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.
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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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.
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.
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 .
Be aware that oxidants like purple power and oxyclean will turn the carbs black.
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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.
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
Be careful if you are boiling distilled water, it can explode.
Quote from: JohnAMcG on October 30, 2012, 09:35:34 AM
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
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!? ???
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.
Plus the cooling system is pressurized.
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.
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.
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.
You got me looking up DIY Soda blasters - pretty cool. Guess what I'm doing this weekend
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.
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.
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.
(http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx83/bergoff/photobucket-4379-1351872519682.jpg)
In no way taking away from bergoff's post - it's a good topic to bring up now and again :) -
sunburnedaz posted this link for a DIY soda blaster that looks like it might work: http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/ (http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/)
and (sorta' related) this interesting thread from ADVrider about Pine Sol as a carb dip solvent: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=560117 (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=560117)
Soda blasting seems like a useful tool, but Pinesol does not work well enough for me on really dirty carbs.
Carb cleaner is not always the same. I bought a 2 gallon can in WA. It was labeled "not for sale in CA" I knew if was not legal in CA. it was probably pretty good ! The Berrymans carb dip I bought here in AZ is good too. I only Dip for 30 min, to avoid damaging the shaft seals and get them clean enough to send them off to the other side of the,or country ,or Canada, and be sure that they will work.
Well here is a pic of one done next to a dirty one. It works good. I needed to use a piece of wood to loosen some huge gunk that was taken to long to come loose. (http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx83/bergoff/2012-11-02_14-00-13_929.jpg)
I also tried it on my xs650 and the difference was night and day. The forks were yellow just like the case and I've only used 1lb so far. (http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx83/bergoff/2012-11-02_14-01-08_449.jpg)
(http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx83/bergoff/2012-11-02_14-41-55_385.jpg)
Nice work! And that sand blasting gun looks the business.
My DIY/duster didn't work as well as I would have liked on the larger areas (forks/rims/casings footrests) which had been polished 30 years ago. It stripped off the corrosion well and made them 100% better but I didn't end up with an even tone on the aluminum. The rear drive casing and the carbs came out perfect.
Its a messy job but the soda cleans up easily with water or blowing out with plain air.
I have a relatively small compressor. The secret is to have a big capacity air flow at least 6-7 cfm or more, otherwise the job is slow and the results not as satisfying. I will have my large areas done professionally and keep my DIY setup for carbs, small parts and cleaning up crusty electrical connectors.
The best way to clean up cases and fork legs is with paint stripper to get the dammed clear coat off, then use a synthetic lambs wool buffing pad on an electric drill. I did it this way in 1999. So have others.
Had a go at being a greenie and boiling my carbs in a mild acetic acid tonight. Left them in too long and now I have a horrible greasy scum all over my carbs. Sigh, should have tried just water first. :( Back to the solvents!
I bought a cheap ($15) blast gun at Harbor Freight ( http://www.harborfreight.com/gravity-feed-blaster-gun-93221.html ) and gave it a try on a set of nasty carbs that I hadn't touched yet. I spent all of about 2 minutes blowing soda at them between the before and after pictures.
It definitely does a great job of removing cosmetic crud. After I get them completely disassembled, I'll have a more detailed go at it.