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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ ultrasonic cleaner for carbs

Posted by: stugray Mar 21 2011, 04:12 PM

I am rebuilding some dual webers and want them like new.
So I bought a Harbor Freight 2.5L ultrasonic cleaner.

I am hoping it is big enough to fit the carb body in there as well as all the pieces.

So who has used these for carbs before?
I read on a clock repair forum that US cleaners can "pit" brass parts if left in too long.
Has anyone ever seen this using them for carb jets, tubes, etc?
How long should I let it run for and what cleaning fluid does everyone use?

At work we use Isopropyl alcohol, but it is kind of hard to find 99% IPA in gallon jugs without paying for hazardous shipping.

SO.... I was thinking of using "Denatured alcohol" which is just ethanol with a little methanol added so people wont drink it.

I can get that at HD in gallon jugs.

Next question: should I also do the soda blasting to get the carbs extra nice looking? Outside only I imagine ;-)
Do people take any precautions to make sure we dont blast inside any delicate holes or passages?

Thoughts?

Stu

Posted by: underthetire Mar 21 2011, 05:00 PM

I use it for my dirt bike carbs, with mr clean. works well, 50% diluted.

Posted by: BK911 Mar 21 2011, 05:10 PM

I use carb cleaner in mine. I did not put the carb bodies in, I soda blasted those. but I left all the jets in the ultra sonic over night. carbs look and function like new.

Posted by: patssle Mar 21 2011, 05:40 PM

Good topic, I need to get my 40IDA3C carbs sonic cleaned. I'm having trouble finding a guy/shop in the Houston area that has one, the one I did find said this:

"Mild acid bath, bead blast, and then tumble."

Does that sound right? Acid bath for sonic cleaning?

Can't find much info on him so a little hesitant.

Posted by: jmill Mar 21 2011, 06:04 PM

Pine Sol is the hot ticket item now. There's a thread on here about it. You do need to remove all the brass no matter what solvent you use. I've seen shiny brass turn nasty black pretty quick.

Here it is - http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=109676&hl=pine+sol

Posted by: underthetire Mar 21 2011, 08:54 PM

Never had the brass turn with mr clean. I'll put all the pieces in for about an hour, then remove all the small stuff and run the bodies for another hour or so. They come out clean and totally rebuildable, but not pristine new. I have pine sol to try next time, but it's not super important on a dirt bike.

Posted by: stugray Mar 23 2011, 09:37 PM

Thanks for all the tips.

I got the cleaner today & want to try it out tomorrow.
The pine sol doesnt sound like it would work as most of the parts I want to clean are brass jets, emulsion tubes, etc.

I bought the denatured alcohol, but now that I look at the manual, it sates to NOT use any flammable liquids.
I think it is just a CYA statement and I dont believe there would be anything hazardous about using the alcohol as we use IPA all the time at work.

I guess if I try it with the alcohol, I will do it in the driveway and have the extinguisher handy ;-)

Stu

Posted by: stugray Apr 14 2011, 04:42 PM

Well I tried the cleaner on the carb parts and bodies.

I used water on all the parts first and it did a noticeable job.

Then I tried some stuff called HFE 7200.
It is an industrial solvent that is 100% non-toxic.
It worked great, but is not practical. I used a gallon of it, but it only lasted about 2 hours.
It BOILS at 76F, so it doesnt stay around very long.

Then I used the denatured alcohol.
It pulled a whole bunch of grime out of the otherwise clean looking carb bodies.

So I would say - best solution is denatured alcohol.

Now I am considering doing the soda blasting of the larger parts, then one more time through the cleaner right before assembly.

Stu

Posted by: biosurfer1 Apr 14 2011, 05:25 PM

I'd say those parts will be pretty damn clean after a dip, the blast, then another dip!