looking for homemade carb cleaner

[skinny1965]

Hello all some one out there must have a receipe for some wild carb cleaner. I have a bunch of carbs here i wish to rebuild but the off the shelf cleaner is around 40 .00 a gallon (cad) so there must be a good home brew solution please post what you use

[Rescue912]

Coleman lantern fuel or diesel

[mike@crosbys]

$40.00 gal?!? a work we get a quarter barrell of "code red" (brake clean) for about 200 i think. That is wholesale, but it's just a ZEP product, shouldn't be too hard to find. diesel works alright

[aussiebug]

This recipe WORKS.

90% kerosine (diesel will work too but it's smelly) and 10% Methyl Cloride paint thinner from a hardware store. Methyl Cloride is the active ingredient in commercial carb cleaner. Use the highest concentration paint thinner you can find - 990gm per litre Methyl Cloride (or what ever the USA equivalent is) if you can find it. Watered down paint thinner won't mix in the kero as well as the concentrated stuff.

Keep it in a metal tin (3lb coffee can or similar) with a tight lid and it will store for a long time and you can reuse it over and over (an overnight soak works best).

Paint thinner is bad on skin and eyes - use rubber gloves and don't breath the fumes.

[BOYGENIUS]

I use "TOP JOB" floor cleaner. It is a "MR. Clean" product. Make sure you get the one with amoinia and it will work awesome. Non toxic compared to most carb cleaners and NON flamable which is always a good thing. For really tough jobs heat up the cleaner and it works even better. It is reusable also. And it won't hurt o-rings or gaskets.

[John N]

Don't know about oil, etc, but I cleaned out my carb by soaking it a day in acetone(laq. thinner would work too) Either of these will disolve old, gummed gasoline.

[raygreenwood]

The two best cleaners for carbs..one previously mentioned, are methylene chloride and MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) . By the way.,..they are/were the primary ingredients in a product you used to be ale to buy....called "chem dip". It came in a gallon can wiuth a built in parts basket...made just for carbs.....nasty stuff!
Also by the way...both chemicals cause liver damage, nervous system damage and are both carcinogens. In fact, MEK usage has been outlawed in 48 states for usage over 1 gallon at a time without permit and OSHA/EPA inspection......but you can buy quarts and gallons at homer depot. Just be very careful with it.

You can simply add MEK with either xylene or 90% isopropyl alcohol to make a decent carb soak. The MEK does the work. The xylene simply raises the flash point so it does not just go screaming out of the can.

Or...you could simply drop into the store an buy a gallon paint can of Berrymans chemtool with the strainer in the top...and just be done with it for $10. Thats what its made for. Ray

[Rolf]

The two best cleaners for carbs..one previously mentioned, are methylene chloride and MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) . By the way.,..they are/were the primary ingredients in a product you used to be ale to buy....called "chem dip". It came in a gallon can wiuth a built in parts basket...made just for carbs.....nasty stuff!
Also by the way...both chemicals cause liver damage, nervous system damage and are both carcinogens. In fact, MEK usage has been outlawed in 48 states for usage over 1 gallon at a time without permit and OSHA/EPA inspection......but you can buy quarts and gallons at homer depot. Just be very careful with it.

You can simply add MEK with either xylene or 90% isopropyl alcohol to make a decent carb soak. The MEK does the work. The xylene simply raises the flash point so it does not just go screaming out of the can.

Or...you could simply drop into the store an buy a gallon paint can of Berrymans chemtool with the strainer in the top...and just be done with it for $10. Thats what its made for. Ray

Old thread but I need a GOOD carb cleaner and brake cleaner is not working for dirty old carbs.
Nice formulas for carb cleaner, but some of the products are no longer available without permits. I will try the MEK and Xylene/Iso alcohol mixture, but unsure at the mixing ratio for the MEK/Xylene.

/Rolf