Ultrasonic cleaning

[Steve Swan]

I'm considering buying an ultrasonic cleaning unit and would appreciate hearing your experience.

Also, what you use for cleaning solution(s) in your ultrasonic... ?   

Prices are all over the map !  Seems most have same or very similar specs as far as wattage, HZ....

I'm considering this unit - http://www.ebay.com/itm/331162960173?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Thanks ! 

[Marcello Tha]

Dear Steve;

I would like to buy one too, you might use the old trick saying to your wife that you bought to clean her jewelry.

Marcello

[kp]

I bought this about 2 years ago and works a treat. Has digital controls and a heater which is a must have with these machines. The only reason I wanted this big unit is the smaller one I had was useless for large parts. Not cheap is the only drawback but parts are readily available
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Crest-5-25-Gal-Heated-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-w-Digital-Degassing-CP1800D-/330872904488?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

[ashimotok0]

Check this out Steve, its the best info I have found. its from www.cb750carbs.com

http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorcycle/text/ultrasonic_carburetor_cleaning_v7.swf

Basically, I reckon the Chinese cheopo ones are not very good (as mentioned in the above link). I was given one to fix a few years back and the build quality was really suspect.
For carb cleaning etc 40kHz units are fine but for heavy duty parts cleaning a lower frequency (typically 25kHz) is better. Ideally you need a few hundred watts of ULTRASONIC power (that's power from the transducers not the electrical power drawn) ... bit like in audio.

I agree with KP get one which has a heater (most higher end one have this plus a 'boost' facility for the Ultrasonics).

The test for one is to put a piece of thin aluminium foil into the bath and within a few minutes it should develop lots of tiny holes due to the cavitation effect.

I am currently looking into the best 'additive' to clean 750 carbs because with detergent in water I got 'smutting' due to the high zinc content in the carb bodies/float bowls. Maybe just a very mild 'dish soap' as you US guys call it would be better to break down the surface tension. What do you use KP?

Ultrawave sell some additive specifically formulated for US bath cleaning of aluminium but it costs around £80 over here. Will have to 'reverse engineer' someones safety data sheet to find out the best chemical to use

You need some kind of wire basket too, don't let the parts come into direct contact with the bottom of the bath.

BTW citric acid (from home brew shop) solution cleans up brass jets / floats really well (only immerse for a few seconds though!).


Cheers  ...... AshD

[kp]

Agree Ash I had a cheapie a few years back and it died but wasn't all that crash hot. I'm not sure what is in the solutions I have. I bought these from an Ultrasonic supply house but believe one is a mild detergent for the alloy parts. I have another which is for steel parts such as rods and gears etc. The one thing these cleaners do well is the electrical parts such as wiring harness ends and electronic parts such as regulators etc. Cleans print heads really well as I found out.
As for carbs, i'm OK with the ultrasonic bath but doesn't seem to get them as clean as I would have liked. What I did was buy a drum of Methelelne Chloride and WOW does that stuff do the job on alloy. It's heavy duty stuff though so it should be used very carefully Seems to work better when warmed up a little. That's about all I can offer. We have a place here that does tank cleaning using ultrasonic cleaning with a special chemical, I haven't tried this yet but I do plan to give them a try with a CBX tank I have.
KP

[Steve Swan]

Well, i splurged (again) and bought a 5 gallon heated Crest unit.   i like the manual controls.  the shop i work at has a Branson with manual controls.  I feel pretty good about the deal; Crest retails the unit for $1800, Balkowitsch wholesales them for $1452, i made an offer and got it for $1000 shipping included.  i would have liked to have bought one of the less expensive units readily seen on on ebay, but the reviews were not positive, a couple reviews said the units quit working in less than a year.  The Crest has a sweeping frequency to yield uniform cleaning.  From what i was able to learn, the less expensive ($550) 5 gallon units have a fixed frequency, so do not clean uniformly, are loud and don't have the longer life ceramic transducers.  The unit will be drop shipped from Crest, expect it will arrive in 10-14 days.  When i give the unit it's first use, will give a product report and pics.

Crest unit

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201072718463?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Less expensive units which got poor reviews

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Industrial-780-Watts-21-liters-5-55-gal-HEATED-ULTRASONIC-CLEANER-s9-HB-821MHT-/221420710827?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338db3ebab

[kp]

Hey Good work Mr Swan. That's the same crowd I bought mine from. Fairly sure the deal was similar in that I got a great discount and shipped to me here in Oz for free

[Steve Swan]

interestingly enough, Balkowitsch is one of, if not ebay's largest volume sellers.  I had a couple questions, they were very responsive to my satisfaction.  Shane Balkowitsch is an RN; pretty eclectic.  You can learn about him by googling his name.  Bismark, North Dakota is in the middle of nowhere USA and the climate/topography is mildly similar to Siberia.

[Steve Swan]

ps - have used my Crest ultrasonic cleaner many times. the best 'solvent' to use in the ultrasonic is simple green industrial strength.