EuroKClub
General forum area => K1200 / K1300 Forum => Topic started by: NIBS on July 19, 2023, 09:55:23 am
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Previously I had removed and cleaned my radiator by soaking and flushing, more than once, with water and brushing.
However the bike was still running hot, 4 bars, with the fan regularly cutting in way too much. I was on the verge of buying a new rad, not sure if they are still available new from BMW.
I saw this coil cleaner mentioned previously, G2G-FOAM, and decided to give it a go as a last resort.
(https://i.ibb.co/gdhSZdN/FOAMING-RAD.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yp76Fpt)
I bought the G2G, removed the rad from the bike, and completely soaked it from the engine side using half the bottle. I decided to collect any debris, if any, into an old sheet.
(https://i.ibb.co/7kwtdGT/RAD-WASH-OFF.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kmR2shr)
I waited ten minutes then gently flushed the rad though. I reapplied G2G in the worse affected areas.
The results are incredible.
After drying out the collected material in the sun I was able to empty the contents of the sheet into a microwave tray 5"x 7". The results speak volumes.
(https://i.ibb.co/PDyXvB9/CRUD-FROM-RAD.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wcqGFDw)
Additionally, there was at least 5mm of debris/sediment in the flushed water that had passed through the sheet which I collected into several containers, all with considerable amounts of muck in the bottom.
After drying, the airline also blew out even more crud that I couldn’t collect.
The radiator is visibly cleaner through all the fins that were previously completely clogged.
(https://i.ibb.co/FV2TQQg/VIEW-THROUGH-RAD.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SrbCkkR)
The bike now runs consistently at two bars, occasionally three. The fan has not kicked in on my last few rides.
In summary this product has exceeded my expectations and saved the cost of a new radiator, £730.00, if available.
Cost of the coil cleaner….. £20.74 inc delivery and some elbow grease.
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Looks like G2G-FOAM is as good as Rae's stuff! (https://eurokclub.bike/index.php?topic=4999.msg62703#msg62703) Very impressive collection of crud.
Where did you buy it from, Nibs?
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G2G was the stuff I used, I had very good results as has NIBS. Well peeps now you know what to do :winkthumbs:
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G2G was the stuff I used, I had very good results as has NIBS. Well peeps now you know what to do :winkthumbs:
Doh!
Well that's what I'll be buying next time.
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What is the white stuff in middle of the last piccie? It seems to coincide with the 'hole' in the foam in the first pic.
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Looks like daylight ;)
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I had good results also but i did mine on the bike, although my rad has never been as bad as that. A word of warning though, I got a small amount of overspray on one of my calipers, might have been from the wind, I never noticed and it mottled the paint on the caliper.
Regards Mick
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Yes, having read the label before using the variant I bought it's fairly vicious stuff. Stick to meths if you're thirsty.
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I have tried cleaning mine with an alternative coil cleaner, sorry can't remember the type, with much less impressive result (or an enormous waste of time in other words). It seems like getting the right powerful cleaner is the important thing here, so anyone emulating this should stick with the G2G FOAM and also be generous with it as NIBS has done.
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Looks like daylight ;)
Ah! Now you mention it, it could just be daylight and a patch on the original that was never too bad. Well spotted young sir...
...and now convinced, I just ordered some. Methinks it is pretty nasty stuff according to the Product Data Sheet but hopefully not as nasty as the 5#/+€ that clogs the rad.
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As my radiator is exposed (from the front at least) after removing most of the bodywork yesterday I would like to clean it as best I can without removing it so I hoovered it from the front to remove a small amount of dead insects etc.
The G2G Foam cleaner mentioned here and in another thread looks effective but I would rather not use anything too powerful or corrosive while the rad is in situ however I would like to take the opportunity to at least do something.
So how best to clean the radiator in this instance do you think?
Should I remove the fan from the back and just run either an airline and/or hosepipe through it or could I get away with using a cleaner of some kind?
It doesn't look too dirty to me but boy those fins are narrow.
Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-
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Yes, definitely remove the fan, and then you can spray water from the back through the radiator. If you spray/clean from the front you're in danger of just shoving any crud further into the radiator.
Don't use a high pressure hose for obvious reasons. I've used a hose with a twist nozzle to increase the pressure a little from a standard water tap with no problems. You could also try brushing with a toothbrush/soft bristle brush in a vertical direction and do a little scrubbing on the worst bits at the bottom. It seems to help.
But to be honest I'll be trying Rae's suggestion next year - carefully - it looks more comprehensive than what I get out of mine.
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Yeah well I've given it a quick blow-through with the air nozzle - from the back of course and after I removed that rod/radiator stay in addition to the four screws.
I didn't think it was too bad as it always looked pretty clean and I don't think it saw too much rain/bad weather use with the last owner. Can't speak for the previous but it will see none under my watch.
However after taking a closer look it doesn't look that great after all although the fan only came on when stuck in traffic and when running on the sidestand while I dismounted to open my side gate to take a slow ride into the garage and then turned off again shortly afterwards.
(https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1yHunyxRcn28acw_KqQfI389lVe7cLqLE)
I've always been paranoid about using anything to clean the fins especially when using a fin comb on commercial refrigeration as I've seen as much damage caused through maintenance than fair wear & tear.
The only right angle nozzle I have is designed for the Kärcher but I am able to dial down the pressure so I might give that a go at some point.
I'll hold back the G2G clean for another time.
Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-