What do I use to remove engine Varnish
03-14-2003, 04:39 AM
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What do I use to remove engine Varnish
Hi guys
Got a couple of old motors that have a tendancy to build up varnish. I have succesfully used oven cleaner but find it tooooo risky as it is highly corrosive. Any suggestions?
Got a couple of old motors that have a tendancy to build up varnish. I have succesfully used oven cleaner but find it tooooo risky as it is highly corrosive. Any suggestions?
03-14-2003, 07:46 AM
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What do I use to remove engine Varnish
Sounds simpl - Thanks.
After dunking in coolant Do I have to wash it out with fuel before further use?
After dunking in coolant Do I have to wash it out with fuel before further use?
03-14-2003, 02:57 PM
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using ANTIFREEZE - a repost.
Cook the engine or components (mufflers, headers, etc) overnight, on low heat, in an antifreeze-filled crockpot. No, I am not kidding.
Hot antifreeze works AMAZINGLY well. Best of all - little or no scrubbing is required.
Required items:
- a 1 qt. (or larger) Crock-Pot
- a Gallon of ethylene glycol Anti-Freeze (coolant for us folks living in hot climates)
Warning! Antifreeze is poisonous. Do not use the pot for cooking food after using it to clean engines! The vapours given off during this process probably aren't good for you either, so do this in a well-ventilated area. Finally, don't dispose the used antifreeze where your pets can get at it... dogs and cats like the taste of this stuff, and it will Kill Them Dead.
Preparation:
Remove the muffler, glow plug and backplate. Set aside the glow plug, as the antifreeze will contaminate the platinum filament and render it useless. Also remove and set aside any plastic components like throttle arms or OS LA backplates
- these items can melt and will get into te antifreeze solution and coat everything in the pot.
If your engine is completely gummed up with castor, you may have to remove the head as well.
Place the engine and misc. components in the pot; pour in the antifreeze. Use enough to completely cover the engine.
Cover and plug in the Pot. If your version has a heat range, select "low." Don't use high heat, as this will discolor the engine's aluminum finish.
After 12 hours, pull the engine from the pot. The hot antifreeze dissolves castor gum and varnish; carbon deposits are loosened and will generally rinse off with a quick spray of water. Furthermore, since antifreeze is formulated to work in your car's aluminum radiator, it does no harm to your aluminum engine.
Flush out, relube and reassemble the motor. Run a tank through it, and you're done!
Hot antifreeze works AMAZINGLY well. Best of all - little or no scrubbing is required.
Required items:
- a 1 qt. (or larger) Crock-Pot
- a Gallon of ethylene glycol Anti-Freeze (coolant for us folks living in hot climates)
Warning! Antifreeze is poisonous. Do not use the pot for cooking food after using it to clean engines! The vapours given off during this process probably aren't good for you either, so do this in a well-ventilated area. Finally, don't dispose the used antifreeze where your pets can get at it... dogs and cats like the taste of this stuff, and it will Kill Them Dead.
Preparation:
Remove the muffler, glow plug and backplate. Set aside the glow plug, as the antifreeze will contaminate the platinum filament and render it useless. Also remove and set aside any plastic components like throttle arms or OS LA backplates
- these items can melt and will get into te antifreeze solution and coat everything in the pot.If your engine is completely gummed up with castor, you may have to remove the head as well.
Place the engine and misc. components in the pot; pour in the antifreeze. Use enough to completely cover the engine.
Cover and plug in the Pot. If your version has a heat range, select "low." Don't use high heat, as this will discolor the engine's aluminum finish.
After 12 hours, pull the engine from the pot. The hot antifreeze dissolves castor gum and varnish; carbon deposits are loosened and will generally rinse off with a quick spray of water. Furthermore, since antifreeze is formulated to work in your car's aluminum radiator, it does no harm to your aluminum engine.
Flush out, relube and reassemble the motor. Run a tank through it, and you're done!
03-14-2003, 10:43 PM
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Looks like the people HERE need my SIERRA antifreeze recommendation!
Dear Chorneys, and especially to Visioneer_One:
The PIPE Here yet again-and it's time to let people HERE know how WELL a SAFER antifreeze-one with PROPYLENE GLYCOL in it, instead ot that TOXIC
ethylene glycol stuff, works in cleaning off model engine varnish!
Back in the late fall of 2000, as I was getting my OS FS-40 four stroke engine ready to take my equally ancient Balsa USA Swizzle Stick 40 back up in the air for its first flights since 1986 (I flew it again in May 2001, for my return to RC flyin' ) I had been reading about the crockpot/antifreeze technique for cleaning castor oil varnish off of model engines, and I KNEW how dangerous
the "regular" ethylene glycol stuff is (my mother has a dog AND cat here at home)...so I decided to ask around on the Internet about using a PROPYLENE glycol based antifreeze, like the popular SIERRA brand, since it IS a much SAFER alternative to the toxic stuff-especially if one has PETS around!
Someone with the "handle" of "Gill" at another forum suggested that the propylene based stuff would work GREAT, at the time I was about to consider just where I would pick up the Sierra antifreeze- so I want ahead and purchased it, and did the antifreeze and crockpot deal with SIERRA in the pot instead...
...and the result, after a 24 hour "steeping" in the "hot green propylene" (glycol), was an engine that was just as about as CLEAN
as one could imagine!
And SIERRA is NOT the only kind of propylene glycol antifreeze out there on the market...there's Prestone LoTox, and even an RV DRINKING WATER SYSTEM ANTIFREEZE that's produced by either Dow Chemical or duPont that also uses it...just look for an anitfreeze that ONLY uses PROPYLENE glycol on the label, with NO toxic
ethylene glycol in there...then you'll know you've got the RIGHT kind to use!
Also, the propylene formula would be MUCH easier to dispose of (still, a hazardous waste handling facility, or one where used antifreeze can be properly disposed of, is the very best bet for all concerned) and would emit no hazardous fumes during the "steeping"...it's just cleanin' your engine, that's all!
So, BEFORE doin' the "crockpot'n'antifreeze dance", invite the PROPLYENE species of antifreeze to the "affair" -and LEAVE the toxic ethylene glycol out of the picture...it's the safer, and more responsible thing to do...and it DOES work JUST AS WELL in cleaning your model engine!
Yours Sincerely,
The PIPE!
The PIPE Here yet again-and it's time to let people HERE know how WELL a SAFER antifreeze-one with PROPYLENE GLYCOL in it, instead ot that TOXIC
ethylene glycol stuff, works in cleaning off model engine varnish!Back in the late fall of 2000, as I was getting my OS FS-40 four stroke engine ready to take my equally ancient Balsa USA Swizzle Stick 40 back up in the air for its first flights since 1986 (I flew it again in May 2001, for my return to RC flyin' ) I had been reading about the crockpot/antifreeze technique for cleaning castor oil varnish off of model engines, and I KNEW how dangerous
the "regular" ethylene glycol stuff is (my mother has a dog AND cat here at home)...so I decided to ask around on the Internet about using a PROPYLENE glycol based antifreeze, like the popular SIERRA brand, since it IS a much SAFER alternative to the toxic stuff-especially if one has PETS around!Someone with the "handle" of "Gill" at another forum suggested that the propylene based stuff would work GREAT, at the time I was about to consider just where I would pick up the Sierra antifreeze- so I want ahead and purchased it, and did the antifreeze and crockpot deal with SIERRA in the pot instead...
...and the result, after a 24 hour "steeping" in the "hot green propylene" (glycol), was an engine that was just as about as CLEAN
as one could imagine! And SIERRA is NOT the only kind of propylene glycol antifreeze out there on the market...there's Prestone LoTox, and even an RV DRINKING WATER SYSTEM ANTIFREEZE that's produced by either Dow Chemical or duPont that also uses it...just look for an anitfreeze that ONLY uses PROPYLENE glycol on the label, with NO toxic
ethylene glycol in there...then you'll know you've got the RIGHT kind to use!Also, the propylene formula would be MUCH easier to dispose of (still, a hazardous waste handling facility, or one where used antifreeze can be properly disposed of, is the very best bet for all concerned) and would emit no hazardous fumes during the "steeping"...it's just cleanin' your engine, that's all!
So, BEFORE doin' the "crockpot'n'antifreeze dance", invite the PROPLYENE species of antifreeze to the "affair" -and LEAVE the toxic ethylene glycol out of the picture...it's the safer, and more responsible thing to do...and it DOES work JUST AS WELL in cleaning your model engine!
Yours Sincerely,
The PIPE!
03-15-2003, 12:57 PM
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What do I use to remove engine Varnish
Um, I go to the auto parts store and get a can of carburator cleaner. Spray it all over the engine and catch the drippings in an old steel pot. What doesn't come off at first will come off if you soak it in the drippins for an hour or so. After all thats what the stuff is made for.
