Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

   SeaForm makes many claims about what it can do. 

 

Injector cleaner

Carburetor cleaner

Carbon cleaner,

Fuel stabilizer

Frees lifters – rings

De-icer anti-jell

Upper cylinder lub

Dries oil and fuel

Cleans carbon as you drive.

Cures hesitations ,stalls, pings, and rough idle due to carbon buildup.

Cleans dirty engine part internally by removing harmful gums, varnish and carbon.  WORKS AND PERFORMS INSTANTLY. 

 

   That’s quite a versatile list of claims.  Given the repeated claim for carbon it should do something when contacting carbon.

 

  SeaFoam says 1 pint treats 25 gallons.  That’s a mix of 200 to 1.  If it can clean at that mix it should dissolve carbon easily at full strength.  Below is a picture of carbon put in a class with full strength SeaFrom for several hours with occasional shaking.  There is no breakup of the particles. 

 

   The other picture of a head and piston with carbon.  The loose carbon was wiped off and the rags dipped with SeaFoam and rubbed on the head and piston.  The rags are slightly discolored but not from dissolved particles.  The discolor is just picked up particles of carbon a rag without SeaFoam will pick up. 

 

   Given that it did not dissolve carbon full strength and would not remove carbon with a rag directly on a piston and head it seems doubtful that at a mix or 200 to 1 it will do very much rushing over the head and piston of an engine. 

 

   SeaFoam does not seem to do anything. What went wrong here?  No dissolved carbon in the glass and only slight smudging on the rags with no removal of carbon from the head or piston after rubbing.  What’s going on?  If it does not do anything at full strength how can it work at 200 to 1 where only slight fraction of the 200 to 1 mix will actually contact the carbon when an engine is running

all i'm saying is i have good results using seafoam.until a few years ago never heard of it!   could i get along without it?  yes!  i am 59 yrs old and have done without seafoam for at least 55 of them.everyone makes there own evaluations and decides from them.for me seafoam has been a good product.

Yo Trouts: You didn't answer my questions. Is the method you used to "test SeaFoam" the method recommended for use by the manufacturer? I agree that SeaFoam manufacturers make some pretty lofty claims and I applaud your willingness to determine if in fact it is effective. However, you methodology isn't consistent with product instructions. Now, I'm not one for snake oils. I have sampled a few different products for both gasoline and diesel engines. From my experience, the best product for cleaning diesel fuel injectors is Siloo diesel fuel conditioner. I know for a fact that works. I have a Kubota diesel generator that's been in service at my camp for 27 years. After ten years or so it became difficult to start. One bottle of Siloo later and the engine is running like the day I bought it. Getting back to SeaFoam. If used as per directions, I have had good results using it. It's not a miracle worker and won't cure most problems. However, I've used it on two stroke engines and it "seemed" to improve the running of at least a couple engines. I have a 30 year old Jiffy ice auger with a diaphragm carb that I hadn't used in ten years or so because it was running so poorly. Hard to start, and reluctant to spin to max rpms. Accordingly, it was put away in the garage and I had I stopped ice fishing anyway. We had quite a few days of rain this year so, I used that time to work on some engines that were acting up. I clamped down the Jiffy power head into a Work Mate bench, put some fuel and rich mix of SeaFoam into the tank, pulled the plug, sprayed some fuel into the cylinder to get it started and sprayed a mixture of two stroke fuel and SeaFoam into the carb to keep the engine running. I alternately sprayed pure SeaFoam into it. After a few minutes, the engine began to smooth out and ran from the fuel in the tank. I gave it a big blast of SeaFoam to stall it and let it sit over night. Fired it up the next day and It was smoking pretty good for a minute or two then cleared up. I cannot definitely say that the SeaFoam treatment cured the problem. What I will say though, is that the engine ran crappy before the treatment and much better afterward. I suspect the SeaFoam may have cleaned up some varnish in the carb. I don't expect SeaFoam to fix a bad carb. If it does, good. There is no substitute for disassembly, inspection and cleaning if a carb is not working properly. I use SeaFoam mostly for preventative measures and primarily as a fuel conditioner. I don't use tons of it and it may be more of a mental exercise, but from my experience it seems to have some redeeming value.

Borat: You didn't answer my questions.

The point of the question was unrelated to the question so why would I?

 

Borat: I have a 30 year old Jiffy ice auger with a diaphragm carb that I hadn't used in ten years or so because

Borat:

I cannot definitely say that the SeaFoam treatment cured the problem.

A reasonable conclusion which many don’t arrive at. The usual is someone dumped in some SeaFoam and the problem went away so it must have been SeaFoam.  You’ve probably has more minor problems clear up on their own than with SeaFoam.

 

Borat:

I cannot definitely say that the SeaFoam treatment cured the problem

Right, that would take lots of similar tests which most people even in shops do not have the time to do, like get an engine with known conditions, run SeaFoam for long periods and unbutton things to see what it did.  The one shot miracle cure stories are just not worth anything.

 

Borat: What I will say though, is that the engine ran crappy before the treatment and much better afterward.

That happened but cause and effect…..

 

Borat: I suspect the SeaFoam may have cleaned up some varnish in the carb.

Having highly diluted SeaFoam in gas does nothing for varnish (several types) from my tests. Try it full strength or diluted in any ratio on the next nasty carb bowl you come across and see for yourself.

 

Borat: There is no substitute for disassembly, inspection and cleaning if a carb is not working properly.

Right, so no need for any stabilizers if you buy gas in small quantities and use it up.

 

Borat: I use SeaFoam mostly for preventative measures and primarily as a fuel conditioner.

I’m interested in the product claims for carbon and varnish which I think are useless.  I have doubts about it’s claims as a stabilizer for removing moisture.  I guess you could try putting some in a glass jar at 200:1 and spray a fine mist of water in to see what happens.

 

For carbon and varnish the stuff is useless.  As a stabilizer I doubt it.  As a lub it might have some effect, unsure and hard to tell like using Mystery oil.

 

The can label reads like snake oil and I’m embarrassed I ever bought that crap.

If you don't want it, send it to me :-)

Trouts,
your last post is difficult to follow..
I know you are trying to quote people and then reply to those quotes,
but in your last post I cant always tell where Borat is speaking and where you are speaking..its all mixed together..

apart from that, the simple fact remains that your first post in this thread is a completely invalid test..its meaningless..
which makes your conclusions meaningless..
because you didnt use the seafoam properly..
its a useless test..its tells us nothing..
you really need to use the proper mixture, then run some more tests..otherwise you got nothing..

sorry..but its just a fact..

Scot

Sscotsman:  All the tests are invalid.

 

Borat: I suspect the SeaFoam may have cleaned up some varnish in the carb.

Having highly diluted SeaFoam in gas does nothing for varnish (several types) from my tests. Try it full strength or diluted in any ratio on the next nasty carb bowl you come across and see for yourself.

 

The above was done at 200:1 and full strength with no result.  You can try it yourself and then come to a conclusion.   It is supposed to work flowing through the bowl and carb body where there is no heat or combustion. 

 

If you guess or assume that there is varnish or some other problem, run SeaFoam and things clear up and attribute it to SeaFram then you have made a mistake.

 

Dirt and dregs can be at the bottom of the bowl and not be sucked up when at idle or full speed no load.  When running under load the dregs can be sucked up to the jet holes enough to make the machine run poorly and stumble.  The dregs could lodge there or fall back down to the bottom of the bowl and not necessarily be picked up on the next run.  They might get trapped for a while and eventually make their way through the holes and running gets better.  Happens all the time.

 

Water could bead up in the bowl and cause rough running and stumbling.  The bulk of the water could get sucked up and the engine digest it stumbling then run fine.  There could be more water in the tank that slowly gets from the tank to the bowl causing intermittent stumbling again.  There are lots of conditions that happen and clear up on their own.

Hey guys,  I don't know if this is true...  I have nothing to back it up but what was told to me by a Vender for these products..

I was told that Seafoam, and other products Soften and leach into the carbon...  The carbon is then able to be burned or reduce in the normal combustion process ( over a period  of time) .   

As far as cleaning jets,   I believe you can clean things "harshly" or "softly"...  depending on how  fast you need the resultand at what cost to the equipment........   I won't use a wire wheel on a drill to clean stains off my teeth,   but I will use a toothbrush..

Friiy....

Hey Trouts,  If you want to get Carbon off a head or piston,  I suggest a $14 Harbour Freight mini air die grinder and a 3M Roloc disc ( blue or grey) ... Check them out

Friiy

well lets see there is religion,political party ,war in iraq,illegal imigration,state,federal,and local property tax,global warming..........hmmmmm let's see...........have i missed anything else you want to share your opinion on  trout2...?

Trouts: It would appear that you're digging your heals in regarding my question. I'll repeat the question. Did you use the product as per the manufacturer's instructions? Now, if that is irrelevant, I cannot quite understand your logic here. It's like buying a gallon of gasoline, putting it in the crankcase of the engine and claiming that it's crap because the car won't run. You have to use it according to instructions. I agree that the claims of all fuel additives are over-blown. However, I have had good things happen when I used SeaFoam. Whether it was co-incidental or the product may have actually worked, I cannot say for sure. In order to establish the true effectiveness of the product, numerous scientifically controlled tests would be required. Not to be insulting, but your test is no more valid than the results of my experiences with the product.

  What Friiy mentioned was interesting and made me thing about carbon “dissolving” as opposed to loosened somehow and being purged.  I snooped around the net, watched a few videos on Utube and read a bunch of claims.  There were suggestions there that the carbon is not dissolved by SeaFoam.  That the action was loosening the carbon binders so it would fly out.

 

   Given the testimonials, this morning I tried SeaFoam on a 7hp Tecumseh first dumping some Seafoam directly into the plug hole, giving several squirts in through throat until stumbling and white smoke dumping out of the muffler.  Then a big squirt to stall the engine and let it set for a while to let SeaFoam act.  I checked through the plug hole pretty good and noted the carbon inside on the piston and valves.  I noted the carbon at the base of the plug hole and changed plugs to fairly gummed up plug, sootie and blackened with carbon. 

   No noticeable effect after doing this test three times.

 

   I put some SeaFoam in a cup and Stable in another.  I added about 10 drops of water and let them set for a few hours shaking them occasionally.  When shook the water blob would dissolve into the solvents but in a short time form back up into a blob.  Possibly the stuff acts by vaporizing the water but after a few hours it seemed like the same amount of blob was in there.

   No noticeable effect.

 

   I called SeaFoam and asked to speak with a tech and got one.  I told him I was leery about the product and have seen many positive and negative comments on the net so did some tests and would like to go over them to see what he thought.

 

  He said both of the tests I did were valid, i.e.1.  the carbon in a container with  full strength SeaFram, without gas and 2. applying SeaFoam directly to the head and piston.  The 7hp test he said was also valid along with the water test.

 

   For applying SeaFoam directly to the head and piston test he said it SeaFoam will act without heat/combustion no gas needed to activate anything.  He explained what would happen.   It would work by breaking down the binders of the carbon which were “gum”, “varnish” and “other unburned products” which bind the carb to metal.  The quotes were his words.  It would act full strength without combustion or mixed with gas.

 

  He said, SeaFoam does not dissolve carbon, it breaks it down into minute particles so they can be blown away.   That is, the gums and varnish binders would be broken down.  That did not happened with applying SeaFoam directly to the piston and head.  A lot of SeaFram was applied and letting it set for a while to give it a chance to activate.  Nothing came off or on the rags which were also soaked with SeaFram.  No carbon removal, no breakdown of gum, varnish or burnt products as he said should happen.

 

   For the carbon flakes in a container with full strength SeaFoam he said it should reduce the carbon binders and cause them to break up clouding the liquid in the container.  That cloud would be the broken down binders and minute particles of carbon. That did not happen or anything close to that happen.  The amount of particles was the same as the start, no breakup or clouding.  SeaFoam did not do anything.

 

  I mentioned how I did not get the expected result.  He said he has done the same tests on pistons and carbon chunks in a container just like my tests.  He got completely different results.  He said the carbon on the piston came off and he ended up with a clean top on the piston.  He said the chunks of carbon in a container broke up and clouded the straight SeaFoam.  He said it worked fine.  That was not the result I got.

 

   His results were quite different than mine so I repeated the tests this morning with the same result I got last time and again much different that what he got. 

 

  For the running SeaFoam in the 7hp motor he said it should have had an effect.  I could not see any. 

   For the water in the cup of SeaFoam he said once the water blob was broken up it should stay broken up.  He said he did that test also and what he got was the water stayed broken in a cloud.  Very different result than what I got which was the blob reformed after a while.  It might useful for SeaFoam to break up water like that but a water blob in gas will cloud into the gas when shaken also. 

 

   Could have been a defective can of SeaFoam.  I tried the head and container chunk tests with two different cans of SeaFoam.  Could be a bad batch of SeaFoam so both cans have defective SeaFoam. 

 

   These tests are pretty simple so you can see for yourself what you get as a result.