I’m sure this has come up before, but what is the best solvent for woodgas tar?
I know it has never happened to you guys, but I got some tar in my blower (all metal; cast iron housing and steel wheel) and I’d like to clean it out of there. It still works okay, but one of these days it will get thick enough to be a problem.
It sure would be nice if there is a way to get the tar out of there without a lot of scrubbing, etc…
While we are at it, how about cleaners for pvc tubing and rubber hoses?
When we heated with wood, the creosote would get hot enough in the chimney to dry out and we just cleaned it with a chimney brush, but this stuff is sticky and tenacious to say the least.
Hi PeteS.
I’ll figure you do not want to use the old sure fire standby method of torch burning off to ash and brushing off on these precision parts.
Well in that case what I use then in order of cheapest to use and up:
kerosene; odorless lamp oil; laquer thinner
Ordered least smelly to most smelly:
oderless clear UNSENTED lamp oil; kerosene; laquer thinner
Ordered in quickest acting with least mechanical scrubbing needed:
laquer thinner; oderless lamp oil; kerosene
Ha! Point is I have, and use all three depending, depending, depending.
(hard carbons like in mixers and intakes are another question needing differet answers)
Several years ago, Luc Gosselin (designer of the grateless G3I gasifier) offered to give me two of his GEK blowers, free of charge, if I paid the postage from Canada to Texas. (another story!) One of them was well gooped up with tar, and I used some automotive tar remover that I found in the barn, as well as some stale gasoline. They cleaned up good. (BTW, Luc said he didn’t need them because he found an ejector worked lots better than the blower.) Ray
Years ago I was doing a lot of logging , cutting and selling firewood. There was a stain from oak wood that got on my hands and found nothing that would remove it except bleach . When I get tar on my hands I also use the bleach and at one time I kept a small bottle in the trucks to clean any that might get on them.