Using brake clean as starting fluid?

[kiwigtx]

My lawn mower is two-stroke......I find if I can't get it started within 3 pulls, I put a new sparkplug in.

It starts immediately. Not bad for a 25-year-old mower.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have never seen a 2 stroke lawn mower. I'll bet that dude cuts fast!

 

[OzCharger69]

I use throttle/carb cleaner but the fumes are extremely pungent. Never to be used in a closed garage.

 

[Cranky]

That red can I showed (nonflammable) is a far better cleaner than the kind that burns.

Oddly enough, it is labelled "Not for sale or use in U.S.A." Even though it is made in the U.S.A. This is not the same formula as the American "Meets VOC regulations in all 50 states" red cans that you guys get.

The stuff I buy from ChinaMart works pretty well for cleaning. Maybe I'm not using it on really dirty stuff?

My lawn mower is two-stroke......I find if I can't get it started within 3 pulls, I put a new sparkplug in.

It starts immediately. Not bad for a 25-year-old mower.

My old Toro 4 stroke has yours beat by 10 years at least

I have never seen a 2 stroke lawn mower. I'll bet that dude cuts fast!

I remember when the 2 stroke mowers were the dominate power mower. Also don't recall very many self propelled power mowers in the early 60's either. Heck, in the north, the dominate mower was the manual reel but in the south, those didn't work too good in the thick St. Augustine grass we have here. Based on how many yards I had when I was 12-13, a good deal of people didn't have a lawn mower and mowing with a push power mower was a chore especially when people let their yards get over grown because they didn't want to pay the 2 bucks until they absolutely had to. 2 bucks in 64 is like 60 today. Yeah, was making good money back then for not weed eating or blowing off the driveway. But not that many had paved driveways back then either.

 

[69a100]

I have never seen a 2 stroke lawn mower. I'll bet that dude cuts fast!

The only ones I knew of growing up were "Lawn Boy". They were a lot quieter than the 4 strokes.

 

[Cranky]

The only ones I knew of growing up were "Lawn Boy". They were a lot quieter than the 4 strokes.

All the ones I saw were Lawn boys too and put out way too much smoke which was something I wanted any part of. Probably why I didn't get involved with dirt bikes in the early years. Didn't like dealing with the mix or the smoke.

 

[Budnicks]

I use the red Brakleen which is mostly tetrachloroethylene which won't burn.
View attachment 1443069

ours is a bit different, eco-nazi stuff
I had them as a sponsor on my T/S car for years
I had & used everything they made
never used Brake Clean (Brakleen) for engine starter fluid
I was guilty of using it, to check for vacuum leaks a time or 10

not supposed to use it around open flames
or welding projects either
directly from the horse's (mfgr) mouth, deadly ****/toxic fumes

 

[fratzog lover]

I use IMR 4350.

 

[YY1]

Didn't read the whole thread but isn't brake-kleen twice the price of starting fluid?

 

[Cranky]

Didn't read the whole thread but isn't brake-kleen twice the price of starting fluid?

Not always. Can't remember what I paid for my last can of SF but it too came from ChinaMart and was pretty close to what the same brand of brake cleaner was or I wouldn't have bought it....but I guess it was more because the can of SF is 11oz vs 14.5 for the cleaner. Thing is, the SF will last way longer than the cleaner will.

 

[YY1]

Agree there. I usually get about 2-3 good "cleanings" from a can of brake cleaner vs about 35 or so start assists with SF.

 

[khryslerkid]

Burning brake cleaner might create Phosgene gas, there are warnings about using brake cleaner on metal you are going to weld.

Arc Welding 101: Cleaning material with brake cleaner before welding
"Many warnings are found on the chemicals that we use every day. Often I simply assume that if it’s sold over the counter surely it must be safe, but that’s just not the case this time. The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for a can of brake cleaner reads:

“Do not use this product near open flames, welding operations, or excessive heat. Vapors may decompose to harmful or fatal corrosive gases such as hydrogen chloride and possibly phosgene.”

This can be debilitating or even deadly to the welder or those around him or her. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), phosgene is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides. It does not occur naturally and was used extensively in World War I as a choking agent. It is poisonous at room temperature and can cause coughing, burning in the throat and eyes, blurred vision, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and pulmonary edema. Some of the more serious effects can show up 48 hours after exposure, and those include difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, and heart failure. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are reported permanent side effects of phosgene exposure. In other words, if it doesn’t kill you, it’s going to alter your health significantly."

Working in a welding shop there was a forklift tech that came in to fix the brakes on one of the forklifts. We're welding away, the tech is spraying parts cleaner on the brake parts and all of a sudden we're all getting sore throats, coughing and getting light headed. You can't really smell the cleaner that much until you start welding. That's when the fumes become Phosgene gas. Learned this the hard way. I did some research on this back then and discovered what was taking place. It's the chlorine (don't remember the chemical name anymore) that's in the cleaner that causes this. Ever heard of a train derailment with tankers of chlorine on fire. They'll evacuate a pretty large area because of the danger.

So after that encounter I've always been aware of someone using parts cleaner in or around the welding shop. It's happened several times after that with the same outcome.

One day there was this very distinctive odor in the shop and I'm trying to find out who was using parts cleaner. Nobody seemed to be using any. I was still smelling it and myself and a couple others were starting to have the telltale symptoms. I finally discovered that they had just received a new case of antisplatter (which is use on the steel while welding to prevent splatter) and a couple of welders were using it. I looked on the back of the can and there's the one chemical "chlorine" that's in the can of antisplatter. Who the hell adds this to a product that's going to be burned? I looked on the back of the previous cans and the ingredient wasn't there, just this new batch. I took the initiative to report this to the boss and have him contact the distributor and the manufacturer. We stopped using it and found an older case of antisplatter to use in the meantime. I found out later that there was a recall on it and it was removed from the distributors.

 

[Triplegreen500]

I take these ******** down with brake clean


View attachment 1443091

a tennis racket is more satisfying...you get a nice "thwank" when you get one mid-flight.

 

[Cranky]

a tennis racket is more satisfying...you get a nice "thwank" when you get one mid-flight.

I have some light duty and heavy duty badminton rackets (when is the last time anyone has heard of one of those!?) that I use on the mud daubers but can't afford to swat at a wasp and miss so I use a chemical on those. Man, I'm allergic as can be to wasp stings and especially to those red bastards. This time of year I'm super careful of my surroundings and usually have a can of something to hit them with close at hand.