear rubber gloves and glasses or goggles while doing it.
Dang that was a long time ago

[zenoahphobic]

I think everybody in the "old days" was forced more than today to maintain their things. Some were good at it , some bad.
Carburettas eventually were tackled, because in the end when a problem happens, if it was not electrical ( spark plugs, switches and wire connections, alternator or coils; that tended to be just replaced) it was fuel related, the carb often was "dirty".
Cant remember my first cleaning of a carby but I rarely used anything other than petrol to do so. I learnt at a very early age that these things had many parts, all of them vital; and I learnt that it was all the tiny holes that needed to be clean, the rest of the dirt or varnish had no consequence. Because it was stuck fast.
I did in later years from time to time use a spray carb cleaner, nothing as potent as described here.
I have just ordered an ultrasonic cleaner to make this task not only cleaner but quicker. So I don't understand why any professional person would not use one if only from a time saving point of view.
And I do think the method matters because the need to create minimal damage is important. For example, Many years ago as a kid I collected coins. Thinking that they would be worth more clean I polished them, as you would have then, with an abrasive. They looked real shiny but became worthless because substantial amount of the detail was ground away.

[cleddau1]

Conservatory:
British: a room with a glass roof and walls attached to a house on one side, used as a sun lounge or for growing plants (U.S. equivalent solarium)
North American: another name for conservatoire

[99yam40]

I think everybody in the "old days" was forced more than today to maintain their things. Some were good at it , some bad.
Carburettas eventually were tackled, because in the end when a problem happens, if it was not electrical ( spark plugs, switches and wire connections, alternator or coils; that tended to be just replaced) it was fuel related, the carb often was "dirty".
Cant remember my first cleaning of a carby but I rarely used anything other than petrol to do so. I learnt at a very early age that these things had many parts, all of them vital; and I learnt that it was all the tiny holes that needed to be clean, the rest of the dirt or varnish had no consequence. Because it was stuck fast.
I did in later years from time to time use a spray carb cleaner, nothing as potent as described here.
I have just ordered an ultrasonic cleaner to make this task not only cleaner but quicker. So I don't understand why any professional person would not use one if only from a time saving point of view.
And I do think the method matters because the need to create minimal damage is important. For example, Many years ago as a kid I collected coins. Thinking that they would be worth more clean I polished them, as you would have then, with an abrasive. They looked real shiny but became worthless because substantial amount of the detail was ground away.

Maybe the sonic bath takes to long to do its magic, for the professional.
But then he could be working on other things while that was happening.

I was always working on more that on thing at a time,no need to wasting time if there was a hang up on parts or other things. time is money doing that mechanic stuff

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I use mine on maybe 25% of all carbs.

Most can be cleaned of varnish by hand with carb and brake cleaner, compressor, etc..

When I come across a "problem carb", it goes in the tank and as noted, there's usually something else to do...