I know in the past I have seen a recipe to make a batch of Homemade Seafoam posted someplace but now I can't find it. Any body out there happen to have it handy.

 

Think I found what I was lookin for here but I want some opinions on it so speak up.


It's very cheap and easy to make at home

25% Cleaner>Naphtha
60% Stabilizer>Kerosene
15% Oxygenate> Isopropyl Alcohol (common Rubbing Alcohol)


Other Commercial Brands such as Chevron Techron Concentrate are 100% Cleaner.
Majority is Naphtha,,,along with Stoddard Solvent,Benzene,Xylene,etc.

You can Substitute Seafoam's 15% IPA for Toluene and get better results,,,most paint stores have it.



ALL the Products are merely a variety of Blends of generic,,bulk commodity petrochemicals.

They are simply bought by the barrel,,,,mixed together in various ratios,,,,Bottled>Labeled>Sold

SeaFoam for example,,
It's sells for about $8 USD for 16oz.

$64 USD per gallon


"Naphtha",,,2 Bottles @ $1 ea = 1/2 gallon
"Kerosene" 3 Bottles@ $1 ea =3/4 gal
"IPA" 2 bottles for 1$ = 1/4 gal

$6 for 1.5 gals
For "GENERIC ,Homemade Seafoam"

versus the
$64 USD per gallon
for actual,,name brand Sea Foam

It's not so much the point that it's only 1/10 the Cost,,,
it's that homemade blend allows for ,,,not just Enhancement but even Exaggeration of the Beneficial Properties of the Additive Mix.

For example :
Skip the Rubbing Alcohol,replace it with Acetone,,,Same Price.
Makes engine Start much better in Cold Weather,,,SOMETIMES improves fuel mileage,,,is Less Corrosive,,,and acts like a Cleaner Itself.
And,,it gets added in at much,much lower doses.

Or,,,add a $5 pint of Toluene in lieu of a quart of Kerosene

Or ,,1$ Quart of Auto Trans Fluid,to make Mega Stabilizer.

Or,to add to Crankcase---it sometimes Smokes a bit.
But I just FEEL better Cleaning internals with a premium LUBRICANT as the engine runs,,,rather than all Solvents.


Or if You would rather buy a Commercial Product and can Not find Seafoam
Chevron Techron is much,much More Powerful Cleaner by volume.
It will work at minimum,,,,better and faster and on a wider range of Fuel Deposits .
But ya should really only use it in fuel,,not in Crankcase.
It's too aggressive a cleaner and not made for such use.


Beyond Those particular products,,
Anything labeled "FUEL INJECTION" cleaner is typically going to be Higher Concentration of appropriate CLEANERS,,, than products labeled as "Carb Cleaner" or "Gas/Fuel Treatment"

The Later 2 products Have been enriched during last Decade or so,,
So the Differences in all the Variety are Not as Great as they were 15~20 years ago

If Sea Foam is Not available,,
Chose Anything labeled as FUEL INJECTION cleaner and it will do about as good a job as Sea Foam in your Tank, injectors, varnish, carbon etc in Intake tract, Valves and combustion chamber.

All more/less same stuff.
CLEANERS,,,have More Cleaner and Less Stabilizer than SeaFoam.
You are currently going through Fresh Petrol,,,so Ya do not Need the hi-dosage Stabilizers at this point.
Especially when trying to CLEAN the fuel system.
You need the higher dose Cleaner.

 

oooh, got all that stuff at work.

Thanks

 

I like seafoam, i put it in the fuel filter when i change it. Well i did on my 06. My new 09 just got the new f/f put on a week or so ago. I will probably continue to use seafoam in this truck too. This homebrew sounds interesting tho.

 

I first saw the thread and though "oh come on you cheap s.o.b. just buy the stuff" but then you broke it down to $4/gal home brew or $64/gal purchased.

 

I use a lot a this stuff between all the cars, trucks and tractors I take care of so this could be huge savings for me but I want some opinions first.

 

Be careful, alcohol is bad on the injectors.

 

Then never use any kinda cleaner cause they're all alcohol based. For that matter don't use any fuel additive that claims to keep injectors clean because they all have alcohol added to them. Including Power Service and all the others.

For Fuel Treatment I will say that it is never a good idea, NEVER to add any cleaner to the fuel tank. When you change the filter just re-fill the filter canister with the cleaner and fire it up. This way all the cleaner is gone within seconds and not flowing through the system for 400 miles or more.

In gasser's just pull a vacuum line and let the motor suck it right out of the can like a straw. It's gonna smoke like a mother while it does it and your gonna have to have a second person holding the RPM's up while you do it or the motor will stall out but it works well.

As an oils additive/cleaner just dump it in the crankcase and run the motor for a few minutes, only a few so that it circulates but don't give it time to heat any bearings up and then drain and change your oil.

I use this stuff in weed-eaters, mowers, tractors diesel and gas trucks and cars. We've even run it through hydraulic systems before we rebuilt cylinders to clean all the crud out.

 

Bubba, so your saying you DO use this home brew recipe? Which version do you use or recommend? I noticed you put a few "Substitute chemicals" in there. Where do you even get some of these chemicals at? I don't think they have them at Walmart?!

Good writeup though!

 

I've been using the same homebrew stuff for the last 6 months now with good success.

25% Naphtha
60% Kerosene
15% Rubbing Alcohol (70% pure)

My Costs:

$6.00 Naptha ($6.00 for 32oz can at Home Depot)
$6.00 Kerosene ($10 for 1 gallon can at Home Depot)
$2.50 Rubbing Alcohol ($2.50 for 16oz bottle Rite Aide)

After sales tax I figure ~$16/Gallon as opposed to $8.00/16oz can ($64 per Gallon).

I've added the stuff to the fuel in all my engines here; car, lawn mower, lawn edger, weed wacker, pressure washer and outboard motors.