Sonic cleaning my crabs

[Carl2]

Hello. I want to dip my Weber 40IDTP 3C's into a ultra sonic cleaning tank. Is this a good idea? Do they have bearings on the spindle shafts? Any pit falls?

[mycar]

I cleaned my crabs with the sonic cleaner.

Very pleased with the results.

[redrobin911]

same here - does a great job of cleaning the internals where you can't get to with any other way.

[fetuhoe]

There must be an easier way to deal with crabs

To be serious though an Ulrasonic cleaner can help but it won't deal deal with some of the galleries that can become blocked when carbs have stood for a while.

The only real way to deal with this problem is to remove the plugs and use spiral brush.

If the carbs are just grubby it will help but it doesn't remove staining or have much of a effect on the finish.

A good hot alkaline wash will probably be more effective.

We have just taken delivery of a Torrent 500 Parts Cleaner to use as a first stage in crab refurb.

[mycar]

Agreed, without removing the lead plugs you'll never know whether your crabs are truly clean. All manner of gunk can hide in the galleries but can be removed with spiral brushes or pipe cleaners and lashings of crab cleaner once the plugs have been removed.

Use split shot to plug up the galleries once the cleaning is complete. Available from fishing/angling suppliers, lead shot is available in a range of weights/sizes. Order a selection to find the correct size you'll need.

The only problem I found with this process was finding a sonic cleaner large enough to accommodate the crab body.

Crabs that have been cleaned ultrasonically will look a bit grim. You'll need to have them vapour blasted afterwards for a concoursey appearance.

[SeanP]

I find boiling them in a saline solution and serving on a bed of lettuce sorts my crabs out!

[911hillclimber]

I 'cleaned' my Webers decades ago in a tin of fresh cellulose gun wash, they fit in a 5 litre can perfectly.
Left each for a week and then left to dry.
Those carbs never worked well. Looked clean and were smooth action, but...
You do need to remove the ball seals and US clean after a very good poke about.

PMO carbs are designed with removable seals for this very purpose, so it must be a common problem.
A lot depends on the severity of the corrosion and you will never know until you open all the drillings.

[Carl2]

I cleaned the outside with de-greaser before I stripped them down. Then I got the worst of what I could see on the inside. Gave them a long soak. They all ready look very clean. Hardly any staining on the outside. I wanted to avoid drilling the plugs out if possible because I did not fancy having to re-seal them. Do you just simply tap the lead shot in?

[fetuhoe]

If you buy shot from a shotgun cartridge manufacturer then it works well - 3mm diameter is about right.

[mycar]

#2 birdshot at 3.76mm would be perfect but lead shot isn't made of lead these days, it's bad for the wildlife.

Split shot works perfectly well. Remove the old plugs by drilling a small pilot hole in the lead, carefully screw in a fine woodscrew then pull out with pliers.

"I soaked my carbs by totally submerging them in carb cleaner for a couple of days. (Carb cleaner is acetone, available on the net in 5 litre size) and gently cleaned everything I could get to with rather fetching yellow pipe cleaners and some compressed air here and there.

Replace the old plugs with slightly oversized split shot from a fishing shop. (I know it sounds unlikely, what about the splits... but it was an Andy Haas recommendation and it worked perfectly."

[smallspeed]

If you buy shot from a shotgun cartridge manufacturer then it works well - 3mm diameter is about right.

just be aware its no longer lead, in some cases (if its for shooting foul for example over water) it can be stainless, tungsten, etc.

i found ultrasonic cleaning leaves a lot of the surface staining as mentioned above - i've had a few bits vapour blasted by a company in leicester who specialise in old motor bike parts, and they came up like new! I think its more for the cosmetics though, post "deep cleaning"..

i'm not sure if this is a good idea for crabs or not, but i have used the dishwasher on throttle bodies before - completely disassembled first, shoved in the dish washer, and they come up like new

[fetuhoe]

Bought last year 3.5mm diameter.

Left hand as delivered and Right hand slightly 'squashed' with a small hammer - also marks paper.

[smallspeed]

a good buy then!
been outlawed for a while i think (or at least not commonly available, certainly not in "ready made" cartridge form)

[fetuhoe]

We also made a small punch to put the correct 'dimple' into the new plug.

[mycar]

That's just showing off.