soda blasting carbs?

[bergoff]

Well I will be finally tearing into the vision. I'm wondering if you guys think it will be ok to soda blast them. Most of the cleaners suck anymore. My cheap ultrasonic broke and don't feel like buying another one. From what I've read online it should be ok. I will be making my own setup from cheap stuff at harbor freight.

[Lucky]

I played with it a bit. A little messy but aesthetically at least it looked good. I would think it would do a good job Inside the bowls but I'm not sure how well it would do in the passages I didn't try it on say the drain tube...  Most of us have had good results with dip & spray cleaners. Yes it might take more than one treatment & I think the vibration of running the bike tends to loosen   additional crust & crud..


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[fret not]

In agreement with Lucky.  Soda blast would make them look clean on the broad surfaces you can easily get to, but you can't get to the passages that way very well.

[pinholenz]

I'm thinking of going down this route as well in combination with boiling the stripped carbs in distilled water/mild acetic acid (Vinegar or lemon juice or, being a photographer, stop bath solution)

Using the airline dusting needle (without soda) should deal to clearing out those tiny passages. Other forums say that using distilled water is the key to avoid any risk of hard water deposits. I live in an area without a town supply or bore water. My tap water is supplied from collected rain water so I will try that first. Its very soft water laced with traces of possum piss!

Keep in touch with your results. I am also keen to find a non-solvent, low cost alternative without the nasty chemicals.

[Rick G]

I have received a couple of set of carbs from Canada , that came from bikes that have seen more than a couple of  winters out doors . They were dark grey , corroded and crusty. Dipping did not make them look better , although they probably would have worked OK. I have access to a bead blaster  so I blasted them to get the crust off and make the cosmetically  acceptable. They then received two trips through our dish washer , to insure that no grit was left . Dipping in Berrymans proceeded as usuall .

[Lucky]

Be aware that oxidants like purple power and oxyclean will turn the carbs black.


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[bergoff]

I try not to use chemicals if I can help it. On my old rd125 I boiled them in lemon juice and used Mr Clean for the final wash. I have to work 10-12hr days till Thursday so I'm hoping to tear into it sometime Thursday or Friday. 

[Rick G]

I've tried lots of things to dip carbs , nothing works as well as Berrymans , In my opinion botanicals are a waste of time. YMMV

[JohnAMcG]

Be careful if you are boiling distilled water, it can explode. 

[Jimustanguitar]

Be careful if you are boiling distilled water, it can explode.

For the skeptics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1_OXM4mr_i0

[Rikugun]

Interesting, I did not know that! Apparently it's not the heating of the water that's the problem - it's adding something after being "super heated". Anyone using distilled water in their aluminum radiator!?  ???

[Jimustanguitar]

I always use distilled water in the radiator, but I add plenty of my own impurities :) (water-wetter and pump lube) so it's definitely not just pure water anymore. I can't imagine that the cooling system on any vehicle is clean enough to cause a laboratory experiment quite like this.

[fret not]

Plus the cooling system is pressurized.

[pinholenz]

I rigged up a home-made soda blaster today. Been wanting to do this for a while. Tested it on a Stihl chainsaw carb. Works great at cleaning off the corrosion and crud except for the oily/dusty areas where there is a soft layer on the surfaces.  One of the beauties of real world soda blasting is that it doesn't cut in to rubber and glass. Looking forward to dropping the XZ carbs this weekend and also having a go at the very corroded wheels on my bike instead of Solvol polishing

I'm not confident the soda balsting will get into the smaller carb passages now that I have tested it. Lucky and Fret Nut suggested that would be the case - the air jet is too broad and generalised to be effective in a small blocked passage. I going to have a go with the boiling acetic acid in my test carb then if it looks OK, get my XZ carbs all shiny.

[bergoff]

Ok first thing I have to say is these bikes are weird compared what I'm used to working on.  So I went to the garage after the wife and kids went to bed with my favorite beer in hand (Leinenkugels Oktoberfest) to tear the carbs off. It actually didn't take to long. So tomorrow its time to head to the feed store and see if they have soda in bulk. These poor intake boots are so dry rotted they are almost split in to I could see the bottom of the carbs when taking them apart. So I'm hoping the liquid electrical tape and a inner tube does the trick.

[pinholenz]

I picked up sodium bicarb from my local swimming pool chemical supply shop to test the rig.  2 kg for $14 or $70 for 25kg but it's food grade so it should be able to be sourced cheaper than that.

[The Prophet of Doom]

You got me looking up DIY Soda blasters - pretty cool.  Guess what I'm doing this weekend

[bergoff]

I'm glad I can contribute some way being a total newbie. On my xs650.com forum a bunch of guys do it and it looks great.

[Jimustanguitar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=YI_Bnl6l-OY

I have all of this same stuff just sitting around. I may try it this weekend.

[bergoff]

Here is my setup that I scored for free helping my inlaws clean out their garage a few years ago. It was new in the package and is for sand but should work just fine. I'm having a tough time finding soda in bulk so went to walmart and they have it for $1.24 for 2lbs.