Naptha can be had at any hardware or home improvement store in the paint section or in a few stores the acid cleaning agent area but they all have it.

 

I mixed up some more of this homebrew stuff using different oils. The best one so far in terms of viscosity and mixing uses ATF for the oil component in Sea Foam instead of motor oil or mineral oil. I have a pic of the samples after sitting for a few days on my page. So, the question remaining is if the ATF is thin enough or if a thinner oil is necessary. It might be worthwhile to make batches using kerosene and diesel for comparison. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test the ATF blend in my FZR600 this weekend.

Homebrew Sea Foam (SeaFoam) Motor Treatment



Also, I found this interesting tidbit on the official Sea Foam FAQ:
"Sea Foam is composed solely of three specially blended petroleum oils – each having specific functions such as lubricating, cleaning or moisture control. There are no other chemicals (not even color dyes) included in the formulation. Being of the same basic petroleum chemistry as the motor oils and gasoline you already use in your engine, Sea Foam is completely compatible with all engine components, fuels, lubricants and other additives you may have in your engine. Sea Foam will not damage gaskets or seals, and will not interact in a negative way with motor oil or fuel, or the additives used in them."

 

Just be careful of which ATF you use. So much of these modern day ATF compounds have so many different additives mixed in for anti friction, anti foaming, and so on and we don't know how they will react during the burning process. I'm sure you in particular already know this but those that will read this in the future that may not.

 

Have you tried replacing the ATF with say water clear hydraulic fluid (the good stuff like JD or MF). Basically the same stuff as ATF without the friction and foaming additives.

 

No, I've just tried the stuff in the photo so far. I mixed up a batch using Diesel fuel as the "pale oil" component last night, but I'm going to give it a day to see if anything separates. It's definitely thinner than the ATF and seems to mix with the other ingredients better. I'd like to rig up a simple viscosity test to see which one is closest to the original.

 

I updated the pic I linked above. I measured the viscosity of each batch and compared it to Sea Foam. I added some conclusions to my web page about this. I will probably use either ATF or Diesel in future batches for the "pale oil" component because of viscosity and mixing ability. So, here's my updated recipe:

pale oil (ATF or Diesel): 6.5 oz
naphtha (home depot): 6 oz
isopropyl alcohol (pharmacy 91%): 3.5 oz

 

"The Diesel batch was less viscous than Sea Foam. So, the Diesel batch would not provide as much fuel system or upper cylinder lubrication as the other formulas". If I interpret your data correctly:

The original Seafoam drained out in 1 minute 0.7 seconds

The diesel formula drained out in 55.6 seconds (or a difference of ~5 seconds)


Have you considered a combination of diesel and 20W-50 oil? This might bring up the viscosity and provide a little more lubrication.

 

I tried 50/50 Diesel and 20W-50 for the oil component after your suggestion, but I was not happy with it. The mixing ability was somewhere between 20W-50 and ATF. The viscosity was very close to Sea Foam and it was very murky.

I just made another batch using a 4-2-1 volume ratio of Diesel, naptha, and IPA instead of the ratio I originally chose to test with. The solution is very clear and the additional Diesel brings the final viscosity up very close to original Sea Foam. The component mass ratios are still in the range specified by the msds. I updated my page with this information and I will probably use this recipe going forward unless someone finds a better "pale oil" or more exact specifications.

4 parts Diesel
2 parts naphtha
1 part isopropyl alcohol (91% or better)

Ha! After all of that testing, I arrived at a recipe very similar to the one mentioned in post #2 and #10. Funny how that worked out.

 

I wonder if 2 cycle oil could be substituted or used in place of the pale oil?

MSDS: http://msds.walmartstores.com/cache/24970_1.pdf

WalMart $11 per gallon. Manufactured by Pennzoil-Quaker State

 

One other question, how much lubrication does the diesel provide?

"Sea Foam is composed solely of three specially blended petroleum oils – each having specific functions such as lubricating, cleaning or moisture control."

4 parts Diesel
2 parts naphtha "cleaning"
1 part isopropyl alcohol (91% or better) "moisture control"




Just wondering.