Using citron juice to clean carbs

Hello,

I haven't read such a tip on this message board. To clean carbs, one can soak them into a mix of water and citron juice. Put everything into a saucepan and leave to simmer for approximately 15 minutes on a low heat. Use some already prepared citron juice, don't squeeze real lemons!

Of course, you'll have to clean them with acetone first. The carbs will be far cleaner, and their color will change, they look dull.

Here's a picture:

The 2 carbs on the left are already cleaned and (quickly) polished. The 2 ones on the right just come out of the saucepan.

I know it can look strange, but it works. However, I warn you the stuff smells horrible during the cooking time.

PS: I'm French, so I had to share this recipe with you. :laugh:

Conti wrote:

Hello,

I haven't read such a tip on this message board. To clean carbs, one can soak them into a mix of water and citron juice. Put everything into a saucepan and leave to simmer for approximately 15 minutes on a low heat. Use some already prepared citron juice, don't squeeze real lemons! ....The 2 carbs on the left are already cleaned and (quickly) polished. The 2 ones on the right just come out of the saucepan....

Kool trick. What tool(s) and medium do you use for polishing, how much time should it take, and how long should shine last if carbs are not leaking fuel at all? I could probably figure out tools to polish the larg(er) surfaces, but then cleaning off the polish compound would confound me.
I have had little to no luck polishing alumimiunimmiualum(sp).

I use Belgom alu and #000 steel wool . The polishing process is very fast, thanks to the Belgom alu efficiency.
I don't know how long it will last, but at least it looks very nice right now.

Interesting.
I have used baking soda which worked quite well but had not heard of citron (lemon ?) juice. I have to admit I would be a bit reluctant to use anything acidic - even mildly acidic since acid will react with metal.

Let us know haow it works out when you reassemble.

Yes, I meant lemon, not citron (which is a French word, ooops! :blush:). It's not agressive if you don't put too much lemon juice. I put approximately 50cl of lemon juice with 1,5l of water. It seems to be a widely used "low-cost" method here.

As regards to the polishing, here's a closeup:

Only 10 minutes polishing work per carb, without any tool except some steel wool.

Post edited by: Conti, at: 2007/02/26 13:40

Looks great :woohoo:

Thank you Conti, I am ready to clean the carbs on my 750 and may try this.

Some people seem to use more lemon juice...



Anyway, using no more than 50cl of lemon juice for 1l of water won't do any damage. One can drink pure lemon juice but I wouldn't try with chlorhydric acid. :laugh:

On that page (written in French): www.motos-anglaises.com/technique/nettoyagecarb.htm you can see before/after pictures of a carburetor soaked into lemon juice (that's the 2 pictures below the saucepan).

Conti wrote:

Hello,

I haven't read such a tip on this message board. To clean carbs, one can soak them into a mix of water and citron juice. Put everything into a saucepan and leave to simmer for approximately 15 minutes on a low heat. Use some already prepared citron juice, don't squeeze real lemons!

Now we know a little more of the story

KaZooCruiser wrote:
Now we know a little more of the story [/quote]

Well, you got some additionnal pics now. :lol:

The lemon + belgom alu + steel wool combination is really excellent. I was a bit sceptical when my friends recommended this method. Now I confirm it does work very well. I didn't expect it to work so well. :laugh: And it doesn't cost a fortune.

Post edited by: Conti, at: 2007/02/26 18:28