Here's a trick I learned in my aviation days. I try to reuse Honda's OEM carburetor parts when they're still serviceable, and this includes the float valve seats. These are quality brass parts and, with a little effort, will clean up nicely. But, that leaves their thin aluminum sealing washers, a unique dimension which I've never been able to source, so I'll need to reuse the old washers.
One useful property of aluminum (or copper) is its ability to be "re-softened," allowing the "crush" part of a crush washer to reappear. When metal is "worked," it naturally hardens, becoming more brittle. Torquing down a fixture, like an oil drain plug, is considered working the metal washer and it looses some of its flexibility, or softness in this case. I know…you can just torque harder and force the used washer to crush, but you also risk stripping some threads or not being successful, resulting in a leak, and a leaking float valve washer will flood the carb bowl, showing up on the garage floor. In other words, this is not somewhere we want to risk a leak.
(Below) Here's a quick and simple way to bring used aluminum washers back to life. I begin with a quick cleaning using spray solvent. I then mark each washer with a permanent marker — when I add heat the mark will disappear as the aluminum reaches the correct temperature. The thin aluminum is easily overheated and will distort, rendering them useless, so the permanent marker is a handy indicator (soot from a candle flame will accomplish the same thing, but a Sharpie is handier). Using any portable small torch — here I'm using my Sondiko butane torch — evenly heat the washers on a metal surface just till the marks disappear. Remove the heat and allow to naturally cool. I heated these for about 15 seconds, so this is a quick chore. When cool, the crush washers are good as new.
Some interweb experts will say to shock cool the metal in a bath of water or oil. This isn't correct for our purposes. Dousing the hot metal actually tends to harden it a bit, the opposite of our goal.
Copper items use a different heat level; the metal is heated till it turns a ruddy brown, then cooled.
(click on an image to enlarge)
One useful property of aluminum (or copper) is its ability to be "re-softened," allowing the "crush" part of a crush washer to reappear. When metal is "worked," it naturally hardens, becoming more brittle. Torquing down a fixture, like an oil drain plug, is considered working the metal washer and it looses some of its flexibility, or softness in this case. I know…you can just torque harder and force the used washer to crush, but you also risk stripping some threads or not being successful, resulting in a leak, and a leaking float valve washer will flood the carb bowl, showing up on the garage floor. In other words, this is not somewhere we want to risk a leak.
(Below) Here's a quick and simple way to bring used aluminum washers back to life. I begin with a quick cleaning using spray solvent. I then mark each washer with a permanent marker — when I add heat the mark will disappear as the aluminum reaches the correct temperature. The thin aluminum is easily overheated and will distort, rendering them useless, so the permanent marker is a handy indicator (soot from a candle flame will accomplish the same thing, but a Sharpie is handier). Using any portable small torch — here I'm using my Sondiko butane torch — evenly heat the washers on a metal surface just till the marks disappear. Remove the heat and allow to naturally cool. I heated these for about 15 seconds, so this is a quick chore. When cool, the crush washers are good as new.
Some interweb experts will say to shock cool the metal in a bath of water or oil. This isn't correct for our purposes. Dousing the hot metal actually tends to harden it a bit, the opposite of our goal.
Copper items use a different heat level; the metal is heated till it turns a ruddy brown, then cooled.
(click on an image to enlarge)
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