Excellent Part Cleaner

[Jcslocum]

I cleaned a really grungy engine oil cooler tonight. This engine had lots of leaks in the past and the cooler was disgusting and some of the cooling channels had grime plugging the holes. I did a few other parts first so the water was up to temp,. I plugged the inlet and outlet so no cleaner went inside the cooler and ran it for 15 minutes and the flipped it for another 15. It cam out clean and shiny. All grime and grunge removed. Perfect!

[G50911]

what kind of cleaning solution are you guys using? i hear simple green isn't so good for aluminum. i hear some are using 50/50 CLR (calcium,lime,rust) with good results. also heard lemon juice and water works well too.

anyone else try this compared to SG/dawn dishwashing detergent?

[Jcslocum]

I'm just using Dawn and Tap Water. No complaints.

[Henry Schmidt]

We use a mixture of Dawn, ammonia and water in the ultra-sonic cleaner at
911 Vintage Parts Home.
The new machine is large enough for an entire case if anyone needs piece of mind for their rebuild.
We have all the case plugs in stock so a thorough cleaning becomes pretty easy.

[1QuickS]

I bought a smaller one and a 5 gallon one from SharperTec for Weber cleaning. Both died after about a year and I didn't use them all that much. I now have a commercial quality, Branson 5-gallon unit. BIG difference in quality and durability! I still use the SharperTec 1220 cleaning solution but have been using Simple Green with good results also.

[djb25]

I have a three liter model sold by Hornady. It's basically identical to the ones on eBay (which I unfortunately didn't know about until much later).

It's small, but I've used the hell out of it. I've cleaned all manner of car, gun, and machine parts in it. It works fantastically, it's amazing how well it cleans. A larger model would be extremely nice to have...

[cgarr]

Looks like there are more for sale again!

Pro Stainless Steel 22 L Liters 1080W Digital Ultrasonic Cleaner Heater Timer | eBay

[quattrorunner]

Got mine! thanks

[cgarr]

Originally Posted by quattrorunner

Got mine! thanks

Is it that one? any good?

This would fit my VW mk4 turbo head perfect!

[quattrorunner]

I just bought it today because you posted that link! HAHA! I hope it's good. I read the specs and they show a powerful machine. It's big. I will be using it for jewelry as I already have them for jewelry but I bought this for the size and price. Can't go wrong with that price. Most my cleaners have cost me more than that and they're only 1/2 gallon size. I'll let you know how it compares to professional quality.

[Jcslocum]

Still lovin mine. That one looks about the same.

[rennzeit]

Dumb question number 3...
Can you wash mag parts in it, or not advised?
What cleaners are safe for mag?
thanks,
dug

[Jcslocum]

Mag will be safe. I'm now not even using simple green. Just tap water and Dawn dish soap. The original dawn that is blue. Not the newer fancy smelling stuff.

[motogman]

After cleaning is it advisable to apply some protection to the AL or other metals to prevent corrosion or oxidation (ah but I repeat myself)?

For example, I have read threads on cleaning cooling fans where the Al/mag is oiled after cleaning.

Experience and comments?

[quattrorunner]

These cleaners can eat through thin(very thin) foil. It will literally make holes in it. But if you clean quickly or clean heavy thick items it's fine.
I've never heard of reoiling a part though.
Check this out:

Cleaner on the right is my regular 3/4 gallon. Overkill for my purposes but I'll be using it for some car parts as well I'm sure.

[cgarr]

You got yours already? Some cleaners I use are so strong, some parts, mostly mag parts will get shot with some gibbs

[cgarr]

So is this the test you did to see if it was working ok?

[quattrorunner]

What's a gibb?
No I didn't do the foil test but I did do the hand dip test. It hurt so I guess it works. All around too. It's a pretty nice machine. Now I hope it lasts.

[cgarr]

Gibbs, great stuff




Sent from me

[M3pilot]

Adding my experience to the pot . . .

I bought one of the 5G models when they came back up for sale a few weeks back. Its the same as that shown on the "left" in post #75.

Over the course of 2-3 days I put a couple of hours on it cleaning fasteners and other small parts. When I went to start the next load and pushed the "Start" button for the ultrasonic system, nothing happened. I then noticed that the temperature wasn't rising either. The panel still worked, gave a seemingly accurate temp reading and the ultrasonic timer would count down - it just wasn't doing anything.

I contacted the seller about the problem. To their credit, they were responsive and apologetic and seemed genuinely interested in helping me solve the issue. They did ask me to do a couple of rounds of testing including supplying them with a video illustrating the problem and partially disassembling the unit to take/send sending additional photos.

Ultimately they diagnosed the problem as a "bad mother board" and said they would send me a new one that I would have in ~10 days.

A board did arrive on time and included a bag full of electronic parts (transistors, small fuses, resistors, etc.) but there was no explanation, schematics or any other documentation supplied. I felt a little better after finding that the board appeared to be completely assembled.

The board was one of four inside the unit and at first it wasn't readily apparent (to me at least) which one it was meant to replace. Swapping the boards was a little bit of a chore, mainly because of other, poorly soldered and/or crimped connectors that came apart during the process.

With the board replaced the cleaner has functioned normally so far but that's maybe 45 minutes total run time. Assuming that I don't have other problems I would still say that I'm happy with the machine overall. While I wasn't thrilled with all the hoop-jumping to diagnose and repair, I acknowledge that my experience could have been much worse.

The failure actually bothered me less than the somewhat shoddy assembly work. That said, it seems like a very useful tool and quite a good value for a light-duty environment considering the alternatives - assuming of course that it doesn't crap-out on me again.

Also, +1 on the Gibbs. I cleaned my grungy front torsion bar adjusters in the ultrasonic and then gave them a good coat of Gibbs and they look almost like new.