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M.E.K. for Carburetor cleaning?


tamo3

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Glad I retained some of my chemistry, I was thinking Methyl Ethyl Ketone before clicking.

 

It is a pretty powerful solvent. Organic compound, C4H8O. It does contain a ketone which can react to certain compounds and loose the double bond, potentially why it makes such a good solvent.

 

Chemically it is flammable so keep away from open flames and be careful scraping an item covered in the stuff with a steel or spark inducing brush. It is also a minor irritant so make sure to wear chemically resistant gloves and make sure to be in an open space, a respirator may be overkill, but wouldn't hurt. It is present in a lot of everyday items, so it shouldn't be as harmful, but granted it is organic and reactive so it can turn into something more harmful etc so take modest precaution. 

 

In chemistry like dissolves like. So given that it is organic it will readily dissolve things of organic nature like hydrocarbon residues and such found on parts like carburetors. Keep it away from plastics as it will also dissolve certain plastics and can even fuse them. Keep it in a clean metal or glass container with a tight lid as it is also volatile and can escape and can potentially cause a hazardous situation with sparks or flames. 

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i have always wondered if DMSO does the job. No fumes, easy storage, but about the nastiest stuff once you get it conterminated with other stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_sulfoxide

we use it to remove fully crosslinked carbon e.g. resist for microtechnology especially after etching (very high temp, sort of). Good thing, gets solid below 18°C and doesn´t produce fumes below 60°C. If pure, you could drink it (lethal dose is higher than for alcohol) :)

Edited by Villeman
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Hmm, I would be worried about DMSO, we use it for cell permeability, it has a tendency to permeate membranes, great for elongating viability of frozen tissue/cell stock, but quite bad if as you say it is contaminated as it will bring the contaminant into your body. 

 

DMSO has a really interesting history, it used to be recommended as a cure-all type of thing and available at all drug/grocery stores pedaled by "health guru's" etc. It backpedaled really fast due to some very serious health concerns. 

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