Soaking a VV-VI motor in kerosene

[jboger]

I have a later model VV-VI two-spring motor. These are fairly common. It has never been cleaned. It has 100-year-old dried grease all over the pawl, ratchet wheel, spindle, etc. I have dismantled these motors before, that is, I first dismantled them, then soaked parts in kerosene before re-assembly.

I think to remove the governor and possibly the spindle, then soak the rest of it in kerosene for a day or two. After that, I will still need to take the rest of the motor apart including the removal of the two springs.

Has anyone tried this, that is either soak the entire motor or part of still assembled?

If a picture of the motor is desired, let me know.

John

[JerryVan]

What's the point, if you're only going to fully disassemble it anyway, (which is the right thing to do)? You'll still need to clean each part individually, but now everything is still soaked in kerosene during disassembly.

[jboger]

That's true, but I was thinking if I let it soak for say two days I could go do something else while it soaks. That would or should remove all that dried out old grease and maybe make it easier to remove the barrel and ratchet assembly, which can sometimes be stubborn.

Let me ask you this, Jerry: Do you see any harm if I soak it in kerosene? All the parts are metal.

I've now included two pictures of the part I **might** soak.

John

[jboger]

Well, the whole thing came apart a lot easier than I had anticipated. I drove out the barrel arbor after backing off on a screw, out dropped the barrel, etc. etc. etc. Note the dead bug. did it have a happy life? I have no idea, but it's days ended long ago.

So now I will soak the individual parts, as is the usual procedure.

John

[JerryVan]

Let me ask you this, Jerry: Do you see any harm if I soak it in kerosene? All the parts are metal.


John

Nope. No harm at all.

[Curt A]

For a "quick clean", I have soaked fully assembled motors in a dishpan full of kerosene (or diesel). Then, wound them up and let them run in the pan. Not the best way for an extremely gunked up motor, but a time saver if you want to get it running just to trade it or flip it...