"Bill Martin" wrote in message
...
On 06/08/2011 12:37 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:

(...)


FWIW, as a purple cleaner, oven cleaner, and gasoline user, I'd try them
in
that order, unless you don't mind the gasoline fumes, in which case that
would be second.

I mix my own oven cleaner for cleaning my charcoal grill but it's a
bugger
to get straight lye these days. The only over-the-counter retail source
I've
seen identified by others is Roebic Crystal Drain Cleaner, which I buy
from
Lowe's at $11.00 for two poundsouch!! It's now $1.98 for two pounds
online, under different names, but then I pay $10 shipping. d8-(

I do buy 20 pounds or so at a time online once in a while. You want 100%
sodium hydroxide crystals or pellets; mix 20% with water by weight; dump
in
some diatomaceous earth to make it stick a little to the grill. You can
use
potassium hydroxide but it's more expensive.

Mix 40% for cleaning drains, and stand back...At 40%, it's like thin
syrup.


What do you think of this "stuff" for cleaning the grunge out of a
two-stroke expansion chamber? Castor oil is great for bearing life, but
kinda messy in the exhaust... thanks for any suggestions.

I doubt if it would do much, Bill. This is straight lye, with goop in it to
keep it from sliding off of surfaces. It will saponify fats and oils, and it
will attack some polymers and proteins (like the ones in your body cells),
but it won't touch carbon.

If the problem is partially-burned castor oil with some carbon mixed in, it
might work. But, chemically, it's no different from "heavy duty" version of
Easy-Off oven cleaner. You might try that first. It's less hassle for small
projects.

I've never had much luck finding a chemical way to get carbon out of an
engine. There supposedly is some treatment but I can't remember what it is,
nor have I tried it. When I did it, I used scrapers. Ugh.

--
Ed Huntress



bill