carb cleaning

[CaptainSlow]

Well it looks like I won't be able to get my bike back on the road for a couple of months - so I've decided to do a bit more overhauling  

Both carbs appear to have a small leak around the float bowl so I was going to renew the gaskets anyway, but I've now got the time to strip the carbs down and thoroughly clean and rebuild them. I've seen the writeup on soda blasting, which is very interesting, however I've also seen odds n sods on sticking the parts into a pan of boiling hot water for a while, and also putting them into an ultrasonic bath...

I was wondering if anyone here has tried cleaning (stripped down) carbs with an ultrasonic bath? In theory it should clear out, or at least dislodge, all the gunge from the small channels, jets, nozzles, etc... but I hesitate to spend around £100 on an ultrasonic cleaner if simply boiling the **** out of them (literally !)  will get a similar result!  

I'd appreciate any feedback on this, as well as tips on any other methods of cleaning carb interiors that you have successfully used!

Thanks

NB I got the Bing Carb manual from BingCarburetor.com - great service from them, received the manual just a couple of days after payment.

[flybot]

I just took mine apart and soaked them in a 1 gallon can of parts cleaner for a few hours, rinsed them off and blew out the passages with water. works great, lasts a long time.

[montmil]

Flybot, Did you leave the float needle in the carb body? Don't see it in the parts layout.

Many fuel-related, poor running issues end up being traced to debris in the float needle seat.

[georgesgiralt]

Hello !
More important than the method you use to clean the carbs is the parts you change. You should change gaskets, of course, and also main jet, needle jet and needle maybe idle jet and idle mixture screw if damaged and of course the float and float ....

[flybot]

Flybot, Did you leave the float needle in the carb body? Don't see it in the parts layout.

Many fuel-related, poor running issues end up being traced to debris in the float needle seat.

I just inspected them and set the float level. Both sides purring like happy cats.  

[georgesgiralt]

Funny my posting is not complete. I was referring to the float needles, and I added that you have to renew *also* the return springs. On my bike, the choke was not closing completely because of a very tired spring and on one carb the butterfly did not close well every time because of the spring...

[CaptainSlow]

I'm hoping that I won't need any new jets etc as the bike has only done 29k miles. Fingers crossed that a good clean and new gaskets, o-rings and diaphragms will be enough. But I'm half expecting to need to change the floats and float springs.

One good thing about having a bike is that it fits into the garage so I can work on it in any weather, unlike my 4x4 which at 2.5m tall has no chance of fitting in!