Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:30:52 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Bad Gas...gummed up stuff..
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuLASHwmBxrfr-rRfkFxWNc6B-=njTF6Ap-wSDDNBVUZ+g@mail.gmail.com>
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MEK is good stuff for many things. I use it all the time. BUT - it is
toxic. Keep it off your skin, and be sure you have good ventilation when
using it. AND - the stuff is as flammable as all get-out! No sparks,
flames or lit cigarettes around this stuff or even close, period. I
worked for Southern Airways in Atlanta many years ago. One night on the
graveyard shift - when the crews did the final cleanup after a
maintenance check- a worker had used MEK on some rags to clean something
in the passenger cabin. He came down the airstair carrying MEK soaked
rags. A worker was sneaking a smoke about 10 feet from the stair, and
the fumes from the rags drifted over the lit cig. There was a sudden
flash and the rags ignited in the workers hands. Very bad news!
Be very careful with MEK.
There are a lot of good materials out there to work with. Nothing wrong
with them. But you have to use good sense and good judgment using them
to avoid problems.
John
John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com
On 7/24/2011 10:18 AM, Don Hanson wrote:
> FYI...
>
> I just discovered that to dissolve the gummy residue from old gas left in
> engines or tanks, MEK works very well indeed.
>
> I am re-activating a couple of our old dirtbikes...A DRZ Suziki and a
> KTM...These were pushed aside without very much thought about 5yrs ago. The
> one has a larger aftermarket desert racing tank that had some gas left in
> it. The fuel shut off was so gummed up that it broke apart trying to free
> it up and there was a gummy mess in the bottom of the tank where the gas had
> totally dried. It looked like shoe polish or very hard tree sap.
>
> I was about to toss out the tank as a Lost Cause, with all that crap
> frozen with no access in the deepest parts. Then I thought, "Hey, let's
> give it one last shot.... just see if one of my more aggressive solvents
> around here might soften this mess up" I have all kinds of nasty crap
> around for boatbuilding and painting, so first thing I grabbed was the
> MEK...(Methyl Ethel Ketone) which is a pretty brutal solvent for epoxy
> resins....and wow! Poured a little in there (I had previously tried Dri
> Gas, Acetone, alcohol, and lacquer thinner) and it immediately dissolved
> those gummy deposits, rendering my tank usable again...One should be careful
> with this stuff, it is not nice ...
>
> I'll be using the MEK to soak out some gummy deposits from the carb,
> also, though I did run the gas out of that before I pushed the bikes aside,
> so that is not so bad. If I have to clean my injectors sometime on the
> vanagon motor, I think I'll be soaking them in MEK for a bit...
>
> MEK can be bought (in Oregon) from your local Tru Value hardware or Home
> Despot, among other places..
>
>
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