Carburetor cleaning brushes?

[ri702bill 7,268]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

I haven't tackled a Tecumseh carburetor as has @Handy Don.  

Peculiar animal, those Tecumseh carbs. The idle circuit has a jet and a non serviceable emulsion tube with a check ball inside. If that ball is stuck in place, the idle circuit is dead. OK for wide open throttle applications like a generator, no good for either a snowblower or tractor. Once done cleaning the carb body and it is dry, give it a shake near your ear - you NEED to hear the ball move and rattle in that tube. The idle feed hole is about .020 diameter and is drilled at an angle in the threads where the bowl nut goes - VERY easy to miss. Same problem - if that is gummed up - no idle. I clean that with .015 diameter tag wire.

Bill

[squonk 38,844]

If you use a brush make sure the carb cleaner doesn't melt the brush thingy's and they end up in your carb! I think a paint gun brush kit would be chemical resistant. I have one of those Horror Fright  ultrasonics as well. My only complaint is the run time needs to be longer and the heat doesn't shut off with the off button.

[ebinmaine 62,953]

16 minutes ago, squonk said:

If you use a brush make sure the carb cleaner doesn't melt the brush thingy's and they end up in your carb! I think a paint gun brush kit would be chemical resistant. I have one of those Horror Fright  ultrasonics as well. My only complaint is the run time needs to be longer and the heat doesn't shut off with the off button.

Good info there Mike. Thank you.

 

For the brushes, probably stick with brass...

 

If I bought an ultrasonic it's highly unlikely I would leave it plugged in all the time anyways but it's good info on that heat switch.

[oliver2-44 8,834]

@ebinmaine Most of the ultrasonics have a timer circuit you set and have a max run time maybe 15 to 30 minutes. 

[squonk 38,844]

Horror Fright ultrasonic max time is 480 seconds. (8 min) but when the timer times out the heat stays on. You have to hit the heat button to turn it off. 

Edited December 1, 2021 by squonk

[ebinmaine 62,953]

15 minutes ago, squonk said:

Horror Fright ultrasonic max time is 480 seconds. (8 min) but when the timer times out the heat stays on. You have to hit the heat button to turn it off. 

 

What is a reasonable time to clean a carburetor that has most of the outside gunk/muck brushed off?

 

[WHX?? 46,690]

Can you run Berryman's in the ultras? I would think that would be the ticket??? 

[squonk 38,844]

I soak a carb overnite in the Berryman's then run 2 8 min cycles in the Ultra with Simple Green. I heat  the solution good and warm then run the buzzy 

[Snoopy11 5,713]

15 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

May haffta order one up ..

Me too... I never heard of that...

 

Don

[squonk 38,844]

5 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Can you run Berryman's in the ultras? I would think that would be the ticket??? 

Horror Fright manual says do not use corrosive, volatile, or flammable liquids 

 

Do not overfill the Cleaner. Use water or an appropriate ultrasonic cleaning fluid only to the maximum fill line when filling the tank.

 

1. Use only lukewarm water. Excessively hot water will damage the Transducer. Do not use penetrating oils in the Cleaner as they may damage the Cleaner and any materials being cleaned. Do not use volatile solvents, gasoline, or other flammable liquids.

 

https://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/63000-63999/63256.pdf

Edited December 1, 2021 by squonk

[formariz 11,849]

7 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

What is a reasonable time to clean a carburetor that has most of the outside gunk/muck brushed off?

 

Perhaps not the healthiest thing but then what is. Lacquer thinner will dissolve anything in literally seconds. Soak a carburetor in it and if it is not part of casting it will come off in much less than one minute regardless how long it has been stuck to it. The only thing that will take a little longer is powder coating but it will come off .

[ebinmaine 62,953]

4 minutes ago, formariz said:

Perhaps not the healthiest thing but then what is. Lacquer thinner will dissolve anything in literally seconds. Soak a carburetor in it and if it is not part of casting it will come off in much less than one minute regardless how long it has been stuck to it. The only thing that will take a little longer is powder coating but it will come off .

Hadn't thought to use that. 

 

Likely to work quite well to dissolve the undesirables from inside a crabutataer. 

 

[WHX?? 46,690]

Does lacquer thinner attack fuel varnish Cas? 

[squonk 38,844]

1 hour ago, WHX?? said:

Does lacquer thinner attack fuel varnish Cas? 

Lacquer thinner will dissolve the varnish but it evaporates too fast, fumes are bad and it's highly flammable. I used to use it to clean automatic transmission parts. Now you know what happened!

[ZXT 2,394]

11 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Can you run Berryman's in the ultras? I would think that would be the ticket??? 

I would caution against put anything flammable in one as has been said above.. The heat, combined with the possibility of sparks (since it is plugged into 120v, after all) screams trouble. 

Plus, on the HF cleaners, the top half of the plastic housing where it meets the stainless bowl isn't sealed well. If you tip the cleaner to pour out your solvent, there's a distinct possibility that some of that liquid is going to wind up inside of the unit. Obviously you don't want any liquids, let alone flammable ones inside of the case. I've seen people on YouTube run a bead of silicone around the perimeter of the bowl to prevent this, but I've always just used a small cup to evacuate the liquid rather than pouring it out over the edge.  

[formariz 11,849]

3 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Does lacquer thinner attack fuel varnish Cas? 

Yes it does. It attacks anything but metal or wood.

2 hours ago, squonk said:

Lacquer thinner will dissolve the varnish but it evaporates too fast, fumes are bad and it's highly flammable. I used to use it to clean automatic transmission parts. Now you know what happened!

I keep it in a one gallon can with a removable basket so I don’t have to look for small parts in bottom of can. I merely put it in basket and swish it around a bit taking it out and blowing it with compressed air right away. I do this outside so fumes are not concentrated. The quick drying is ok since it leaves carb very clean. If anything dries on it it will be loose anyway and the compressed air will remove it. 

[ebinmaine 62,953]

5 hours ago, formariz said:

Yes it does. It attacks anything but metal or wood.

I keep it in a one gallon can with a removable basket so I don’t have to look for small parts in bottom of can. I merely put it in basket and swish it around a bit taking it out and blowing it with compressed air right away. I do this outside so fumes are not concentrated. The quick drying is ok since it leaves carb very clean. If anything dries on it it will be loose anyway and the compressed air will remove it. 

 

How long do you let a carb sit in the laquer thinner?

[formariz 11,849]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

How long do you let a carb sit in the laquer thinner?

It all depends. Many times if I just want to do a quick cleanup, I remove carburetor and just swish around  in there for about a minute and its done. Other times if I have no time I just leave them in there until I get time to deal with them. Those times are usually for a newly acquired carburetors that are painted on the exterior. I like them in bare metal. Even if it is a carburetor that has been sitting for years with all kinds of crud inside or out, everything will be dissolved in five minutes or less. A little agitation helps loosen stuff from metal.

As a rule I keep two carburetors for every tractor, so if there is a problem I just have to switch them with no down time. A little obsession of mine in just about everything.I don't own just one of anything.

[WHX?? 46,690]

21 minutes ago, formariz said:

I don't own just one of anything.

Hear that fellas he's tell us to buy more  !

I got a can of berrymans that's about shot and has that handy little basket. Gonna clean it out and fill it with lacquer thinner. Thanks Cas. 

[ebinmaine 62,953]

1 hour ago, formariz said:

.I don't own just one of anything.

My uncle Ron. My father's brother. He would appreciate you.

Ron was some sort of a field engineer in electronics in the Air Force from somewhere around 1960 until the mid 80s.

He was and is very particular about the way that he does a lot of things.

My father....  Not so much. Love him to pieces. He lives and breathes the Run To Fail way of thinking.

Well when my uncle Ron retired from the Air Force father stopped by to visit him one day. And of course he had a nice clean neat well taken care of single story house with a nice clean neat well taken care of two car garage and up on the front wall there was a nearly new Ariens snow blower.

Right beside that one was another nearly new Ariens snow blower.

 

This occurrence more than befuddled my father.

When questioned, Ron said... Well, if it's important enough to have one of them, it's important enough to have two of them.

 

[WHX?? 46,690]

Reminds me of a guy I installed a furnace for once. He wanted to buy every part for the furnace. Why I asked him, you don't need too I stock every part in case it goes bang in the middle of the night out of warranty. (parts warranties sucked in those days)   Well he says he is more relieved or content if he has every part too. He was quite insistent so I sold him every part. Cost him dang near as much as the furnace but he was happy and who am I to argue with a customer? 

[formariz 11,849]

6 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Reminds me of a guy I installed a furnace for once. He wanted to buy every part for the furnace. Why I asked him, you don't need too I stock every part in case it goes bang in the middle of the night out of warranty. (parts warranties sucked in those days)   Well he says he is more relieved or content if he has every part too. He was quite insistent so I sold him every part. Cost him dang near as much as the furnace but he was happy and who am I to argue with a customer? 

Furnace ? Did anyone say furnace? Case and point below.

[Handy Don 10,552]

25 minutes ago, formariz said:

Furnace ? Did anyone say furnace? Case and point below.

The water heater manufacturer service rep told me that 99.9% of the calls he gets are for a bad igniter--including my call! So I ordered two and now have a spare handy.

(I have a hydronic system--no hot water = no central heat.)

[formariz 11,849]

8 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

igniter-

Igniter? LOL There is actually also an igniter for that furnace inside that box. 

[ANTPER 197]

This is how I've cleaned out carb jet and carb in general and has never failed me.

Put the engine in highest idle and you can either stuff a rag or closed the choke and let the engine just about stall and then remove the blockage and let engine regain rpm. Do that several times.That deep vac always clears thing out nicely. Now hitting the carb with car cleaner before you do the Vac clean out will also help. Just as in FYI this may sometimes cause a back fire so be alert.