I have had a can of Berrymans for about 5 years and the stuff is NASTY!!! It absorbs into the skin, and will eat right through rubber gloves. Then the smell is stuck in my skin for 3-4 days. I gotta get rid of it. Besides, the oil layer is gone and the can builds pressure within seconds of closing it and it pops and splashes whenever I open it. Even got me in the eye once Anyway, I can get SeaFoam by the gallon, but it is expensive, running about $45. Would SeaFoam work as a Dipping carburetor and parts cleaner? I know it is made more for running through a carb on the inside with the fuel. If it would work as a dip, I will use the 1-gallon berryman's can with the strainer basket (neat setup) and just put the Seafoam in there. Would Seafoam be strong like berrymans, cleaning off paint, grease, etc? If not, how hard is it to get a gallon of Safety-Kleen carb cleaner?
I would just buy a new can of dip... the other stuff may do something to the metal that may damage the surface finish, if not worse. The chem dip is made for carbs... cheaper also.
I used to use Safety-Kleen carb cleaner when I worked in the machine shops. It was pretty caustic, but didn't have the stink and fumes that this Chem-Dip does. I will see if I can buy a gallon of it. We used to put ANYTHING in that stuff...especially greasy tools at the end of the week. It was a 20 gallon can with a pneumatic agitator attached to the lid, and put the tools in and let it agitate overnight. Tools looked better than new, really shiny, and easier to grip now that the grease was pulled out of the textured handles (Craftsman). It would irritate your skin if you didn't wash it off, but at least didn't stink for 3 days afterwards. It worked just like the Berrymans. Dissolved rubber, paint, grease, even most gasket material would just fall off. No brushing, scrubbing, nothing.
Smells that linger get me too... I like to work by the window in my shop if I can't work outside when using chems... I can blow my smoke out the window also when I am getting in the mood.
Luckily, nothing smokes in my garage... I did catch a towel full of trans fluid on fire once when I was grinding on some steel. Coulda made a mess of my car since it was catching my old tranny drip and was right under the trans. It burned low and slow, and didn't flare up enough to burn the car or light the fuel tank...
Seafoam will not work as a dip cleaner, it will not remove paint and it does not coat the metal like the dip solutions do. You need to buy some chemical resistant gloves if you are going to use dip solutions. It is nasty stuff and repeated exposure will cause kidney failure and immune system shut down. You can replace the top layer with some of the cleaners by adding water. Check with a tablespoon of water and see if it floats on top. If it does add enough water to cover the solvent with about 1/2". Other solutions are water soluable and the water will mix with the solvent - If the water mixes with it don't add any more. If you have to dispose of it you can usually take it to a fire station and tell them what it is - they will generally take care of it but if they don't they can tell you how to properly dispose of it.
NAPA sells carb dip in a 1 gallon can that does very good and does not put off a bad odor. comes with a basket to.
I always just let things soak in lacquer thinner.. Evaporates pretty quick though if you don't keep it sealed.
buy some goggles, and a rubber apron, and use the nasty stuff to clean the parts.. if it will eat through rubber gloves, should be good at grease.. lol
Best stuff I've used for removing paint and grease is spray oven cleaner from the dollar store. It costs.....one dollar. Don't use it on aluminum, it eats it up.
i agree with the oven cleaner but if you want a soak bucket try muratic acid. i tryed it on my tranny x member and it took off factory paint and all grease and rust after 3 days. its sold at home depot for about $6 a gallon. people use it for getting rust and oil stains out of the driveway. just spray it with wd40 or some other metal conditioner after you pull it cuz it wants to rust fast.
I will try that muriatic acid. I have used it before (to clean out an old radiator) and the results were very promising. I never thought about using it as a parts cleaner... I know the active ingredient in the Berryman's is some sort of caustic acid. They advertise that it smells bad, and the smell doesn't come out of your skin, but it will eat everything down to the metal. And it does...
