Berryman's "chem-dip" carburetor cleaner is worthless.

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Berryman's "chem-dip" carburetor cleaner is worthless.

Posted: 4/8/2012 1:39:56 PM EDT

The stuff you get at vatozone in the metal 1-gallon can. Years ago, I had a can I used for a few carbs, and that stuff would easily dissolve anything that wasn't metal. Worked great, just leave the stripped carb in it overnight (sometimes not even that long), and all you had to do was lift the basket and give a quick rinse. Bought a can a few days ago for a mower carb, and even after sitting overnight, it was as if all I had done was slightly dyed the metal (and still stuck-on gasket remnants and gasoline varnish) a golden-bronze/greenish hue. The carb cleaner spray even worked better now than this new tree-hugger recipe.

What did they take out, and can I add it back in? Anyone have real recipes for something that will DISSOLVE gaskets and gunk like the old stuff? And no, fucking "simple green" and vinegar is NOT "just as good", so carry that idea back to Kalifornia.

Posted: 4/8/2012 1:42:53 PM EDT

[#1]

Dunno... I bought some last year for cleaning the carbs on my '78 GS550E. Didn't dissolve gasket pieces (just as you describe), but it cleaned out everything else pretty well (and thus not as you describe). I thought it did a fine job.

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:32:57 PM EDT

[#2]

Probably something useful like toluene or xylene.

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:36:17 PM EDT

[#3]

Not totally useless...........

Got a match?

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:37:15 PM EDT

[#4]

Trichloroethylene most likely. It's nasty stuff. It tends to melt anything that isn't metal.

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:38:47 PM EDT

[#5]

I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:41:59 PM EDT

[#6]

Carbon Tetrachloride

Damn I'm old

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:43:13 PM EDT

[#7]

Ive got a 5 gallon bucket of "the good stuff".

Im trying to get rid of it since I dont race/work on cars anymore.

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:46:33 PM EDT

[#8]

How good would acetone work?

Posted: 4/8/2012 2:46:43 PM EDT

[#9]

It's been shitty for over 10 years.

I used to have a drum of "stuff", that had been passed around between a few me handicap friends. No one knew what it was, but it was probably 20 years old and would clean anything. I need more of that stuff.

Posted: 4/8/2012 3:25:02 PM EDT

[#10]

its been shitty for quite a while, and every time i get a new can of it, its worse.

Posted: 4/8/2012 3:27:08 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:

I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Thanks. I have a stubborn lawnmower carb I tried to fix with some seafoam which didnt work. I guess Ill have to give this a try in my ultrasonic tank. I see that swingset is a member there and posted in that thread

Posted: 4/8/2012 5:13:05 PM EDT

[#12]

I saw somewhere else that they removed MEK from the previous formula a few years ago. I *think* that's Methyl Ethyl Ketone, in which case I've seen it for sale in a gallon can like paint thinner, I just can't remember where. I've also heard ATF and acetone work well, but I haven't tried it.

Posted: 4/8/2012 5:17:06 PM EDT

[#13]

Liquid paint stripper kicks ass but there can be NO plastic whatsoever left in the carb. I once did a HD scrambler carb that had sat for a decade, horrible shape, ran as good as new after a soak and some cleaning. Protective gloves are a MUST.

Posted: 4/8/2012 5:18:41 PM EDT

[#14]

I wish i knew what it was also. When I worked on outboards, If you left the carbs in the bucket too long the plastic linkage holders would disintegrate. That stuff worked like described above.

Posted: 4/8/2012 5:34:46 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
I saw somewhere else that they removed MEK from the previous formula a few years ago. I *think* that's Methyl Ethyl Ketone, in which case I've seen it for sale in a gallon can like paint thinner, I just can't remember where.

Home Depot sells it.

Posted: 4/8/2012 6:44:36 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Thanks. I have a stubborn lawnmower carb I tried to fix with some seafoam which didnt work. I guess Ill have to give this a try in my ultrasonic tank. I see that swingset is a member there and posted in that thread

Ultrasonic tanks will fuck aluminum parts up....

Posted: 4/8/2012 6:46:01 PM EDT

[#17]

What is this "carburetor" object you speak of?

Posted: 4/8/2012 7:29:24 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
What is this "carburetor" object you speak of?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburetor

Posted: 4/8/2012 7:35:17 PM EDT

[#19]

Try soaking in a bath of 50/50 Pinesol and water. Works great.

Posted: 4/8/2012 8:25:18 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Try soaking in a bath of 50/50 Pinesol and water. Works great.

So pinesol and water will eat off hardened and stuck-on gasket remnants? It will DISSOLVE anything non-metallic? Will it at least chemically SEPARATE non-carb matter from the carb, in all of it's orifices, jets, and the bowl, WITHOUT having to "elbow grease" it for an hour, which I could have done in the first place, not needing a soak?

Posted: 4/8/2012 8:27:45 PM EDT

[#21]

I got a gallon at Napa the other day that was still strong enough to strip paint off the carb, and made the float shiny copper again

Posted: 4/8/2012 8:29:33 PM EDT

[#22]

I used to just let the parts sit for 15-20 minutes and scrub them with a tooth brush. Then wash the parts off. But this was years ago.

Posted: 4/8/2012 8:50:41 PM EDT

[#23]

Worked great for me. Weedeater and genny are both running like new. Soaked for 30 minutes and sprayed carb cleaner through all the orifices. *Shrug*

Posted: 4/8/2012 9:16:55 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Thanks. I have a stubborn lawnmower carb I tried to fix with some seafoam which didnt work. I guess Ill have to give this a try in my ultrasonic tank. I see that swingset is a member there and posted in that thread

Ultrasonic tanks will fuck aluminum parts up....

Links to proof aren't showing up...

Posted: 4/8/2012 9:20:29 PM EDT

[#25]

Laquer thinner...

That is some nasty shit...

Posted: 4/8/2012 10:08:33 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Thanks. I have a stubborn lawnmower carb I tried to fix with some seafoam which didnt work. I guess Ill have to give this a try in my ultrasonic tank. I see that swingset is a member there and posted in that thread

Ultrasonic tanks will fuck aluminum parts up....

Links to proof aren't showing up...

yeah I saw lots of people asking about using ultra sonic in that thread and never heard any real world usage. Only read 2-3 pages though. I really don't think the cheap ultrasonic I have has power to hurt ANYTHING.

Posted: 4/9/2012 5:22:35 AM EDT

[#27]

After digging around, the most I could find was a "test" you can do on the cleaner with aluminum FOIL, in which the cleaner is supposed to damage it, and someone else saying that highly polished aluminum surfaces MAY lose their luster in an ultrasonic. The biggest warning I saw was that "if a substance will attack or corrode a part, it will do so much faster in an ultrasonic". "Simple green" corrodes aluminum.

Posted: 4/9/2012 7:07:40 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Thanks. I have a stubborn lawnmower carb I tried to fix with some seafoam which didnt work. I guess Ill have to give this a try in my ultrasonic tank. I see that swingset is a member there and posted in that thread

I'm pretty sure that a lot of members here are members over there, and vice versa.

Posted: 4/9/2012 7:48:41 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
its been shitty for quite a while, and every time i get a new can of it, its worse.

Once the EPA demanded low VOC's the good stuff went away.

Posted: 4/9/2012 9:13:51 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Try soaking in a bath of 50/50 Pinesol and water. Works great.

So pinesol and water will eat off hardened and stuck-on gasket remnants? It will DISSOLVE anything non-metallic? Will it at least chemically SEPARATE non-carb matter from the carb, in all of it's orifices, jets, and the bowl, WITHOUT having to "elbow grease" it for an hour, which I could have done in the first place, not needing a soak?

I was amazed the first time I did it. I soaked some carbs off an old Honda that had been sitting for at least 5 years. Old dried up fuel, dirt, bugs, plus other crap was all removed. After I removed the float bowls and gave everything a good blow dry I then rinsed with a can of spray carb cleaner. I still needed to pull the jets and check all the little ports just to make sure but all in all, it worked well.

Posted: 4/9/2012 9:34:48 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

I saw this a while back on ADV rider. carb cleaning I know some guys on the Nighthawk forum ended up using this same method for cleaning engine cases and it worked awesome.

Posted: 4/9/2012 9:36:45 AM EDT

[#32]

I put a old 2 cycle carb that had been sitting for 10 years and it was totally gummed up. I soaked it for 3 days and it put it back together It ran for 5 min till the ignition coil died.

Quoted:

Laquer thinner...

That is some nasty shit...

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Berryman's "chem-dip" carburetor cleaner is worthless.

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