carb float

[sparky30]

hello my name is chad, im in need of carb floats for my 78 xs1100e will mikexs brass floats work. and is there any other cheap place 2 get them im layed off and money is tight with a new born

[DGXSER]

Mikes should work. Other option is go to a bone yard. My local one has an entire school bus full of old carbs. If you find some that match from sets they already canabolized, you can probably get them cheap. JAT

[dbeardslee]

Sparky - DO NOT get the brass floats from Mikes XS - They're for a TX not an XS and they WILL NOT fit. The plastic ones will - Mikes XS Part #20-6502 - $12 ea.

[red bandit]

Brass Carb Float - Fits: 1970-79 XS/TX650 Stock 38mm. Mikuni CV Carbs.
Oem Ref.# 256-14985-00
I can't say for sure but I thought Mikes were different, were for the earlier carbs.

[dbeardslee]

The brass ones fit the 38mm carbs, and the plastic ones fit the 34mm (like ours). The brass ones are about a half inch wider than the plastic, and won't go into the 34mm carbs.

[latexeses]

Does anyone know how to "re-inflate" a brass carb float??

From what I have been told it sounds like the PO of my SF used air to blow out the carb. I was able to locate a new float from a local dealer for thirty bucks.

Sparky30,

I still have the pinched float and if someone can tell me how to "restore" the float to a useable condition it is yours.

I have not tried tossing the float into a pot of boiling water...yet.

Does anyone know if the solder is a low temp solder? I could give it a try in a toaster oven at 300 or so degrees.
Has anyone tried to de-solder the hole on the outside of the floats and give them a shot of compressed air? Is that indeed a hole or is it solder added to make the float assy. weigh the same as the others?

So many questions!

Any ideas???

Rodger

[dbeardslee]

Rodger - You could try submersing it in boiling water. If there are no holes that may increase the air pressure inside the floats enough to pop 'em out if they aren't too squeezed. I tried it with four of mine that were pretty squished with no luck. I even built a little vacuum chamber, put all four of them inside and sucked all the air out with a vacuum pump. I managed to get one side of one float to pop back out doing that.

If they aren't too bad, and they are sealed, you can probably get away with setting them a couple milimeters higher than you normally would. Mine were in my carbs and working fine (pinches and all) set at 27mm.

[TopCatGr58]

I don't know if the solder is low temp or high temp, but I've heard of folks accidentally desoldering theirs while trying to solder up a hole, so that sounds like low temp to me!?

SO....aside from the boiling water...it's only 212 degrees, I was thinking that what we are trying to do is to get the air inside to expand. I know a heat gun gets quite a bit hotter than boiling water, but it's still AIR, and a closely directed blast at the float trying to avoid the place where it is soldered to the float arm "MIGHT" work to provide enough of an increase of temp inside the float to expand the air and float without necessarily melting the solder!?
T.C.

[DiverRay]

I know a heat gun gets quite a bit hotter than boiling water, but it's still AIR, and a closely directed blast at the float trying to avoid the place where it is soldered to the float arm "MIGHT" work to provide enough of an increase of temp inside the float to expand the air and float without necessarily melting the solder!?

Sorry, TC, but a heat gun WILL melt solder!
I would use a hair dryer. It will still heat it up, but not to the 325 F. that WILL melt solder!

[sparky30]

Thank you i appreciate all the help from everybody.....just doing odds and ends wanna bring this beast back to life

[CA]

my floats

just to let you know about my recent experience with floats...

I unwittingly blew air into my carbs to test the venting and caved in two of them totally one 3/4 of the way and one about half...I tested this by making them float in water and checking the height differences...I never could get them to re-inflate

then I accordingly set their different heights and prayed they would work, and they did. I even saw a little hole in one, but it didnt really bubble, and apparently it is working...I have checked my plugs and they are all about the same...white, so I am going to sweeten up the juice with the mixture screws tomorrow...

hope this helps...saved me $50!

[greengoon3]

float popper

Heres my experience with my brass floats.

I solder up a couple with an electric soldering iron and some good 63/37 electronic solder.

Previously on my first attempt I tried using a propane torch...

Found out the hard way that one of the floats had a fuel leak . It blew open the seam!

Got em in a set of carbs off of fleabay. laid around a month or so. Really didn't seem to weigh any more them the others but there you have it. BOOM!

I finally ended up buying 4 new ones in the Yamaha box on flea bay for ~ 35 bucks total. Good deal I think !