Author Topic: Internet myth or not  (Read 2452 times)

Offline Fraccie

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Internet myth or not
« on: August 17, 2018, 02:06:27 PM »
Not Honda specific, but could be handy for those that don`t know.

I had to clean the carbs on my VF1000 and it is a right PITA of a job, so did some surfing on the Magna sites in the USA and came across this little gem. The carb mounting rubbers go brittle after time and tend to split, mine were knackered anyway so I had bought new ones, BUT, I read that if you mix evergreen oil and rubbing alcohol 1 to 3, leave your rubber bits in the solution for three days, then the rubber softens back to like new. I thought...hmmmmm...I smell BS, but bought some of each for the grand sum of £18 off ebay. This works, i mean really works. I had the same pressure on bothe old mounts, one as it came off the engine, the other left in the solution for three days, difference is chalk and cheese.

It may help save somebody some money.


2018-08-17_01-50-06 by Adrian Lee, on Flickr



2018-08-17_01-43-14 by Adrian Lee, on Flickr



2018-08-17_01-42-54 by Adrian Lee, on Flickr

Offline paul G

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2018, 04:18:20 PM »
In my experiance it does work but not for long as they go hard again very quick :(
P.S. the Wintergreen stinks >:( >:(
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Offline AshimotoK0

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2018, 04:30:51 PM »
Best stuff is Reofos 50 by Great Lakes /Chemtura but it's not readily available outside the rubber/polymer industry. Bit nasty and you need to process overnight or longer at around 80°C

https://polymer-additives.specialchem.com/product/a-great-lakes-chemtura-group-reofos-50

Inlet rubber I softened here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1kVSlLnR8k
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Offline royhall

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2018, 04:45:14 PM »
Best stuff is Reofos 50 by Great Lakes /Chemtura but it's not readily available outside the rubber/polymer industry. Bit nasty and you need to process overnight or longer at around 80°C

https://polymer-additives.specialchem.com/product/a-great-lakes-chemtura-group-reofos-50

Inlet rubber I softened here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1kVSlLnR8k
I will vouch for Ash's Reofos method it's worked on two of my inlet rubber sets. One of which were rock hard and they are still soft as new 18 months later. They may even be the very ones in the video?
« Last Edit: August 17, 2018, 04:46:47 PM by royhall »
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Offline Fraccie

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2018, 05:05:12 PM »
That stuff looks the canines accoutrements.

Offline redtractor

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2018, 10:46:33 AM »
I used the Wintergreen/Isopropyl method on my carb rubbers ant it worked a treat!

Offline Underdog1

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2018, 02:53:09 PM »
I used wintersgreen and alcohol to soften carb boots too, worked a treat. I put them in a ziploc bag with the mix overnight.

Found that wintersgreen is expensive to buy in the U.K. (still a lot cheaper than buying new rubber bits though) - does anyone have a source for buying a decentish amount of the stuff (500ml+)?

Offline adespin

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2018, 04:08:08 PM »
I used wintersgreen and alcohol to soften carb boots too, worked a treat. I put them in a ziploc bag with the mix overnight.

Found that wintersgreen is expensive to buy in the U.K. (still a lot cheaper than buying new rubber bits though) - does anyone have a source for buying a decentish amount of the stuff (500ml+)?
Here you go = https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classikool-100-Pure-Natural-500ml-Essential-Oil-Aromatherapy-Choose-Oil/311834005835?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=610692466780&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
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Offline Raymond_Y

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2019, 10:16:47 AM »
You can soak hard inlet rubbers in brake fluid and that will soften them.  Only problem is it takes a very long time.  You need to leave them soaking for several weeks, but it does work.

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Offline Nurse Julie

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #9 on: March 05, 2019, 10:19:38 AM »
They go very hard and brittle again very quickly after soaking in brake fluid.
LINK TO MY EBAY PAGE. As many of you know already, I give 10% discount and do post at cost to forum members if you PM me direct.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/julies9731/m.html?item=165142672569&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562

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Offline Greg65

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2019, 07:57:35 AM »
Ok, I’ve read our American cousins thread and contemplating the wintergreen/xylene route for the next stage after the riding season. So for the 400 cylinder head rubbers with their metal/rubber combination has anyone had any issues or words of advice?

Cheers,
Greg
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Offline the-chauffeur

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2019, 02:35:06 PM »
I know I'm a little late to this party, but I thought I'd put forward some information that might help.

Whilst not exactly tested under laboratory conditions, the testing this fella carries out is pretty comprehensive and he uses a fairly convincing methodology.  It converted me to the 3:1 mix of isopropyl alcohol and Wintergreen, which is by far the most effective method I've used for resurrecting rubber:


Sorry, can't work out how to embed.  Anyways, I've since found that there are some other things you need to be aware of if you go this route:

- the mix works best with rubber that was once reasonably malleable, like connecting tubes and the air box intake tubes on the CB750.  Somewhat unsurprisingly, the effects are less noticeable on hard rubber parts like cush drive pieces.  I've no data on this, but I imagine the rubber compound(s) would be the major determining factor in the swelling.

- as alluded to in the video, the thinner the rubber, the more likely it is to swell.  The effects of the swelling can be quite alarming, although I've found that most parts will return to their original size within a few hours.  The exception to this is the lips on dust/grease seals; they swell and stay that way.

- the amount of time parts are submerged in solution can also effect the amount of swelling.  Depending on what parts you're treating, you'll may need to keep an eye on them and not just leave them submerged indefinitely.  But again, stuff like stoppers or cush drive bits don't seem to deform regardless of how long they're in.

- high concentration Wintergreen can also be found in equine supplies under the name horse liniment.  Whether that makes it any cheaper, I'm not sure.

- find some large jam jars or pick up some cheap mason jars next time you're in Ikea in which to store your mix, and where possible get them large enough to fit the rubber parts in (one at a time if necessary).  This stuff doesn't seem to go off and remains viable so long as the alcohol can't evaporate.  So while it may seem expensive, you can use the same container over and over.

- it works astonishingly well on hardened HT leads.  Get a piece of plastic pipe (22mm is a good bet), seal one end, fill it with the mixture and gently force the tired old leads attached to coils into the pipe (if they're anything like the age-frozen leads I've been dealing with, this bit may take some patience).  I had to leave mine for several days, but they eventually became more or less as flexible as they would have been when new.  In all seriousness, this is the one thing I wish I'd known several years ago because it would have saved me from replacing coils where the leads had hardened. 

- it doesn't seem to have any noticeable impact on bare metal.  I've left bare metal parts that have rubber pieces in/on them in solution and the metal doesn't seem to change in any way.

- whatever you do, don't keep powder-coated parts in close proximity to the solution for any length of time.  I soaked a powder-coated engine mount that housed a hardened rubber bush to see if the bush softened, and the powder-coat literally fell off the metal.  I've not seen a coating lift off a surface it had been applied to like that before, even with paint stripper.  Whether it does the same with pained surfaces, I can't say because after the powder-coat exercise I haven't repeated the test (for fairly obvious reasons).

Hope that helps.  If I remember anything else, I'll edit this post and add it here.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2019, 02:42:31 PM by the-chauffeur »

Offline Greg65

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Re: Internet myth or not
« Reply #12 on: September 09, 2019, 07:51:44 AM »
I got my wintergreen oil here https://www.classikool.com/collections/essential-oils/products/classikool-100-pure-natural-wintergreen-essential-oil-for-aromatherapy-massage?variant=35921374408 .

I was very cautious but found after a couple or three treatments my rubbers where nice and supple. They seemed to harden after the first treatment quite quickly, however after the third they remained flexible. Their on the bike now so time will tell.
Keep smiling it makes the management nervous.
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