Boiling carbs

I am going to boil my carbs tomorrow and I just want to make sure I am doing it right. I am thinking I will do a mix of 25 percent lemon juice, 25 percent vinegar, and 50 percent water. Does this sound correct?

Also as far as lemon juice goes I can use just normal 100 percent lemon juice from the grocery store or does it need to be some specific kind?

I used 50/50 vinegar and water. That was the first time trying it.They came out good. the next time i think i'll try lemon and vin. like you say. Keep us posted.
Thanks

Boots

Dropping the carbs into a pot of boiling water will instantly free up stuck slides, throttle plates, and other frozen parts.

Clean carbs in a pot of boiling water & lemon juice. The acidity from the lemons eats through everything - gas varnish, oil build up, dirt, grime, etc. Just remove the bowls, remove the caps, then drop everything into the pot and let it sit for 20 minutes (rotate them a few times). Rinse well with clean water and blow dry.

Can I just use 100 percent lemon juice from the juice isle at the local grocery store? Or am I supposed to get some type of cooking lemon juice?

I use just about 3-4oz of vinegar in a pot of water.

can you still do this if you cant remove the caps to the vac slides?

Did ya'll remove the floats or just leave them on? Think I'm gonna try this this week.

Also, somebody told me that instead of lemon juice which has sticky sugars in it to try ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid is the same thing as citric acid which is whats really doing the cleaning. Evidently ascorbic acid can be bought at pharmacies but I haven't tried to find it yet. Supposed to be cheaper too but I may just say to hell with it and use lemon juice. I guess as long as you rinse it well it shouldn't matter.

Mortarmanmike wrote:

Did ya'll remove the floats or just leave them on? Think I'm gonna try this this week.

I'm curious to know this too, mine need a good cleaning and I was thinking of boiling them, but I need to know what needs to be removed or what can stay, etc.

I disassemble mine totally. What ever is removable, I remove. I just dunk Bare Aluminum housings. Putting any combination of dissimilar metals into a boiling acid solution is asking for trouble. You will be stuck with a couple of small brass tubes on the housings anyway. This is why you do not want to make the solution too strong.

Citric acid (ascorbic acid) is usually available in the bulk/nutritional foods section of most grocery/healthfood stores and always at homebrew supply places. Homebrew places will have gentler burners like malic acid as well.

If you're going to strip them down why not use some xylene and toluene? I hooked up a back massager to a closed SS pan and let the carb bodies soak for 2 days and they looked new. Filter the solvent through a coffee filter when you're done to get rid of the chunks and you can reuse it to soak your next grimey item.

why not use some xylene and toluene?

WARNING:
Both xylene and toluene are known carcinogens (cancer causers) as well as highly toxic and highly flammable so extreme care should be used in handling both of these chemicals. Proper protective gear must be worn and suitable ventilation precautions must be taken when using either/both these chemicals.
Additionally, both of these chemicals are classed as hazardous goods AND as VOC's (Volatile Organic Chemicals) and thus are NOT easily available to the average Joe in most jurisdictions.
You've been warned.....

I buy both Xylene and Toluene in 5gal buckets because I use them as painting solvents and Octane boosters. They do not do much as far as removing fuel varnish. The only solvent which I know that works is Delimonine. It however is quite expensive in the pure form, at about $25 a Gallon. You can find it in a diluted form in ZEP Citrus Cleaner. I buy it at Home Depot. What also works is Butyl Ether which is another water soluble solvent and is used in many strippers and degreasers like Fantastic and 409.