Will Berryman's Carb Dip harm finish or nylon/plastic parts if soaked over-night?

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I've never used it before but I want to use it for the job I have.
The instructions say to soak 15-30 minutes, or longer if needed. It says in bold print to not soak coated or sensitive aluminum parts over 4 hours. It also says it won't harm most plastics.
I have the VM carbs. The VM carbs also have what I believe is a nylon insert that is used to align the throttle valve/slide. But maybe it's a plastic? If you read reviews, most users say the longer you let the parts soak, the better it cleans.
Has anyone had any problems when soaking over-night? Thanks for any experience/help.

 

[Nessism]

Berryman's won't hurt that slide alignment nib. If you leave them in too long they will turn the carb bodies dark though. And it will eat off zinc plating too.

 

[Steve]

Agreed. It is my opinion that when the instructions were written, the chemicals in the can could, indeed, do the job in that "15-30 minute" time frame. However, since the safety weenies have taken over, the time needed is more like 15-30 HOURS.

I have not counted how many sets of carbs I have rebuilt, but have never had a problem with the throttle shaft bushings in the BS carbs or the nib in the VMs. I have noticed that the VM carbs do tend to discolor with increased time in the dip. I have found that rubbing with a rag IMMEDIATELY after removing the carbs from the dip and rinsing them in HOT water will remove most of the discoloration, but there is still some discoloration in the corners of any webbing. Soda or vapor blasting might work, but I'm sure that would also change the overall finish and appearance.

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[KEITH KRAUSE]

Thanks for the replies.
I think I'll dip the carb for 30 minutes and call it good. The carb body is the original from 41 years ago. It's been in a plastic bag in a box all this time. I stripped the head off the side air screw on carb #3 and decided to buy a salvaged set. Luckily I kept the carb bodies.
I can see what I consider very minor corrosion in places. Nothing that has eaten into the metal, just discoloration and little "dots" of corrosion here and there. They come off fairly easily. Only thing that's uncertain is what I cannot see in the passages. I don't see any issues in the passages other than I know the passage walls could be cleaner.
I've test sprayed every passage and all appear to be clear but who knows if they're 100% clear? I tried contacting a shop that I've used for car repair but they said they didn't have any cleaning equipment for carbs. I looked up the cost of a machine and it was ridiculous. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Steve]

Good to hear that they are at least partially clear. Go ahead and soak for 30 minutes, then rinse in the hottest running water you have. Follow that with a spray of carb cleaner through the passages. That might get the last of any crud out, then finally blow them clear with compressed air. Whenever possible, I like to blow against the normal flow, just in case something got wedged in.

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[KEITH KRAUSE]

Thanks, Steve. I soaked it for about 40 minutes. Swished it around a few times like a mini-washing machine. It came out looking pretty good. I rinsed it with hot water focusing on the passages. Sprayed it with carb cleaner and verified all passages were clear. No reason to believe anything remains in any passage.
Polished the carb body to match the number 4 carb. Looks great. Now I'm just waiting to get my bowl gaskets from Z1. I think it will be fine. It will be interesting to see if I can see a fine crack somewhere around the bolt on the inside. I know one member said there's no way the carb body would crack before the bolt or threads strip but I see nothing wrong with the bolt or threads.
But I'm done with trying to keep snugging up the bowls if they leak. If they leak after everything I'm doing, I give up.

 

[Nessism]

What fuel Tee and transfer tubes are you using? I bought some metal ones from Z1 and the O-rings supplied were pure crap.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

What fuel Tee and transfer tubes are you using? I bought some metal ones from Z1 and the O-rings supplied were pure crap.

Hi, Ed.
I bought the aluminum fittings from Z1. Installed about 2 years ago. I remember you saying at the time the aluminum may have longevity issues. I agree, but I decided to go with them. I'm blessed with having a Pure-Gas station close by that sells 91 octane. Hopefully using gas that repels water instead of attracting it (Ethanol) will help the aluminum last. I don't remember the cost of the Z1 fittings but it was reasonable.
Yes, the o-rings that are included with the Z1 aluminum fittings are useless, because they're simply too big. When I first installed them over each fitting, I could already tell that installing them would be difficult. Before I installed the fittings, I lightly polished the inside of the fuel passages with semi-chrome polish, the same as I do for inside the carb bodies for the throttle valves/slides, and made sure they were polished with a q-tip to a mirror finish. Then I applied a very light coat of pure silicone grease to each o-ring. Because I was doing the carb work the next morning, and anticipating a difficult install, I even had the Z1 o-rings in the house at room temperature over night. My first attempt was a joke. No progress at all. So I tried carefully to twist the fittings in taking care to go straight in. No way. One o-ring started tearing. I mean, it wasn't even close to going in.
Luckily, I still had the 12 "F" o-rings that were unused from the VM kit I bought earlier from Robert Barr. I didn't need the F o-rings during the previous work because my original fuel tubes were the rubber coated ones. This time around, the "T" started leaking so I bought the Z1 fittings.
The "F" o-rings fit well over the Z1 fittings and I could tell that they would work. I installed them carefully but without any issues. I then contacted Z1 to let them know their o-rings are too large. They replied that their o-rings are the correct size and no one else has complained. I told them that I know how to install o-rings correctly and there's no way the o-rings they provide are correct. I told them maybe their o-rings would fit in the 28MM VM's? They of course didn't agree.
Live and learn. I think I made a topic about all of this when it happened? So my advice to anyone buying the Z1 fittings is to buy the o-rings from Robert. I'm only using the Z1 bowl gaskets because they're supposed to be a little softer. I appreciate having suppliers like Z1 offer parts for our older bikes, but I have to cross my fingers when they start providing their own versions of OEM parts.

 

[red1100]

I've all my restored cars and motorcycles over the years I've used high strength soap such as simple green,purple power.Cut it with water if you think it might be too strong.I use 50-50 water and product.
I've used it on my various car and motorcycle carbs but in my opinion if you don't want to use a soap product you can do the job with carb cleaner from the parts store and carb cleaning brush set also. That will work well and you don't have to soak it for days.Plus as a spray it evaporates quickly so there is no damage to soft parts.

 

[grcamna2]

Berryman's won't hurt that slide alignment nib. If you leave them in too long they will turn the carb bodies dark though. And it will eat off zinc plating too.

Yes,this has been my experience about the Berryman's also:the bright,factory silver plating on the outside of the carbs does get removed..
I use Simple Green purple and even heat(not over 150 degrees) the solution a bit while soaking for very dirty carbs,then finish with a tooth brush if needed.I also use Gumout more than anything else,it blasts the passages clear after carefully using a very fine aluminum wire to push-out some of the stuff in certain passages plus compressed air(a can of it is all I usually need)to finish/clear it all out.

 

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Yes,this has been my experience about the Berryman's also:the bright,factory silver plating on the outside of the carbs does get removed..
I use Simple Green purple and even heat(not over 150 degrees) the solution a bit while soaking for very dirty carbs,then finish with a tooth brush if needed.I also use Gumout more than anything else,it blasts the passages clear after carefully using a very fine aluminum wire to push-out some of the stuff in certain passages plus compressed air(a can of it is all I usually need)to finish/clear it all out.

Are you saying you use compressed air in a can? I've heard of canned air to blow dust, etc, off computer equipment/electronics. But the PSI isn't really enough to clean carb passages, is it?