OT: Freddy Kruger Carburator Cleaner

[Bob Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bob]

OH YUK (or rhymes with yuk).

All was well in the garage Friday AM. Saturday the rusted bottom of the carb cleaner can had given way. What an stinky, gooy, evil, evil mess.

It saturated its wooden shelf and stuff there with it. It drained to a box of odd drill attachments (wire wheels, hole saws, etc). Then on to the nooks and crannies of the workbench where it wicked along all the seams. Some went onto/into the Craftsman roll-away toolbox. Wicked into all the spaces in a stack of circular saw blades. Soaked the strap holding the oxy-ace tanks to the workbench leg. Did I mention this stuff is evil. And it stinks.

This was the old, really good stuff; so good I've only used about a pint out of the 1 quart can in ... maybe 25 years. Old as it is, it took paint off the roll-away tool chest GRRRRR. The liquid and the smell permeate everything and the smell lingers.

Took all day to toss stuff and try to clean the rest. I expect to still smell carb cleaner on Christmas.

Bob

[Eugenius76 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Eugenius76]

Guess that's why carb cleaner always makes your vehicle caugh, spit and sputter when you spray it down its throat......NASTY STUFF!!!!

[sunpeople Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunpeople]

AH yes i had the same thing happen to me, and yes the smell lasts a long, long, long, time! The problem for me was we were out of town when the can bottom gave out so i did not find out that i had a leak till we got home and that was a week later so by that time this stuff had worked its way into every crack and hole in my work bench.
Almost a year after the leak you could still smell it, if i had the shop closed up for a day or two and then opened it up, the smell would be their to greet you and say i am still here. The only thing i found that worked to get rid of the smell was to remove as much of the wood that it got on under my work bench as i could but as i said before even after removing the wood the smell still lasts a long time.

One note on the plus side of this story for me was that my wife HATES that car "work shop" smell so after the spill she would not come out to the shop to bug me with "honey do's" and that for me was a good thing.