Removing carbon.

[Cato]

I have to clean out years/decades of carbon from a two stroke exhaust (Can Am). Is there any effective method or product other than using caustic soda?

 

[James1979]

Cleanse it with fire.

I’ve done it on a few moped ones. Take it off the bike, put a torch up it and it’ll ignite.

Wait for it to go out.

FiL taught me that one - it’s how REME do them.

 

[Cato]

Cleanse it with fire.

I’ve done it on a few moped ones. Take it off the bike, put a torch up it and it’ll ignite.

Wait for it to go out.

FiL taught me that one - it’s how REME do them.

 

[Cato]

I've done it that way with 'wet' carbon but this really clogged and a lot of it is dry.

 

[bert]

Mr muscle oven cleaner

 

[Robotstar5]

I've used a length of Bowden cable inner doubled over and hold the ends in a drill chuck, put the cable into the "tube" before switching on. May need more than one length as no more than half the cable should be withdrawn when running as it can whip out and you're in a world of hurt.

 

[Cato]

Mr muscle oven cleaner

That's basically a weaker solution of caustic soda. If possible I'd like to avoid the chemical route, but if I have to go down that path then I'll get a bag of crystals (and an NBC suit ) mix it in a drum and 'plink, plink fizz'.

 

[steveo3002]

id go with something in a drill

 

[redlig]

Cleanse it with fire.

I’ve done it on a few moped ones. Take it off the bike, put a torch up it and it’ll ignite.

Wait for it to go out.

FiL taught me that one - it’s how REME do them.

Did that once years ago . It took a few seconds to realise what the runny silver stuff that dripped our of the silencer was. Customer reported that it was going better than ever .

 

[OJCar]

Mechanical cleaning will not get it all out.

If you don't want to use Caustic (which is the way I prefer to do them).
Then taken outside, petrol poured into it , set alight, let it burn out.
Repeat till clean.

Or make a bucket of super saturated Caustic , leave the baffle in over night.
(PPE as needed).
Wash in clean water, pour boiling water over it.
When disposing of the used Caustic dilute it with water and then put it down the drain - clean drains well as exhausts.

Full exhaust systems I plug a one end, stand it vertical and pour in the super saturated caustic, then as above.

(If you spill any of the super saturated caustic, then Kittens and Nuns can be used to mop it up (Allegedly) )

 

[Guzrik]

I've used a length of Bowden cable inner doubled over and hold the ends in a drill chuck, put the cable into the "tube" before switching on. May need more than one length as no more than half the cable should be withdrawn when running as it can whip out and you're in a world of hurt.

When I was a kid I used to do this with a barbed wire, in a single speed drill of course.
Sometimes wonder how we all grew so old.

 

[Gareth J]

Cleanse it with fire.

I’ve done it on a few moped ones. Take it off the bike, put a torch up it and it’ll ignite.

Wait for it to go out.

FiL taught me that one - it’s how REME do them.

I used to have a 2stroke bike that would "self cleanse". Every so often the clamp nut would work loose a bit, allowing air into the engine end of the exhaust which would then ignite and burn gak and carbon in the exhaust with cool sparks and flames out the back. Doubt it was particularly effective but did amuse me

 

[Pete.]

Caustic's the way TBH. Plug the end and fill it with caustic then dump it in a dustbin of water so if the plug doesn't seal completely the fluid pressure inside will balance with the pressure outside and the caustic will stay in the silencer.

 

[Cato]

Caustic's the way TBH. Plug the end and fill it with caustic then dump it in a dustbin of water so if the plug doesn't seal completely the fluid pressure inside will balance with the pressure outside and the caustic will stay in the silencer.

Sounds like it, although fire is always a viable answer to pretty much any problem. I thought I'd ask in case there was a new and wonderful method/product available as a result of cleaning Bezos' phallic rocket or something.

I have a couple of blue 100l (I think?) plastic drums in the container. So if it goes that route I'll just half fill one with water and lower the exhaust and spar arrester into it along with anything else I can think of that needs an industrial touch. Once they've percolated I can run the hose and do a steady pour down the drain at the workshop then rinse the bits and drum off into the same drain.

 

[redlig]

When I was a kid I used to do this with a barbed wire, in a single speed drill of course.
Sometimes wonder how we all grew so old.

Survival pf the fittest /canniest / fastest. Luck!

 

[Smallfry]

I had some stuff in a 200 ltr drum. Applied Chemicals Metastrip 6. Would take off paint in about 30 seconds, powdercoat about a minute, dissolve rust, remove carbon, oil etc. Would probably have done that exhaust in a minute or so, then a quick blast with hot water pressure washer and its done.
I used to use it for cleaning engine blocks, heads, and components. They would come up like new castings. had to be careful with aluminium though, would completely clean in 20 seconds, literally saved hours. Dangerous stuff though. It was left behind in a unit my mate rented, he did woodwork so no use to him. I had a fit when I learned how much it cost.

 

[Ubique]

It's base is hydrofluoric acid, great for disposing of inconvenient corpses. Was there any cloudy residue in the bottom when you mate found it?

 

[Smallfry]

There was lots of sludge in the bottom, I thought it was just old paint and stuff. I often wondered where all the teeth came from ........

 

[Cato]

The thing that puts me off using chemicals generally is what you do with them when it comes time to dispose of them. It's hard enough disposing of waste oil or stale fuel in small quantities.

 

[James1979]

The thing that puts me off using chemicals generally is what you do with them when it comes time to dispose of them. It's hard enough disposing of waste oil or stale fuel in small quantities.

fire