Ultrasonic cleaner?

[sc_rufctr]

I'm considering the purchase of an ultrasonic cleaner. (I plan on getting one with an inbuilt heater & around 2.5 litre capacity.)

Mainly for cleaning small car parts, jewellery etc... Are they any good or it it just a load of hype?

Also, what solutions/solvents do you use in them?

Any recommended brands? I'd like to buy right in the first place.

[LWJ]

I have a "jewelry cleaner" with less than .5 liter capacity. It was under $30.

I use it a far more often than I thought. Example: my bike chain is surgical clean in a couple of minutes.

I use mineral spirits as the solvent.

And, I wish it had some more volume (like 2.5 liters) but even my little cheapy is a great tool.

[look 171]

They work. Dad was a jeweler, so they were industrial machines. I have no knowledge of the cheaper ones out on the market. I still have the smaller one that I use sometimes to clean stuff. Ours has a heater built in so the water was always steaming hot. We always only dish washing liquid. None toxic and the pieces come out super clean. We also have a stem cleaner to blow dirt off the hard to clean areas (this is what does the trick. Ultrasonic cleaner loosen the dirt, steam blows it off).

I have used Simplegreen in the ultrasonic on bike chains before and it worked great but I also used Dawn dish soap and it worked on my bike chain equally as well. Hope this helps

[flatbutt]

Anyone ever use one on spoon parts?

[legion]

I have three of them. I use them for cleaning spoon parts and for recycling spoon poop.

My big one is a 4 gallon unit that put me back around $400. It is heated, has a drain, and four transponders. I use a dedicated spoon cleaning solution from RCBS in this one and it can accommodate many large parts. It get the grime between parts like nothing else.

The next one is a 1 gallon heated unit with two transponders. I think I paid $250 for it. I use it for oiling spoon parts.

The smallest one is a quart-sized non-heated single transponders unit. I use it for cleaning spoon poop in Pyrex beakers. After that, the spoon poop goes into a media tumbler with stainless steel pins.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by legion

recycling spoon poop.

cleaning spoon poop in Pyrex beakers. After that, the spoon poop goes into a media tumbler with stainless steel pins.

I won't like, I was scratching my head until the end... I had begun to suspect and then when I saw the bit about the media tumbler, that sealed it.

[red-beard]

I have a 4 liter unit that I use for bicycle parts and spoon cleaning.

I also used it for cleaning a bunch of dirty silver dimes. I used just degreaser, but it did lift a bunch of grime from the dimes.

Make sure they have several transponders. The heated ones help as well. I use the "orange" cleaner from home depot for most of my cleaning.

[wdfifteen]

Mine is fantastic. Internal heater, holds about 2 1/2 gallons of water, big enough to get a 911 cam tower into.







It cleaned this 911 compressor bracket in about 15 minutes. I used water and a fairly strong mix of Simple Green.
I didn't touch it with a brush or pressure wash, just dropped it in, let the US cleaner do its thing, and pulled it out.






It got down into the nooks and crannies better than any brush could.

[wswartzwel]

I have a 2 gallon one that I use almost daily for cleaning carburetors. I use a mixture of 20% simple green in water. 10-15 minutes will clean even the gunkiest carburetor to like new condition.

I have noticed that sometimes when putting brass and aluminum parts in it will allow some electro plating as the surface will have a slight color of the other metal, though this could be a result of the simple green chemical make up

edit...(Just saw previous post... My experience is the same as his.)

[RNajarian]

Here is a tip . . .

To test whether or not an ultrasonic cleaner is working properly, place a clean sheet of aluminum foil halfway in the liquid so half is submerged, the other half out of the water.

Turn unit on and wait 20 seconds, remove aluminum foil and inspect. It should look pitted an have small pinpoint holes.

I recommend a unit that has a 30 minute timer and a HOLD feature.

[mepstein]

Be careful with aluminum and magnesium. It can destroy the surface finish and even crack the part.

[look 171]

You really want to know if your unit is working? Stick you fingers in there and it will feel like little fishes are biting it. leave it in for another 10 second, you will feel pain. This is when yo know its working. Dish soap really cleans those dirty grease from under your finger nails. I do it all the time.

[VINMAN]

This is mine. I usually just use water and a little Dawn. Sometimes ill use it with water and orange cleaner. Both work well.

[svandamme]

top tip
Iron/steel parts must be dunked in oil the second you take em out of the ultrasonic cleaner
else you'll have fly rust within minutes. no really, I'm not exaggerating

[fanaudical]

Simple Green in a strong ultrasonic cleaner will agressively pit aluminum and magnesium.

I have found Pine Sol in water to be safe for degreasing in an ultrasonic cleaner. For really greasy stuff, I usually soak for a while in straight Pine Sol and then lift out to drip most of it off; throw it into the ultrasonic cleaner with water only and the residual Pine Sol is usually enough to finish the cleaning.

[Pazuzu]

Those of you with smaller cleaners (0-2 liters maybe), how often do you regret not having a much larger one?

Those that have larger ones (6-10 liters), how often do you regret not getting a much smaller one?


I'm kinda in the market as well, and while part of me says "buy the biggest one you can find just in case!" the other part says "it'll be a pain to maintain, take up too much room, and generally be running at 1% capacity 99% of the time".

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

I'm kinda in the market as well, and while part of me says "buy the biggest one you can find just in case!" the other part says "it'll be a pain to maintain, take up too much room, and generally be running at 1% capacity 99% of the time".

That doesn’t stop 80% of pickup truck owners.
A big one will take up more room for sure. When I’m cleaning small parts I fill the large tank with hot tap water, put the parts in a smaller container with hot water and detergent, and set it in the tank. It works fine and I don’t have to clean the big tank.

[Wetwork]

We used some small one's in armory's at most of the CG units I was stationed at. Be warned though, one unit I was attached to left a M9 barrel to clean over night. It completely took all the black finish right off. Big paper work....big. That mishap pretty much benched all the ultrasonic cleaners at small unit armories. So I'd say they work pretty well.-WW

[legion]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Those of you with smaller cleaners (0-2 liters maybe), how often do you regret not having a much larger one?

Those that have larger ones (6-10 liters), how often do you regret not getting a much smaller one?


I'm kinda in the market as well, and while part of me says "buy the biggest one you can find just in case!" the other part says "it'll be a pain to maintain, take up too much room, and generally be running at 1% capacity 99% of the time".

I have no regrets, I have both small and large units.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Wetwork

We used some small one's in armory's at most of the CG units I was stationed at. Be warned though, one unit I was attached to left a M9 barrel to clean over night. It completely took all the black finish right off. Big paper work....big. That mishap pretty much benched all the ultrasonic cleaners at small unit armories. So I'd say they work pretty well.-WW

That makes a lot of sense. Some idiot misuses a perfectly good tool so they put the whole lot on the shelf?
Maybe they should have had someone simply read the instructions.