Carburater Cleaner

[Bootlegger]

  Is carb cleaner good to use on cleaning the burned castor off of our alum cased engines ?  If not what is better?
  Thanks a lot...

  The carb cleaner that I am thinking about can be bought at N A P A, made by Mac's, and has a bucket in it for the parts..  Again thanks   

[Tony Drago]

Back in the day. I put an alum intake in a batch of 5 gal. carb cleaner. Stood on end,half one day the other half the next day. end result, looked brand new and still in one piece.
How would the carb cleaner effect the ball bearings or brass bushings.

[Dave Hull]

Legs in Boots,

From your description, you would be using this on engines that were removed from the airplane and could be dunked.

If you are going to that level, I'd use the crockpot and antifreeze. It will not hurt the aluminum. In fact, it has additives specifically to prevent corrosion of aluminum.

The formulation of the available carb cleaners is not like what used to be available. It is nowhere near as aggressive. It should work, but no reason to believe it would be faster or more effective than the antifreeze. Stories of how great carb cleaner works need to clarify how long ago this was, so that you know that it is--or isn't--the stuff you can buy today.

I think the toxicity of the carb cleaners is still higher than the antifreeze, and the flammability is definitely higher. I would not put carb cleaner in a heated bath for any kind of a home project.

So what about cost? A gallon of antifreeze is around $15.  A gallon of carb cleaner is around $30. I got a small, new crockpot from Target for less than that difference.

The carb cleaner would likely work ok, but there's no reason to  believe it would work better. (Try it and let us know.) It isn't cheaper. But trying new stuff some times pays off. Maybe it conditions the engine to run at a constant 4-stroke independent of the needle setting?

Regards,

The Divot

[RandySmith]

  Is carb cleaner good to use on cleaning the burned castor off of our alum cased engines ?  If not what is better?
  Thanks a lot...

  The carb cleaner that I am thinking about can be bought at N A P A, made by Mac's, and has a bucket in it for the parts..  Again thanks   

Best I have found is  BERRYMAN's  Carb cleaner, comes in a  gallon can with a dip tray inside, does not hurt brass  copper  or other metals, works great, that and  anti freeze in a crockpot is the  only things I use.
Soak it overnight  then rinse and  clean all parts with soap n water, oil well and  reassemble,

Randy

[Tony Drago]

The carb cleaner I used was back in 1967. Brand can't remember.

[Brett Buck]

I would not use a carburetor dip tank on an engine. Crock-pot and anti-freeze works slower, but generally better, and is much safer. Just plain old squirt-can carb cleaner seems safe enough, but doesn't do much of anything.

   I *have* done it with a dip tank, in the distant past, when it was the only good alternative, and it turned out OK. But my first job ever was working in my uncle's Gravely tractor shop, and I have seen what happens if you leave a Kohler or Briggs carburetor in a dip tank too long. It might be different now, but I wouldn't try it.

    I do use brake cleaner on occasion to loosen up old coagulated oil, it seems to operate much faster and more completely than anything else. But, it's *so* effective that you have to hit any ferrous metals *immediately* with something, anything, to keep the steel or iron from flash-rusting. I usually squirt it in, get the thing loose in a few seconds to tens of seconds, then shoot it quickly with WD-40. Later, of course, clean it properly and use real oil.

  Crock pot and anti-freeze is the way to go for general degunking and devarnishing.

   Brett

[Gary Dowler]

Crock pot question.

I've never tried it, but seen numerous references to it now.   But a question remains.  Does one just drop the whole engine in, or disassemble it first and only dunk the case?

Gary

[Dave Hull]

You can drop the whole engine in. Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, you may do different levels of disassembly.

For a frozen-up engine that you are going to clean up, restore, and try to get working, take off anything that you can, especially the backplate and the head. Plan on new gaskets everywhere.

For an engine that you know ran, but was put away years ago without flushing it, and now you can hardly turn the crank, you might leave the head on (remove the plug) and cook for a day or two. It should free up unless the inside was really varnished up and/or has now rusted. If it does free up, then flush it out, and oil it well and give it a try. If it was an acquired engine, I might pull the backplate and check for rust. (If it's a second hand RC engine, I always do this. It probably ran without any castor, and if its hard to turn its not from solidified castor, so....) The crank is usually a good indicator of what is going on inside. If I see rust, then I pull apart the whole thing to see what else is bad. Running loose oxides thru your engine on its first start just grinds away at the fits.

For an engine that you are running, but has a case of the crustys on the outside, same as above, but without the likely unpleasant "discoveries."

Most of the engineering plastics that you find on an engine will not be affected by the antifreeze, and not by a low/moderate temperature. If your crockpot has a low setting, use that.

Don't leave the pot in an enclosed space like a garage or....  Some of the heated antifreeze vaporizes and deposits on things cold enough to cause condensation. (ie. Everywhere. Including on your unpainted 20-pointer hanging on the wall waiting for good weather.)

Antifreeze will remove paint, so don't dunk your red heads, green heads, or blue heads. Unless you want a natural finish engine or plan on repainting your head as part of your restoration. I have not cooked an OS LA blooie, so I can't tell you how that turns out. I imagine that it doesn't all just come off and leave you with a sparkling silver engine. Nothing is that easy....

It may discolor some aluminum castings. Take it from a fairly bright original finish to a mottled, darker finish. This has to do with something in some of the older aluminum cast alloys. I've seen it on several old OS FSR cases, for example.

Dave

[Dave Harmon]

Crock pot question.

I've never tried it, but seen numerous references to it now.   But a question remains.  Does one just drop the whole engine in, or disassemble it first and only dunk the case?

Gary

Hi Gary.....
I have been using the crock pot for years and it works very well with a few restrictions.

Use only green colored antifreeze.....not sure exactly why....there are several colors that I know of....green, yellow, orange.
All are for different types of cooling systems....I know green works good for our engines.
Caveat.....I have not tried the c/pot on any bar stock engine.

Disassemble the engine...remove glow plug, plastic/nylon/rubber parts.
ALWAYS immerse the entire engine in a/f.
Never allow any part to be above the level of the a/f at any time during this process.
Never allow the a/f to boil.
Always set the c/pot on low.
There are fumes from hot a/f.....always use the c/pot in the garage or someplace with good ventilation and not in a living area.
When finished, pour a/f back in the gallon bottle to use later....it does not wear out and....you don't have to properly dispose it.

Usually 12 hours is enough....use needle nose pliers or wire to raise the parts for inspection.
When finished, rinse parts immediately in clean water and use some type of synthetic oil to prevent rust.
I like Castrol FULL synthetic 00 weight motor oil...available at Walmart in qts.
I also use it as after run oil....it does not get gummy like castor oil and the engines start right up even though the plug may be flooded with oil.....great stuff.
I might even try some experiments to see if it can be used in place of Klotz or X2C or some other common synth oil we use in our engines.

[Gary Dowler]

Thank you for the very detailed, and helpful, answer.

Gary

[Dan McEntee]

   I've cleaned model engines and motorcycle carbs in my crock pot with good results. I also have a can of Berryman's for carburetors and would think that it would be OK for engines, I just don't know how long it would take or if it would clean off burnt fuel and carbon.  Old carbs tend to have a lot of varnish, which is similar, and Beryman's works well on that. I have crock potted engines whole, shook all the A/F out, flushed with fuel, bolted to an airplane and gone flying! It will eat paint off engines, such as the colored paint on heads, and you might be surprised how many model engines have a coat of 'aluminum" paint on them! Just make sure you don't use an old gallon that you found under the basement steps or bought cheap at a yard sale that you can not verify is safe for aluminum. It will get to most plastics, so if it's an engine with nylon buttons on the wrist pins, be prepared to remove or replace them. Otherwise, I've never had a problem.
   On the vintage dirt bike forums I belong to, a couple of guys have discovered that straight original Pinesol cleaner will clean an old carb real well. It has to be the original formula, which is readily available. I have bought some, just have not tried it yet on a dirt bike carb or a model engine yet, but does have possibilities.
   Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[RandySmith]

https://www.berrymanproducts.com/products/eco-friendly-products/berryman-chem-dip-carburetor-and-parts-cleaner/

If you want to use a carb cleaner, IT will  work  very well, the link above  is the best one to use, It is  SAFE  for all metals, and  will not  kill plastic  teflon acedal parts either, It works quickly on removing gum and burned castor, leaves the parts very clean, and does  NOT rust parts after any more than  anti freeze does. You will need  to oil the parts after using  either,  Both antifreeze  and  Berryman's  work,  The  burned on castor  will just soften and will rinse off  with the  carb cleaner. And it works quicker than anti freeze , I have used  both, for  many years, and can tell you they both work well  and  do not be  afraid  to use the  carb dip if you want.  They even  sale  a  California compliant version  of the  Berrymans Carb cleaner

Randy

[Brett Buck]

They even  sale  a  California compliant version  of the  Berrymans Carb cleaner

   With all the goodness (chlorinated solvents and mineral-based organic compounds) squeezed out of it. It is much less effective/aggressive than the mid-70's kind.

    I can't even get regular mineral spirits/paint thinner, at least not locally, and I would guess Stoddard Solvent falls in the same category. Or oil-based paint.

     Brett