Just wanted to get some advice on how to clean my FFE . there is black specks coming out of it , I’ve tried soaking it in Acetone under 120 degrees for 3 hours and yet still black specks keep coming out. Anything helps please and thank you!
Have you ran distilled water/RO through it?
I have not just butane
Oh, so it’s a bffe, not a regular ffe?
yes sorry for confusion yes BFFE
Try the warm water. If that doesn’t do it, lye does a good job of cleaning residuals.
They make a utility scrubber that has different size end pieces, you would likely need the small diameter unit to get into each of the 1/2" tubes. Use with acetone. Think of it as a spinnning roto-rooter but for cleaning sanitary tubing. I will get the part number next time I am at the shop.
Acetone is quite amazing for this task… weather you are washing pesticides, heavy metals, cannabinoids, carbon, etc. out of the system, acetone will make short work of it!
Not to mention your body creates acetone when you process fat and it is water soluble, so a quick hot water wash to remove the acetone typically gets you back to baseline.
Also as mentioned, Acid / Base scrubs can help to strip reactive products.
Just want to make a little note to all of the FFE manufacturers that told me you would never need to clean a FFE out…
Just curious what kinda gaskets are you using? Acetone doesn’t play nicely with some of the gasket materials. That could be those black specks.
Very true, do not mix acetone with viton or buna… safe with EPDM, PTFE, and Gylon.
But we don’t use EPDM with hydrocarbon because that is not safe. EPDM is poorly rated for hydrocarbon…
So interestingly enough, Latex is acetone safe but will melt to hydrocarbon and nitrile is hydrocarbon safe but will melt to acetone.
Also, DO NOT USE ACETONE ON PRESSURE GAUGES!
Tis a good time to learn about polarity and solvents…
Tube and shell?
Hoppes makes a nice rifle cleaning kit and you can get plastic and stainless bristled brushes for the diameter you need. On my Bzb had to use multiple extensions to get the depth I needed to go all the way thru to the other side. Others have already addressed which solvents are good to use
This is the unit we found to be quite useful. The “Goodway RAM-4X” with nylon brushes… you will likely want the small diameter hose.
Let me know if you have any questions. I will gladly get back to you.
I agree with @WanderingHarlot , sodium hydroxide solution for the win!
That is the simple , cheap ,and effective solution. You might try a new bore cleaning kit like @greenbuggy had also mentioned also a cheap and effective solution.
Proper maintenance is so important for keeping everything running smoothly. I’ve found that using isopropyl alcohol works wonders for removing stubborn residue. Just curious, do you recommend any specific tools or brushes for cleaning hard-to-reach areas? Also, how often do you typically clean your FFE to keep it in top shape?
Curious enough to read that which has been posted?!?