<VV> How to destroy a carb float the easy way

[Grant]

Here is a cut and paste from the Race 1 website. I only know what I saw and read :-). There are some pictures of crushed floats on their site,
Grant
 
"The float inside of your carburetor is a delicate component and can be damaged easily. Common causes of damaged floats are:
* Attempting to start your engine with a sealed carb hat in place. The vacuum created by the engine will cause the float to implode and/or distort.
* During the process of changing valve springs, the airing of the cylinders, with a sealed carb hat in place—the air can crush the float if air leaks past the valve.
* Filling the float bowls with a squeeze bottle. NOTE: If you fill the bowls in this manner, do not seal the squeeze bottle to the vent tube.
* Puff back or backfire through the carb. Commonly from late timing or a lean condition, the engine will 'sneeze' out the carburetor. If float levels have changed after a 'sneeze,' you should remove the bowls and inspect the floats."
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael McCrae
Sent: Nov 28, 2021 5:29 PM
To: gyoungwolf at earthlink.net , virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: RE: How to destroy a carb float the easy way
 
I might be completely off center here, but wouldn’t putting your hand over the carb create a negative pressure in the system thus potentially exploding the float rather than crushing it? I know that blow through carb systems use foam filled floats to keep them from being crushed, as you are creating a positive pressure around the float…?
Mike McCrae
 
Sent from Mail (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986) for Windows
 
From: Grant via VirtualVairs (mailto:virtualvairs at corvair.org)
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2021 1:57 PM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org (mailto:virtualvairs at corvair.org)
Subject: How to destroy a carb float the easy way
 
I occasionally find crushed floats in the hundreds of carburetors I take apart each year (maybe 5%). I have not really been concerned since I had spares, until I recently disassembled a set of 3 YH carbs from a 1953 Corvette (almost the same as the Corvair YH, but with a manual choke and twice the price), and found all 3 floats crushed to the point that they could not be recovered with the dunk in boiling water trick. These have become very rare, so I went on a web search to find out what might have caused it. Turns out that the best way to crush a float is to completely seal the inlet to the carburetor when trying to start the engine or when running. I recall reading on this forum some time ago that you might be able to clear some plugging in a carb by placing a hand over the inlet while it was running (I have done it on some secondary carbs to see if they were sealing properly), so I am sharing this to discourage such activity and save a float. Happy Thanksgiving weekend.
Grant
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