carb float

[harleynut]

Learned something the hard way. Long story short , I removed a carburetor from an old Massey Ferguson tractor for a friend because it was leaking gas badly. I bought a rebuild kit and a new in the box float. Before I installed the NEW float, I tested it in a pan of water. It tested good. It float in water. Put the Carb back on the tractor and still had the same problem, gas everywhere. Took it apart again. This time I tested it in a pan of gasoline. The NEW float sank like a rock. The new float was defective like the old one . Sent the NEW float back...they sent me another one ,problem solved. Morel of the story is for some reason a defective float will float in water but not in gasoline. Don't know why this is. I wouldn't believed it if I haven't seen it for myself.

[r_reed]

makes sense since water sinks to the bottom of a tank because it is more dense than gas. the defective float must have had a density between that of water and gas, thus floats on water, sinks in gas. to work, the float needs a density less than gas.

[ken ct]

LOL you don't see if it will float,You submerge it completelywith apair of needle nose pliers holding the hinge part in hot but not boiling water. It will bubble from the leak. Like testing an inner-tube in water. . I tested the one I sent you it was good. ken ct. LOL.

[harleynut]

I'm sure you did Ken. I don't know what you know about carbs...just passing along an experience I had with that old tractor.

[ken ct]

Oh your not talking about the one I sent you!!! lol ken ct.

[34PKUP]

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Originally Posted by r_reed

makes sense since water sinks to the bottom of a tank because it is more dense than gas. the defective float must have had a density between that of water and gas, thus floats on water, sinks in gas. to work, the float needs a density less than gas.

Don't think the term 'density' applies to brass floats.

[r_reed]

maybe average density would fit better. take the mass of the float divided by the entire volume of the brass float and enclosed air and you will have an ave. density. that density has to be less than the density of the gas for the float to "float". now, if the float has a hole in it, that's a different story. holes or leaks are probably more often the problem now that i think about it.

[harleynut]

absolutely not Ken......I was talking about the float in a Massey Ferguson tractor that I changed a while back

[ken ct]

Thanks for clarifying that for me. lol ken ct.