NaOH cleans aluminum transfer and also ports exhaust: noted for future use. Good work yo!
It's just less toxic than handling HCL. Unlike acid, which will dissolve most anything it touches, especially your clothes, this won't pit any metal other than aluminum(which it aggressively dissolves). So you can leave it in the cylinder as long as you like and it won't touch the nikasil or chrome. And if you get it on your clothing(or nearly anything else) - it just cleans it instead of damaging it. Some cylinders have only plated the sides and whatever creeps into the ports. So be careful there and keep it off the squish if it isn't plated like on sleeved Macs etc. In any case, if you are gonna port the saw afterwards, it doesn't matter if ya get a little it into the ports unless ya really spill it down there. I use a Q-tip to apply it where it is needed. Just remember to mix it strong so you need as little applied as possible. What I did just to be careful is I applied it, waited fifteen minutes, rinsed it entirely, repeat until it was clean. Took three runs. It's easy to do when you are working on other things. With NOAH, you can easily mix it strong enough so 15 minutes will dissolve it all very violently, but I didn't want it too aggressive in case I got it everywhere, and I didn't want an H2 explosion, so I mixed it strong 'ish'.
Also, remember that this process releases hydrogen. So no smoking while yer doing it.
And, unlike acid, once you are done you can use what's left to clean whatever needs cleaning(even like bricks or concrete etc) and pour the rest down the drain as it is mainly used as a drain cleaner.
But bear in mind, this stuff isn't as fast acting as acid is, and you will have to do multiple passes. It's really for use once you have polished it all up and want to get rid of any traces of aluminium.
Another thing I noticed is this 361wes has a different piston than I have seen in 355T's. Now, if it were my own saw, I would order the 355 piston to test it out, but this belongs to someone else. The 361 piston is a solid slug vs the windowed 355. And judging by how more eagerly the stock 355 revs vs this 360, I can see it makes a difference.
