Freeing Stuck Rings?

[Lil'Skeet]

May want to be careful with acetone. It will make metal begin to rust very quickly. Almost instantly when I use it on metal after media blasting.
ATF works good, has a bunch of detergents. If you are able to heat it up in one of your wife's most expensive pots and let the piston sit for an hour it works very well. Just watch getting it too hot.

 

[hwp]

The best solution that I have heard of is Pine sol. But don't leave parts in it over 3 or 4 hours.

 

[huskihl]

Mean

Mean Green is Wally World's diluted version of Simple Green.

So far mean Green works as good or better than simple green from what I’ve seen.

 

[jellyroll]

LA's totally awesome works well in the ultrasonic it will cut through a lot of crud.

 

[northmanlogging]

Good ole ATF type F is best but they all work about as good, thin it 50/50 with acetone if you feel like it, but you don't have too.
The carbon might just be a matter of wire brush/wheel action, its pretty tough stuff.

 

[huskihl]

So far mean Green works as good or better than simple green from what I’ve seen.

Msds sheets show 1 item in common and 7-8 others that aren’t.

 

[SteveSr]

Here is the latest update - The 50/50 simple green and water did a surprising ly quick job of removing most of the carbon from the piston. It also didn't take very long... only a hour or two. However, it did tarnish/attack the aluminum.

I am also thinking that the previous kerosene/B12 attempt might have softened up the remaining carbon. Also the remaining carbon wasn't very thick. It is unknown if the Simple Green worked its way under the carbon or if it attacked it from the outside.

the Simple Green is not working nearly as well on the thick carbon in the combustion chamber. It did do a decent job on the squish band and the unplated top of the bore.

 

[Mad Professor]

You might try a brass brush on a drill with an extension.

 

[SteveSr]

You might try a brass brush on a drill with an extension.

View attachment 1103724

Is brass softer than aluminum?

Be CAREFUL I have also seen what looked like brass brushes but were actually brass plated steel!

 

[Mad Professor]

Is brass softer than aluminum?

Be CAREFUL I have also seen what looked like brass brushes but were actually brass plated steel!

It's softer than nikasil for sure.

You could check it by snipping off one of the bristles and looking at the core

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Here is the latest update - The 50/50 simple green and water did a surprising ly quick job of removing most of the carbon from the piston. It also didn't take very long... only a hour or two. However, it did tarnish/attack the aluminum.

I am also thinking that the previous kerosene/B12 attempt might have softened up the remaining carbon. Also the remaining carbon wasn't very thick. It is unknown if the Simple Green worked its way under the carbon or if it attacked it from the outside.

the Simple Green is not working nearly as well on the thick carbon in the combustion chamber. It did do a decent job on the squish band and the unplated top of the bore.

View attachment 1103721

If you let parts soak too long the simple green will tarnish non ferrous metals. As I mentioned before, 70/30 mix in a heated ultrasonic cleaner works great but you need to run the parts in 15-20 minute cycles. Rinse with fresh water and blow off with compressed air between cleanings. Whatever remains after that can be scraped off.

 

[ZeroJunk]

https://discount-equipment.com/library_files/2905.pdf
No clue what's in it.

 

[SteveSr]

https://discount-equipment.com/library_files/2905.pdf
No clue what's in it.

This stuff has been discontinued for a long time. Probably because it wasn't very effective. I think that it was designed to try to clean up 4-mix messes.

 

[ZeroJunk]

This stuff has been discontinued for a long time. Probably because it wasn't very effective. I think that it was designed to try to clean up 4-mix messes.

I have some, but never found it really did anything.