cleaning a float bowl

[shack]

Hi All, I'm just stripping and cleaning my carbs (XJ750) and I have an amount of stubborn sediment in the bottom of the bowl, I've attacked it with carb cleaner and will shift with a tentative prod with a screwdriver, but what is a cheap, easy way to clean it out. It's been off the road for 12 years so fairly dried on!
Ta muchly

[Mervinh]

I have been told cheap coca cola, boil em in washing powder, ( makes awful stink buy cheap camping stove and do it in garage, ) or get someone with ultrasonic cleaner to zap em , if no one closer I have one you could bring em over

[AlanH]

Dishwasher - but don't let SWMBO find 'em in there.

[Windmill John]

Or just scrape it or ignore it. It is pretty well bonded, so shouldn't affect you...unless it is sooooo much it affects the quantity of fuel.

[thetimkirby]

Have you got a compressor? There are a couple of threads about soda cleaning, with impressive results for little money. Especially suited to delicate or intricate stuff, as the cleaner is quite soft and is water soluble. Carbs look brand new afterwards.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Hmmm, if it's been stood for 12 years the carbs probably want stripping & ultrasonically cleaning if they weren't drained......
Have you had the bike running?

Phil

[shack]

Hi Phil (and thanks all) I was mid strip when started to discover the crud, PO put some fresh fuel in and said it rathan for a minute a few months ago, but can't varify this, I was suspecting this one to be a little bad as no fuel came out when I tried to drain it, where as other 3 were fine (easy to drain but yet to take them apart!) I'll whisk it into the kitchen later and try some of the home made remedies (someone needs to be out first) I'll keep you posted, also on a sep note roughly how much oil would you recommend dropping into the plug sockets (as in ml not l! as have read if not run for a while then drop a bit to lube it up a bit and turn over by hand, but a bit in my book could be anythinng from 5ml to 40ml!) I'll chuck a piccucture of the offending article when I get a minute

[hotbulb]

Others may suggest differently, but on these occasions I usually put about 5-10ml (couple of teaspoonfuls) of oil in each cylinder. A thin oil is fine, and as I have it available, I tend to use Redex rather than 3-in-1 or engine oil (allegedly its additives do a good job of softening crud, as well as lubricating). Leave it for a while to penetrate, and don't forget to stuff the plugholes with rag before you turn the engine over! I was amazed how far an old Land Rover engine could spray Redex from its plugholes when turning over on the starter, even with a flat battery.

[Boris]

Hi Phil (and thanks all) I was mid strip when started to discover the crud,

I hadn't realised you take the bike onstage with you.

Is it part of your act?

[shack]

All good info, and will have to dig out my old redex!
Why the Sticky Keyboard