Carb Cleaning - Help Needed

[Milky]

Hi people. Recently my revs have been hunting at idle. I've read up and spoken to a few people and dirty carbs and jets seem to be the main cause of this so today I took the carbs off. Gonna take em to bits tomorow and give em a good clean.

What should I be aware of/not do, any tips etc?
I haven't got any carb cleaning spray because it's been said a few times on the net that it's sh*te.. other methods are blasting each jet with an airline (which I could do in the workshop but ideally want to keep the work at home) or sticking the jets in boiling water/strong solvents..

Which is the best way to go about this? The carbs are also being balanced in the week so the problem should hopefully be solved.

Would it be worth sticking a new air filter and fuel filter on at the same time?....

Many Thanks,

Tom.

[billinom8s]

You would have been better off balancing them first, the 'R's' carbs do go out quite easily.

[Milky]

You would have been better off balancing them first, the 'R's' carbs do go out quite easily.

Balls. Ah well I'll get em balanced again in a couple months if they start to go funny again. Any pointers?..

[billinom8s]

stick it all back together and get them balanced first, only takes half an hr. that will probs sort it out, plus change the fuel filter.

[jam]

Carb cleaner is fine, some are better than others STP is a good one, Auto care is also fine I use both of them, make sure you don't get too much on any O rings etc as it can swell rubber items. There's no point whatsoever putting the jets in boiling water. Carb cleaner will disolve the deposits that can build up over time from stale fuel etc. Always blow the jets out in the reverse direction of that way the fuel flows through them, otherwise you risk wedging any dirt further into the jets. Unless you blow through al the passgeways as well there's no point in just cleaning the jets out. Remove the pilot mixture screws ( counting the number of turns from fully out) and the small spring, washer, and small rubber O rings and then blow carb cleaner through through everything, and then blow through with an airline. Unless you know what you are doing there is a very good chance of buggering things up, so unless you are 100% certain that you know what you are doing then take them to someone who does or leave well alone. DO NOT use anything to poke through the jets as they are soft brass and you will end up enlarging the hole which will then throw out the fuel metering capability of them. Make sure you reset the float heights to the correct measurement as per the workshop manual.

[Mervin]

Tom
do you know anyone with an ultrasonic cleaner near you??get em doen in that if they need cleaning , i have one but am in north devon being the problem
Merv

[Milky]

ohhhh that's a pretty sweet idea merv! would that be enough to blast the jets through awell?

[jam]

An ultrasonic cleaner works by suspending the carbs and jets etc in a cleaning solution which is then heated to around 80 degrees C, then transducers attatched to the tank create vibrations which oscillate at around 50Hz, this vibration creates millions of tiny bubbles, when these bubbles come into contact with a hard surface they implode in a proccess called " cavitation" it is the action of these bubbles imploding that cleans the item immersed. By immersing the carbs in the cleaning solution the fluid then gets into all the passageways and galleries within the carb body, and the cavitation then breaks down any residues or dirt that has accumulated. Afterwards the carbs are rinsed and blown dry before reassembly. This method is probably the best method for cleaning carbs, although to remove staining on the outside of the carbs blasting with bicarbonate of soda works brilliantly, and without being abrasive enough to remove any ally, it is then rinsed off with clean water and dried with compressed air, before either reassembly or immersion in an ultrasonic cleaning bath.

[layne]

Paul Blatchford
Devon Ultrasonic Cleaning Services
01392 208 006
07 904 910 803

Good Friend - Biker type
Based in Exeter

[Milky]

sorted! i'll sort the balancing out and then give him a ring! much appreciated Layne, Thanks!

[TLS-Moose]

Paul Blatchford
Devon Ultrasonic Cleaning Services
01392 208 006
07 904 910 803

Good Friend - Biker type
Based in Exeter

The one and same thats a bit of a chnage of direction

Haven't seen him for ages ......

[jam]

Don't get them balanced until after they've been cleaned and refitted to the bike again. Otherwise there's no point in balancing them and then taking them off.

[billinom8s]

what if they only need balancing? he doesn't know if they are dirty or not.

[Milky]

Yeh i'm not sure which to actually do at the moment! Will be interested to get the final decision!

[jam]

There's no point in balancing them and then removing them from the bike only to have to balance them again when they go back on again, especially if you are going to get them ultrasonically cleaned.