Soda Blaster

[solo 2]

Don't know if you guys have seen this or not but it works like a damn. Cleans moto carbs like new, it's a bit messy but easy to clean and enviromentally friendly if you care. The only mod I made to this set up was to cut a 2" piece of 5/16" clear tubing, bevel the inner edge 45 deg. and super glue it into the 7/16" tube, this gives a stronger blast. Also the shorter and straighter the tube while blasting the better. If you have vapor in your lines get it out first.

Here's a link: http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

Here's a pic of mine before and after.

 

[Mad GS 750 E]

Soda blaster

Soda blaster

Great job on the carbs. My friend was trying the soda on carb came out ok but not as nice as yours. what psi are you using and does it stay constant ,did you totalaly take the carb apart and rebuild , and what did you use for rinse . great trick with tube have to try that. thanks ahead for info.

 

[solo 2]

I wouldn't do this unless I was taking the carbs apart anyways, its very gritty and gets into everything, the beauty is it's water clean up, just disolves. My compressor is a 15 gallon 4.5 cfm @ 90 psi. I was running 90 psi but probably wasn't that high when doing it as the comp. ran the whole time.

What I love about this is the fact that you can clean everything on the carbs while they're still together, screws,fittings, everything, rinse, blow out and then do your rebuild.

The smaller tube made all the difference in the world, really improves how it works. You still get the flow of the soda but it has much better cleaning power when exiting.

 

[old school]

thats awesome thanks for sharing

 

[SVSooke]

Have seen this on a few sites now.Your 5/16th mod sounds like a good thing to try.Going to get the stuff to do this today.

 

[Hammered]

If you use Wash Soda instead of baking soda, it will be a little cheaper.

 

[SVSooke]

I got baking soda from the bulk isle but will look into that next time i need some,if I remember.Be using this a lot over the winter me thinks.

 

[sharpy]

If your in a patio area/back yard how "messy" is it? thanks

 

[SVSooke]

Take some before and after pictures if you like.A hose will take care of it .Or if you live here just wait for the rain,it's here early this year

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

I will have to try that I bought a small hand held blaster gun from Harbor Freight $10

 

[Planecrazy]

I've been experimenting with a conventional blaster gun and some media (walnut husks and glass bead) that I got for free off of Craigslist last spring. Was planning to try soda, etc. (and build a cabinet for it), but yesterday I discovered that my compressor is no longer compressing. I'm going to start disassembly tomorrow to see if I can find the problem (tank still holding the air it had, so I know it's in the compressor circuit or in the compressor itself).

If I had to guess I'd say it blew the head gasket, but I won't be able to tell for sure until I remove the plastic shroud and take off the cooling fan. No obvious leaks anywhere else that I can detect. Murphy's law that this would happen just when I was going to start playing with the blaster!

Regards,

 

[makenzie71]

If you can get a sand blast box you can even reuse your soda.

 

[dardoonk]

I bought a small hand held one at Harbor Freight that does pretty decent for small stuff.. Need a bigger one though..

FYI: Environmentally friendly, but it will kill your grass outside because it screws up the pH of the soil for a while... I did some rims and can assure you that 10lbs of baking soda will kill about 200 square feet of you lawn

 

[hampshirehog]

Baking soda is a 'one hit' media ie you can only use it once. It works as the individual crystals hit the part you are cleaning and 'explode'.

Ditto dardoonk's comments on using it on the lawn. Best used on the drive where you can just wash it away with a hose (it's soluble). Does a good job of killing the weeds that poke their heads up through whatever your drive is made of.

Plus wear a hat when using; if you get it in your scalp it'll itch like mad.

 

[wirelessguy]

Soda blasting looks like a promising alternative (to the glass bead blasting I was considering).

You mention that you did not disassemble your carbs but I wasn't sure what kind of components were inside your Porsche carbs. Is it safe to blast into my GS1100E carbs or are there worries about the rubber floats and O-rings?


I think I'm going to start by taking the black spray paint off my engine which should give me a good idea of stripping power and how firm/gentle I'd need to be with the gun.

 

[Planecrazy]

You mention that you did not disassemble your carbs but I wasn't sure what kind of components were inside your Porsche carbs. Is it safe to blast into my GS1100E carbs or are there worries about the rubber floats and O-rings?

The soda itself won't hurt the rubber or plastic parts, but my concern is that anything you blast off the carbs with it could get lodged between the o-rings, etc. and either cause leaks or eventual blockages. For that reason I'd suggest removing them before blasting.

Regards,

PS. Update on my compressor trials and tribulations: The compressor itself was permanently killed on my rig, but I picked up a better, two cylinder, lower rpm, compressor for free off Craigslist two years ago and was able to resurrect that one ... So now I'll use the failed one as a portable air tank (8 gallons) and the "new" one (12 gallons?) as my main unit. It's quieter and more capable anyway! Time to start building a blast cabinet and begin playing with soda!

 

[mighty13d]

Blast cabinet... I know I have shown this in here before. You can get away with it for next to nothing. This is mine:

 

[sharpy]

Blast cabinet... I know I have shown this in here before. You can get away with it for next to nothing. This is mine:

Whats the air pressure and brown stuff. And how dont you make it blow up like a balloon?

 

[Planecrazy]

Yep ... I've seen your home-built, and a few others, and appreciate the reminder. However, I have something larger in mind.

I just acquired a pretty sturdy "snap together" Rubbermaid cabinet that is similar in size to a very tall standalone "coat closet." While I was originally going to use it as a storage unit it just occurred to me that it would make an awesome blast cabinet! I want to be able to put large, long items in it (like mounted aluminum wheels) and go to town!

The biggest challenge will be to seal up all the seams where the full length swinging doors close, but I figure a combination of adhesive foam and silicone sealant ought to do a sufficient job of keeping the mess contained. I will also have to reinforce the structural rigidity of the unit, because one or more of the shelves (that I have to take out) normally act as structural parts of the cabinet. I already have plexiglass sheeting to use as a window, so it's now just a matter of picking up the other accessories to finish the job and start constructing! My intention is to add a filter and ductwork leading to my shop vac, so as to keep from blowing the cabinet up, hehe! The shop vac already has two filters built into it (replaceable, of course) so I should be good to go on that front.

Regards,

 

[duaneage]

I've blasted with glass, black magic, and baking soda. The cabinet I have came from HF and it's not that great. Lots of leaks and the internal light lasted only a month. The glass pulverizes down to an incredibly fine powder so it's not really a safe rig.

I did the soda on my Yamaha engine and it works wonders. Almost too good, it removed the lubrication from the carb parts and I actually had to oil the linkage. It also killed the grass and took a while for it to come back. I'm not much of a grass mechanic so the yard looks bad.

I rigged a vacuum with a Hepa filter inside to my cabinet and I vacuum the particles for 20 seconds when I finish.

baking soda is 58 dollars/ 50lb bag at Grainger. Arm and Hammer makes it in two grits, 100.120 and 120.180 I used the coarser stuff. You have to keep the soda dry since moisture makes it clog up.

The outdoor blasting was done with a HF blast kit that holds about 25 lbs of soda and takes manual adjustment to get it right. Not a great rig but at 50 dollars it was priced right.