• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Dipped Carbs, What is this stuff?

  • Thread starter Thread starter glstine
  • Start date Start date
G

glstine

Guest
I dipped my carbs in Berryman's for 24+ hours each. Pulled them out and rinsed them off. After they dried a white powdery substance showed up on them, looks like efflorescence, however, I wouldn't think aluminum would be porous enough for that. Does anybody know what this is and how I can get rid of it.

100_6898.jpg


100_6899.jpg
 
It's from the carbs having been exposed to humidity and corrosion. You can take a small soft wire brush and buff them a bit. That will help some.
 
I'm not exactly sure what it is but it's corrosion. I haven't had it happen when cleaning carbs but I've seen it appear on hardware (nuts and bolts).
It's definitely related to moisture. Only places I've ever seen it appear on my hardware is where I can't easily reach while cleaning. My bike is in a dry climate and always covered and inside a garage. I'll still get a little bit of it here and there. I just take a little lubricant or slightly abrasive cleaner and wipe it out. Then I use a little wax to help keep it away. I've seen it on aluminum engine cases on other bikes too.
 
It happens, i just wash it off in warm water and dish soap, then after they dry I just spay the carbs down with some wd-40 to help protect them.
 
All the carbs I've done look like that. As First Timer stated, just scrub down the carb body and you should be fine.

As a side note, I'm not a fan of the 24 hour soak in carb dip. The throttle shaft has small rubber seals on each side of the butterflys and soaking in the dip for that long can't be good for those seals. Don't have any proof that there are going to be problems, just that my opinion is to soak only as long as necessary to clean out the grunge - 4-8 hours is typically plenty.

Good luck and keep up the good work on doing the carbs properly!:)

Edit: looked at your photos again and is that a pilot jet I see down in that recess? If so, get that thing out. The orifice is super small and the only way to properly make sure it's open is to pull the jet.
 
In the carb cleaning .pdf here, it mentions that after the dip, before reassembly, clear out all the passageways with WD-40. For me, this more or less ended up meaning coating the whole damn thing since carbs are a maze of passageways. In the future, I'd say to do the WD-40 right after you let the carbs drip dry for a minute and rinse/wipe them off. -nick
 
That white stuff is aluminium oxide - the equivalent of rust. (Could also be zinc oxide as the carbs are made from pot metal - a cheap alloy of both). As it's aluminium / zinc the whole 'rust' process takes a lot longer than rust on steel. As mentioned above, a brush off with a softish wire brush and wipe with an oily rag is all that's required (unless you're into polishing....)
 
Keep in mind, that wire brush, it should not be steel. Use a brass or nylon brush. Stainless is OK but brass is better.
 
Thanks for the replies, corrosion really makes sense, it has been really humid here for the last Week, enough so that the garage floor has stayed damp. And yes that is the pilot jet, couldn't get it out before the dip, Was going to try afterWards. (BTW - my "W" key is broken, I don't really have some strange fixation With capital W's:o)

I Was also concerned about this stuff forming in the small passages, I sprayed them out With carb cleaner after the dip. Should I do that again and then spray With WD-40?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top