Found a New Engine cleaner that will dissolve Carbon
11-27-2005, 04:06 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,108
Formula:
Hot water TAP
10 L bucket
1 giant scoop of tide (about two loads worth)
5L of hot hot water.
Place rotor in bucket. Let it sit for an hour. Or until hot water is cold enough to touch. WEAR GLOVES. Get an old scouring sponge from kitchen sink and start scrubbing. The TIDE loosens the carbon.
Repeat until rotors are shiney. Will post pics soon.
NOTE: Unsure how TIDE affects the bearings. Use at your own risk.
Hot water TAP
10 L bucket
1 giant scoop of tide (about two loads worth)
5L of hot hot water.
Place rotor in bucket. Let it sit for an hour. Or until hot water is cold enough to touch. WEAR GLOVES. Get an old scouring sponge from kitchen sink and start scrubbing. The TIDE loosens the carbon.
Repeat until rotors are shiney. Will post pics soon.
NOTE: Unsure how TIDE affects the bearings. Use at your own risk.
11-27-2005, 09:04 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,108
the varsol was making me dizzy, and it didn't do anything to the rotors. Nothing at all.
I checked the bearing on the rotor and the surface is still very smooth. No oxidation or anything.
You have to repeat several times. THe soapy water gets less and less dirty as your repeats increase. I noticed that at a certain point the TIDE stops working. There must be some sort of active agent like an enzyme that attacks oils/grease.
If any of you guys remember higschool chem like dissolves like. If I remember correctly soap has both polarities for the chain, and that one end if negetively charged and one end is positively charged. Meaning one end stick to water and the other end does not. I can't remember which end stick... positve end?
Anyhow the other end is free. Water can't go through oil since oil and water have different polar ends and are repelled. But soap has one end the same as oil and thus it is able to bond to the oil and then carry it away.
I think TIDE has some enzymes or something in it that goes out and breaks up the oils/grease/carbon. Carbon is just baked on grease really. Then the soaps go to work...
I used a bbq brass brush and lots of tide and got one rotor clean. I couldn't get the staining out of the rotor but it's pretty nice.
Question: are brand new rotors cad plated or have yellow hue to them? Or are they silver in color (color of machined steel).
I checked the bearing on the rotor and the surface is still very smooth. No oxidation or anything.
You have to repeat several times. THe soapy water gets less and less dirty as your repeats increase. I noticed that at a certain point the TIDE stops working. There must be some sort of active agent like an enzyme that attacks oils/grease.
If any of you guys remember higschool chem like dissolves like. If I remember correctly soap has both polarities for the chain, and that one end if negetively charged and one end is positively charged. Meaning one end stick to water and the other end does not. I can't remember which end stick... positve end?
Anyhow the other end is free. Water can't go through oil since oil and water have different polar ends and are repelled. But soap has one end the same as oil and thus it is able to bond to the oil and then carry it away.
I think TIDE has some enzymes or something in it that goes out and breaks up the oils/grease/carbon. Carbon is just baked on grease really. Then the soaps go to work...
I used a bbq brass brush and lots of tide and got one rotor clean. I couldn't get the staining out of the rotor but it's pretty nice.
Question: are brand new rotors cad plated or have yellow hue to them? Or are they silver in color (color of machined steel).
11-27-2005, 11:46 PM
#8
Super Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Savannah, Ga
Posts: 2,763
Im partial to kerosene. It dissolves all the oil out of the rotor, let it dry and you have completely dry caked carbon. Scrape most off with a chisel or scraper(doesnt take any effort), and hit it with a wire brush. By far the least labor intensive form of cleaning rotors Ive found. Maybe 30 minutes worth of work to get a spotless rotor. Media blasting works well after scraping off the carbon as well.
