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.