Best solvent to use on carbs

[dan juhasz]

I bought a 30L ultra sonic cleaner for carb work. Bought some generic powder through Amazon specifically for carbs. Made the finish of the aluminum look dark and ugly.
What do you guys use in ultra sonic cleaners to restore the natural aluminum finish.
I’m tempted to but a gallon can of the modern carb soaking solution that I think gunk makes. Maybe it would get the darkness off of the parts.

 

[Rishi]

I have yet to find ANY chemical that restores darker aluminum castings back to a bright finish. Things like Berryman Chem-Dip seems to make it worse.

I get good cleaning results with a pinesol solution. my ultrasonic cleaner also heats, so I like heating it up and letting it soak for 30 minutes before running the ultrasonic.

Some carbs clean up nicely. Especially those that appear to have never been rebuilt (in modern times) and perhaps were never soaked in things like Chem-Dip.

This type of solution smells better, and gentler on my hands when the gloves break through. A toothbrush, and a brass bristle brush are among the tools I use to make it all nice.

But for restoring the bright aluminum finish, I'm still looking for that magic chemical.

I've read the aluminum slurry Carter Corp (for example) used to make carburetor bodies contains a good amount of Zinc. Zinc can be dyed, or change color, when exposed to certain chemicals. Once dyed dark, its nigh impossible to get it blue (silver) again.

 

[AR67GTX]

I used this solution.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KK6KR3Z?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

I’m not sure how well it works compared to other products. I got quite a bit of sludge in the bottom of my cleaner and it didn’t seem to darken the aluminum. I believe these were before and after pictures.

 

[dan juhasz]

So in case this helps someone this is by far the best product to use in an ultrasonic cleaner to restore a brighter finish to aluminum and clean. Not expensive and it has to be heavily diluted and doesn’t take long at all. Minutes not hours.

 

[Cop car wagon]

To avoid attacking the aluminum castings, I use simple green.
A cup or a splash more to my 30L tank.
This was a crusty TQ that I ran through it.
You can see that the throttle bores need more hand cleaning, and that the base and top come out different colors.

 

[Photon440]

To avoid attacking the aluminum castings, I use simple green.
A cup or a splash more to my 30L tank.
This was a crusty TQ that I ran through it.
You can see that the throttle bores need more hand cleaning, and that the base and top come out different colors.

View attachment 1935961

View attachment 1935962

View attachment 1935963

If you use the aircraft version of simple green, it's designed not to discolour aluminum.

 

[Cop car wagon]

I just attributed the color difference to different casting batches.
Never heard of aircraft simple green, and where do you buy it?
I just buy the basic crap at Wally World.

 

[Photon440]

I just attributed the color difference to different casting batches.
Never heard of aircraft simple green, and where do you buy it?
I just buy the basic crap at Wally World.

I asked for it to be ordered in at the parts store that I worked at.