Ultrasonic cleaner - recommendations please

[eljay]

As I am gearing up to start restoring an older gummed up engine, I think I could use an ultrasonic cleaner to clean the parts (like carbs, fuel pumps, brake calipers, springs) once I start disassembling.
I don't have much room for a parts washer or blaster and no drain, so cleanup of those would be a chore, methinks.

I don't want to spend a fortune, nor have something else take up space. Is 3L too small?
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0824KC65C/?tag=atomicindus04-20

Has anyone used one of these? What size do you have and was it useful or a waste and you moved on to something else?

Thank you!

 

[dodge610]

I have the biggest one HF sells it does everything that i have needed done. Size is all up to you and what you need it for.

 

[eljay]

I have the biggest one HF sells it does everything that i have needed done. Size is all up to you and what you need it for.

Thanks. What size is yours?
Princess Auto (HF equivalent in Canada) was clearing them out and I missed it and they don't sell them anymore.

 

[dodge610]

Mine is a 2.5 litre HF stock number is 63256 and they run $84.99 but can use 20% off coupon most of the time.

 

[dodge610]

I might add i have had mine a few years and zero issues with it so far.

 

[Eric Essen]

For quality https://www.crest-ultrasonics.com/

I got lucky and scored a Whaledent Biosonic U100 at a garage sale 10+ years ago for $20. Is pretty simple, no heat, but it's got the right frequencies to get stuff clean! I run small carburetors, speedometer parts, engine hardware etc for my Vespa scooters through it using Dawn, Simple Green, or Purple Power dilution. It's a workhorse for sure!

For finer things like electronics they make special fluids, we run Branson at work in our Crest ( https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/...system-digital-timer-heat-75-gal-45-khz-115v?), but for nuts and bolts etc, I get by fine with regular cleaners.

 

[Newell33]

I bought one back in September. I kept reading reviews and recommendations that said buy the biggest one you can afford as you'll likely wish you had a bigger model after using it for a bit. I ended up going with the 30 liter model on Amazon for around $300.00. It's way bigger than what you're looking at, but I know I'm glad I went this route. I do a lot of ATV work, and it allows me to clean multiple carburetors at a time. It's also big enough that I can fit a 4-barrel carb or other larger car parts in there.

As far as solutions go, I've tried Dawn dish soap, Sharpertek SC20, and Simple Green Aircraft and Precision Cleaner. The Dawn dish soap was ok, but not great. I wasn't impressed with the Sharpertek product. It wasn't any better than dish soap in my experience. The Simple Green Aircraft and Precision Cleaner has by far cleaned better than the other two products.

 

[engineer2]

Do they still make them with mechanical timers and a heater switch? Much less stuff to go wrong. What scares me with the imports is if the keypad gets damaged, or the electronics go bad, you now have a piece of scrap metal.

 

[M6erfan]

Do they still make them with mechanical timers and a heater switch? Much less stuff to go wrong. What scares me with the imports is if the keypad gets damaged, or the electronics go bad, you now have a piece of scrap metal.

They do.

 

[930dreamer]

I've had two HF cleaners and neither one lasted a year.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I use EVAPORUST in my 30 liter ultrasonic. It removes the rust in a few minutes.
For parts degreasing I like Simple Green. It is better if the parts are cleaned in a solvent first.
The good news is, the ultrasonic tank can be filled with hot water and the tank heater will keep it very hot. Smaller parts can be placed in a ZIPLOC bag, with an amount of solvent or Evaporust and placed in the hot water. The ultrasonic cleaning will work the same.
I restored some 100 plus year old fasteners from my WF and John Barnes drillpress. It took less than 15 minutes for near perfect results.

 

[M6erfan]

I've had two HF cleaners and neither one lasted a year.

Mine's going on 9 years, and it's used weekly. It's not the best/most powerful, but refuses to die.

 

[jg4660]

I never used one of these but have had great results with an old crockpot filled with green antifreeze 50/50.

 

[M6erfan]

I use EVAPORUST in my 30 liter ultrasonic. It removes the rust in a few minutes.
For parts degreasing I like Simple Green. It is better if the parts are cleaned in a solvent first.
The good news is, the ultrasonic tank can be filled with hot water and the tank heater will keep it very hot. Smaller parts can be placed in a ZIPLOC bag, with an amount of solvent or Evaporust and placed in the hot water. The ultrasonic cleaning will work the same.
I restored some 100 plus year old fasteners from my WF and John Barnes drillpress. It took less than 15 minutes for near perfect results.

Evaporust works great in an ultrasonic.

 

[dodge610]

Evaporust works great in an ultrasonic.

This i will have to try never tried evaporust in mine Mine from HF is on year no. 5

 

[n8n]

I have a 10L chinese one and it's great. 6L is the smallest that you can clean LPs in if that is in any way relevant to your interests.

 

[dogdog]

I've had two HF cleaners and neither one lasted a year.

I have mine (HF one) for last 5 or 6 years for cleaning my eye glasses every day , occasional carburetor or fuel nozzles and what not that comes along. Only thing I don't like about it, is the timer, only 480 seconds on time. The commercial ultrasonic ones might be better.... Since OP is Canadian, there is a Canadian manufacturer for a commercial one up there that is pretty popular, just don't remember the name right now.

Also there are few recent threads that have very good recommendations.

 

[dogdog]

I use EVAPORUST in my 30 liter ultrasonic. It removes the rust in a few minutes.
........

any pic of the 30L ultrasonic cleaner ? curious about the size..

 

[Strouty]

I ended up buying a very large used unit from ebay, it was a major brand, so far so good, but I don't use it a lot. The HF one would be worth a shot if you don't need the capacity.

 

[mikegt4]

I looked on ebay and CL for 6-8 months and all that I found was totally worn out USA made equipment at high prices. I finally resolved that I was going to have to buy a new Chicom Ultrasonic if I was going to get one at all. I used high quality US made ultrasonic equipment at work so I know the difference. Someone on this forum in a previous Ultrasonic thread recommended Zokop so I ended up with a 410HT, 10L capacity. It has manual controls to avoid any digital control problems. It has served me well for 3 years.

Pay attention to the dimensions of the tank, a 4 bbl carb needs a different shaped tank than a sword, know what you will most likely be cleaning. I try to use a secondary container like ISB cornbinder does, it saves a lot of solvent/cleaner. I keep an array of old glass jars (peanut butter or canning) handy, Ziploc bags as well. A Pyrex measuring cup works good if you keep the inside and outside levels pretty even. It is most important to use a basket keeping anything off the bottom of the tank. Don't drop a greasy part in the ultrasonic, pre-clean it first and use the ultrasonic as the final cleaner.

 

[eljay]

I have a 10L chinese one and it's great. 6L is the smallest that you can clean LPs in if that is in any way relevant to your interests.

Did you buy it on Ali or somewhere else? Can you list the make/model?

 

[eljay]

Thanks for all the responses fellas!

I searched "ultrasonic" and couldn't find any threads in the first two pages that were titled as such. I found that strange on GJ, so thank you for the the input. I'll try looking again.

The vendor in Canada is vevor.ca.
I have to look at tank sizes to try my best to predict what I'd need. I'd like to keep the cost under $200, which doesn't get me much capacity.

And Evaporust is great on its own, so it must be great in an ultrasonic tank. Great idea. Sounds like it would be a nice substitute for sand blasting if it works well.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Don't drop a greasy part in the ultrasonic, pre-clean it first and use the ultrasonic as the final cleaner.

Great advice for small or large items. 5 minutes with a brush and an air guns will make a huge difference. For really large items, 10 minutes with a pressure washer. Either that or you will be filtering/replacing the fluid a lot.

Get a smaller one of carburetor parts. Get a real parts washer for anything larger.

If you are doing restorations, you will need a blast cabinet.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Did you buy it on Ali or somewhere else? Can you list the make/model?

Skip the model number. Search for "Zokop 10L Ultrasonic"

 

[bugnut]

Anybody try Gunk in the ultrasonic? Just curious!

 

[dodge610]

Anybody try Gunk in the ultrasonic? Just curious!

Might gunk it up sorry i had too.

 

[Davefr]

The HF unit is a toy - Small tank, wimpy heater, non continuous operation, plastic tank seam, single transducer. (Probably OK for jewelry).

For a few more bucks you can get a Chinese "no name" unit with more power, stainless steel tank/basket, decent heater, drain valve and larger tank capacity. I believe all the no name units are OEM'd by Beijing Ultrasonics. I've taken one apart and they're decent. Try and get mechanical controls. For whatever reason they come with higher wattage heaters then the same units with digital controls. (Elevating the bath temp is the most important thing you can do to increase the units effectiveness.)

For top shelf units, go with Crest, Elma or L&R. I have 8 ultrasonic units and German Elma's are my favorite but not cheap. Unless you use them frequently they may not be worth the price.

 

[n8n]

Did you buy it on Ali or somewhere else? Can you list the make/model?

I bought it used from a member of a local audio/HT enthusiast group. It appears to be the same one that's on eBay all the time, it appears identical to item 373166865714. This was supposed to be dedicated to cleaning old records, I also bought from the same guy a "Vinyl Stack" rotisserie and I have it set up with my stereo in the basement. I have probably cleaned maybe 100 LPs with it so far, 3 at a time at 10 minutes a go. A few really bad ones have been cleaned twice (ones where I actually had to manually remove dirt with a fingernail or toothbrush) I don't know how many hours were on it before I got it. I use distilled water in the bath with some isopropanol and a little splash of Triton X-100.

I've also used it for other things, when I'm getting ready to clean out the tank, I'll run my glasses through it, have cleaned showerheads too etc.

I hate buying no name stuff but for the price, I couldn't say no. If it dies I'll either buy another $100 one or else pay the $6-700 for a brand name unit, will make that decision then.

 

[Rinspeed]

For top shelf units, go with Crest, Elma or L&R. I have 8 ultrasonic units and German Elma's are my favorite but not cheap.

Those are good suggestions, I would add Branson and Blackstone as well.

 

[Lightning rod]

I purchased from these guys about 10 years ago with one of their in-house brands
Still made in China I suspect
used it monthly for small engine carbs mostly and anything else that is tough to clean
has worked flawlessly so far. I don't see my model but they must change regularly.
pick the size you need from the "inside tank dimension"
for the biggest part you need to clean

 

[plcguru]

I'm rebuilding a transmission n Santa got me this 15l one to clean the valve body and other 'stuff'
https://www.amazon.com/ROVSUN-Ultrasonic-Adjustable-Stainless-Cleaning/dp/B07G59ZYWJ
So far so good...
Im using the purple simple green as a solvent since some parts r aluminum

 

[got2boostit2]

Bought a Chinese version off Amazon a few years ago. Tried various solvents and settled on using Ultrasonic LLC solvents. My unit is a 30L and just the right size for most of the Subaru parts I work on.

 

[Eric29]

The difference between a cleaner like this and the cheap Chinese ones at Harbor freight or the one I bought from Amazon which many people recommended, is the time it takes to clean parts. I often have to put small carburetors in for 3-4 hours to get them clean, and the cycle time on the cleaner I have is 20 minutes. Even then, the carburetors sometimes work and sometimes do not. So if you’re really serious about cleaning, the better quality ones are worth it.

For quality https://www.crest-ultrasonics.com/

I got lucky and scored a Whaledent Biosonic U100 at a garage sale 10+ years ago for $20. Is pretty simple, no heat, but it's got the right frequencies to get stuff clean! I run small carburetors, speedometer parts, engine hardware etc for my Vespa scooters through it using Dawn, Simple Green, or Purple Power dilution. It's a workhorse for sure!

For finer things like electronics they make special fluids, we run Branson at work in our Crest ( https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/...system-digital-timer-heat-75-gal-45-khz-115v?), but for nuts and bolts etc, I get by fine with regular cleaners.

 

[isb cornbinder]

any pic of the 30L ultrasonic cleaner ? curious about the size..

Picture as requested. My unit is a 30 liter and it is about 24"X14" footprint and 14 inches high. The websites will have all the information. I prefer the dial adjustments versus the digital touch buttons or touch screen.

 

[laser3kw]

Skip the model number. Search for "Zokop 10L Ultrasonic"

this is what I got. Worth the money. Mine has the mechanical dials for time and heat. I was warned here (GJ) about the problems of the digital stuff and the mechanical stuff is much simpler.
Get a large Zokop. Look at heat wattage and ultrasonic wattage and get the best combo. You can always start with hot tap water to quicken the heat up time.

 

[macgee]

Thanks for all the responses fellas!

I searched "ultrasonic" and couldn't find any threads in the first two pages that were titled as such. I found that strange on GJ, so thank you for the the input. I'll try looking again.

The vendor in Canada is vevor.ca.
I have to look at tank sizes to try my best to predict what I'd need. I'd like to keep the cost under $200, which doesn't get me much capacity.

And Evaporust is great on its own, so it must be great in an ultrasonic tank. Great idea. Sounds like it would be a nice substitute for sand blasting if it works well.

Eljay,

I own a Vevor 6L but the one with 300w heater and I found the bigger heater very beneficial and worth it. It heats up quick and works well. I've been very happy with it. I would not go under 6L, you'll be limited in what you can put in it.

The 6L is not heavy and easy to store on a shelf. You can pick it up with fluid to take outside and drain into something if needed, it also has a drain spigot to drain into a bucket. I agree with others if you can find the analog version with knobs, they generally have the larger watt heater than the digital ones, you just have search a little harder to find but they exist. My digital one works fine though.

Evaporust is awesome in a ultrasonic cleaner but it not a degreaser so keep that in mind but you'll get the most performance out of the Evaporust when heated.

I've recently used Extreme Aviation Simple Green degreaser in it and have been very impressed with the results. It works well with non ferrous metal.
Pic of item covered in carbon grime and what felt like vaseline slime. It would have taken forever to clean by hand all those very thin slits and was actually pretty difficult to wipe off. Dropped it in for 15mins at 50C the way it looked in the before pic and after, I was very happy when it came out

 

[engineer2]

A few guidelines which most of you know:
Don't use any flammable liquids in your ultrasonic cleaner.
Don't let items rest on the bottom of the tank.
Don't let sludge build up on the bottom of the tank.
Leaving your glasses in for more than a few minutes can remove the anti-reflective coating (ask me how I know!).
Very thin metal can be damaged. Put a piece of tin foil in and see what happens.
Keep your fingers and hands out of it.

 

[eljay]

macgee, that's a fine example of what it can do! Thank you.
I am between 6L and 10L at the moment.
I realize that to keep the heat in, it's best to close the lid, but I assume that if I want to clean an item that's a different shape than the tank, I could just submerge one half first and then flip it for the next cycle, correct? e.g. clean half a suspension coil spring and then the other half.

P.S.
Since I change my search here to search for "ultrasonic" in titles, I did see a lot of past threads. But thank you for everyone's replies and not shooting me down.

 

[macgee]

Eljay,

Glad to hear you're thinking about 6L-10L, there seems to be a bit less selection in Canada for ultrasonic cleaners and more expensive than in the US even with currency exchange. I couldn't find any of the analog versions at a reasonable price and with the recommended higher heater wattage; 300w for 6L.

Even for a worthwhile 6L expect to pay over $200 CAN.

I did find this one and is actually the one I have in 6L ( I think they call it the Professional or Pro). It's 10L For $240 and has the 4 transducers and a large 500w heater. I think that will be hard to beat and should be high performing in this price category (if it works) but the there's some bad reviews to heed although if you look on amazon US, Vivo Home gets much better reviews for some reason for the same model so its up to you. Mine is still going strong.

https://www.amazon.ca/VIVOHOME-Professional-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-Machine/dp/B084WSW46Z/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=10l%2Bultrasonic%2Bcleaner&qid=1610050737&sr=8-8&th=1

Like what engineer2 posted, you need to follow a couple of guidelines to get the most of it. Also rotating items half way through process is very important to get best results; I learned this by watching circuit board repairman use an ultrasonic cleaner after repairing a motherboard.
Yes, you can stick things out and roate it, I've done that but you need to be ultra careful with the transducers while running, they're ultra sensitive and prone to fail if not treated carefully.
Whatever cleaner you get make sure that it has a wire basket and don't put in items without it, touching the bottom of the tank. That will cause the transducers to fail.

I turn on the heater first for about 20 minutes to get the bath hot before running the transducers.

Also, be prepared to use evaporust on items right after pulling out hot carbon steel items out of the cleaner, some will quickly flash rust but evaporust easily & quickly fixes that.

Having enough room inside vastly opens up what you can do with the U-cleaner and makes it more valuable. For example to get a scale of size of my 6L, my 30cm long interior is just big enough to allow me to drop in a drill press angle vise to clean.

 

[eljay]

Thank you.
I was looking at a 10L one with 240W usonic power and 250W heating power for under $200.