Straight xylene for carb soak?

[Arthur Dent]

I know most parts cleaning fluids are a cocktail of different bitey things all things mixed together, but at work we get xylene in 55 gallon drums. Would just straight xylene make a good carb dip? Maybe soak a carb in a small container of xylene overnight? After removing any rubber bits first of course. I did a search here for xylene, but found mostly mentions of it used for stripping paint.

[gitractorman]

Yes, should work. I've done it with Acetone and it worked well. I'd pull out the needle valves, and rubber gaskets so the rubber parts don't get dissolved by the xylene, but everything else should be fine. Xylene evaporates pretty easily, so I'd make sure to use a closed container, but might want to leave the lid cracked so there's no build up of pressure. There shouldn't be any pressure build up, but I'd leave it open just in case.

[Arthur Dent]

I'll give it a try then.

[Don McCombs]

I would not use it on a Zenith carburetor. The Zenith, unlike the IH, has an exterior coating that the Xylene will dissolve.

[Arthur Dent]

Thanks for the warning Don, much appreciated.

[Landreo]

I would not use it on a Zenith carburetor. The Zenith, unlike the IH, has an exterior coating that the Xylene will dissolve.

What kind of coating was on the zinc alloy carbs?

[Don McCombs]

I don't know exactly what it is, but Berryman's Chem-Dip will also dissolve it. Leaves a non-smooth finish similar to the IH carbs. First hand experience.

[Landreo]

Do you know from another source that they are, in fact, coated? None of the Zenith cabs I have appear to have or had any type of coating. I could find nothing on the web of any coating other than some had a anodized finish that would have been gold colored. I have seen carbs like that.

I stopped using Berryman's years ago but a look at their web site states that it is safe for all metals. However, their own MSDS states otherwise and specifically mentions aluminum and zinc as potential problems. The cleaner contains no xylene or xylene like products so any comparison of Berryman's to xylene is suspect. The pH of the cleaner is listed at up to 10.5 which is in the range of potential damage to zinc and aluminum. The non-smooth finish after a Berryman's dip may just be slight pitting from the pH of the water in the cleaner.

If it does have some sort of alkyd coating on the carb that I have not noticed then I would expect any carb cleaner, including xylene, would remove that coating.

I would be interested in others opinions or observations on carb coatings. Has anyone seen any type of coating on the small zenith 68,168, 67, or 87 series carbs including a gold anodized coating?

[Landreo]

I found a zenith carb with a nice smooth finish and sprayed it with carb cleaner, no change. I then put a coating of methylene chloride based paint stripper on the carb and nothing changed so I don't see any evidence of a coating on that zenith carb. However, I did find some info on the Berryman site. Apparently, their "safe for all metals" really means only for up to a 4 hour soak, after that some damage may occur. I expect that is really what is causing the rough surface on the zenith carbs after a Berryman's soak. The pH is a lot higher than I would have expected for a carb cleaner.

I stopped using Berrymans years ago when they went to the low VOC formulation. I typically clean carbs the old fashioned way with wire, drill rods, spray carb cleaner, and Evaporust. If the carb has a lot of external grime then I will soak in the Gunk brand of cleaner to remove the grime and paint. That brand is a high VOC formulation and works well. It has a fair amount of toluene which is very similar to xylene so the xylene should be safe.

Berrymans, on the other hand,may not be safe ?????

Berrymans link:
https://www.berrymanproducts.com/solution-central/safe-dipping-carburetor-plastic-electrical-wire-attached/

[Don McCombs]

I think you may be onto something there. It was the original Berryman's Chem-Dip that took the "finish" off mine.