Ultrasonic cleaner question

[twarren]

I'm in the process of restoring a motorcycle and am thinking on purchasing a used ultrasonic cleaner.
Questions are; what to look for in a used unit?
And, will these cleaners remove rust from fittings?

Thanks, Twarren

 

[kelpaso1]

Ultrasonic won't clean rust on steel or iron. Does a pretty good job on aluminum, brass, gold. I use diluted Simple Green.

 

[Ocho]

Ultrasonic won't clean rust on steel or iron. Does a pretty good job on aluminum, brass, gold. I use diluted Simple Green.

We have one at work and I would agree with all of the above..except the gold. We don't have gold.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I'm in the process of restoring a motorcycle and am thinking on purchasing a used ultrasonic cleaner.
Questions are; what to look for in a used unit?
And, will these cleaners remove rust from fittings?

Thanks, Twarren

You always wish it was a little bigger. It won't touch rust. It will clean so thoroughly that parts can rust overnight.

You can clean a part multiple times with the best degreasers and the nastiest solvents by hand. Toss it in the ultrasound with the weakest Natural Blue and dirt will crawl out of no where. They are impressive in their way.

The slick set up for gun cleaning is to buy two. One to clean. One to lube.

 

[pgray007]

I bought one (new) on fleabay for bicycle parts. There are dozens of people selling what seems to be the exact same unit. I hit some nasty stuff with 1:5 Simple Green HD and the grease rinsed right off. I haven’t really tried rust but it’s amazing.

Only negative is it’s loud and supposedly emits some damaging highs frequency noise so I wear ear muffs or just leave the garage when it’s running.

Here’s a recent example after 5 minutes in the unit and a water rinse.

Before:



After:




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jvvmusme]

buy the biggest ultrasonic cleaner you can afford. you will always find other uses for the machine: bigger carbs, etc...

 

[Ironcrow]

For rust, the backyard process is electrolysis. Google for numerous youtube and instructions.

 

[Parrothead]

I picked up some old sockets from a pawn shop awhile back, wonder how well it would work and what I should use to clean them?

 

[gtr1999]

Ultrasonics vary in frequency,size and options. Those cheap bench tops are pretty basic, the transducers are typically bonded on to thin sheet metal to allow the sound waves to penetrate. I would make sure it works but never power it up unless there is water in the tank. We have used very good quality Branson Ultrasonic benchtops and they are ok but cost a ton more then what HF will sell.

I had several 6' benches built over the years that I would love to have in my home shop but space and cost don't allow it. I practically gave away a couple of those over the past year.

In industrial machines,in the 40 kHz range,this type of bonding is a problem and in short order will lead to leaks. cavition erosion will eat into the bottom of the tank and cause pin holes. The best is a magnostrictive transducer, they will last a very long time- the last one I had built is on 20 years now and no holes, the bonded ones last 2-3 years some even less.

Some of the small ones are heated others are not, usually no filtration for drag out issues- if that is a concern. The water will get dirty fast. Usually wash water heated to about 135- 140*f will clean well but it depends on the chemistry and if it will degas once installed fresh.

They can work very well but be aware of what you are looking at.

 

[LeonardY]

The product I use for taking off rust is called Evaporust.
I also found that diluted CLR about 20% dilution works well.

I was looking for a thread I did on another forum about restoring a bandsaw but it looks like it been archived.

If your interested, I just found it.
http://forums.finewoodworking.com/f...ols-and-machinery/restored-1936-delta-bandsaw

Here is what the fence looked like before and after I soaked it in Evaporust.
https://www.evapo-rust.com/

 

[stonesfan68]

Put the Evaporust in the ultra sonic cleaner.

 

[twarren]

Thanks so much guys. I think I'll spring for the used one. Twenty liter size so should be big enough.
Twarren.........

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have an Ultrasonic 30 litre unit. I use the ultrasonic cleaning action and EVAPORUST to remove rust. For general parts cleaning I use the heated settings and SIMPLE GREEN WITH water mix. This may one of the best tools I have spent money on in the last 5 years.

Ultrasonic cleaning action and Evaporust works better than shown in the You Tube video.
I am going to buy another smaller ultrasonic, possibly 6 - 7 liters.

 

[Boomer343]

I helped a fellow that had his garage flooded with silty river water. He had lots of volunteers working on his house but needed his tools cleaned. That river silt is nasty stuff and of course filled with organic material.

I used my small ultra sonic to clean the tools after rinsing them in a bleach solution. Depending on what I was cleaning I used dishwasher tabs, 1001 Stain remover liquid or Evaporust.

Then I was faced with some flash rust and the need to protect the rest of the tools. After dealing with the flash rust I then used the ultrasonic that I had filled with some Lucas liquid wax (slick mist) product that absorbs water. Pulled the tools out and put them on a rack then hit them with my hot air gun to dry and seal the wax. Worked a charm.

Wish I had a big enough ultrasonic for the tool cabinet drawers ..... I feel for anyone ever flooded with silt and sewage.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

I'm on my second unit as the first one was not heated and was small. Prices have come down so much in the last five years that you can get a unit big enough for most carburators for $120-150.

HEAT. People complain in the reviews that the unit wouldn't heat the solvent to full temp in five minutes that they started the unit. They don't realize or read the instructions- PREHEAT first, then start it up. Two separate controls for this on the more common stainless steel tank models. They will heat up over time, and actually hold the temps quite well, but nothing is instant.

I have picked up a cheap coffee heated decanter / carafe. It can heat solvent quickly. I'll fill up the carafe with solvent from the tank, heat it up in a few minutes and dump that back into the tank. That shortens the preheat time quite a bit. If you really want to go quick, make two heating cycles with the carafe. I haven't found a need to though. At $20, it was a cheap thing to have for such use permanently assigned to heating solvents.

 

[Fueler]

What additive do you guys like to bring the shiney back to machined brass?