Ultrasonic cleaner

[kelpaso1]

Jeez, you guys cost me money every time I look here.
After reading the "Why you need an ultrasonic cleaner", I needed one ha.

I've been doing alot of ATV and mower carbs this first week I've had it an am impressed. Just for comparison sake I took a couple snowblower carbs out of my used box. They both looked the same and I put one in the cleaner for 15 mins and a rinse and blow dry. I used 10:1 mix of Simple Green and water.

Here are the pics.

 

[dogdog]

is that the HF unit or some commercial units ?

 

[mmack66]

is that the HF unit or some commercial units ?

Looks like the Harbor Freight unit.

 

[kelpaso1]

From Amazon, $119.00

 

[Chaznsc]

The HF unit is like $85 minus 20% with coupon. Looks very similar to yours.

 

[SMKS]

That looks the same as the HF model.

The HF model works great for me when cleaning small carbs and tools. I've had it for four years and used it quite a bit.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Hmmmmm ... I wonder if I have the bench space for this.

 

[chris_1001]

After having wanted one for a while, i broke down and got the HF one. Works good. Not a lot to clean recently. but used it to clean some AR mags before i refinished them and my watch band. Still happy to have one. And I have been using diluted simple green as well.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I'd love to get one, but I would want one big enough to put a Quadrajet or Holley baseplate in. That size gets spendy REAL quick...

Tommy

 

[ronnyg801]

Has anyone used the HF one with solvents in the tank? Not just soap and water?

 

[engineer2]

I once worked for a company that sold ultrasonic cleaners and we were told to warn customers never to use flammable liquids in an ultrasonic cleaner. Supposedly a customer tried gasoline and the fire was pretty bad.

 

[gjz30075]

Has anyone used the HF one with solvents in the tank? Not just soap and water?

OP says he used 10:1 Simple Green. Are you looking for something stronger?

 

[jwhcars]

I use ammonia & dawn dish soap. This works really well but make sure you have ventilation in case you over do the ammonia.

 

[JABgj]

Try Pine-Sol. 2 parts Pine-Sol to 1 part water. Good carb cleaner that is easy on the rubber bits. Pine-Sol WILL fog the clear plastic window on the HF cleaner. (Guess how I know this?) Go easy on the tank heat too, as it can be pretty stinky.
This solution will work as a soak as well, just takes longer.

 

[Bobf]

I had to pick one up after I read the previous post last week or so. The HF was $120 but on sale this month for $85 so with a 20% coupon $68 +tx.
So far I've only used it to clean up some small engine parts and other small brass/bronze stuff with simple green and water. I used the heat with it and the cover had a lot of condensation on it. I was a little concerned about that since a previous poster said he thought the condensation ran down inside the unit and could short out the circuitry. I didn't have any problems but I'm a little concerned about using too much heat.

 

[James-W]

I don't have one but a friend of mine does. He does quite a bit of small engine work and he loves it.

 

[ron in sc]

I use Citronox in heated unit Used to clean rifle brass.

 

[dogdog]

Has anyone used the HF one with solvents in the tank? Not just soap and water?

the HF one is made of stainless I think I have used it with something similar "grease lighting" my fav degreaser... but nothing solvent solvent...... problem is that it doesn't seems to be strong enough for heavy duty rusted / caked stuff. and hate to press that reset every 480 secs or something... saw a professional one on ebay "the ones that ppl use to clean guns professionally". but got outbid at $400 that was a good deal, unit sells new for $1500 or something.

Also some DIY driver boards/transducers (60W and 100W)........ anyone build one or have the commercial version of it to compare ?

 

[kelpaso1]

I had to pick one up after I read the previous post last week or so. The HF was $120 but on sale this month for $85 so with a 20% coupon $68 +tx.
So far I've only used it to clean up some small engine parts and other small brass/bronze stuff with simple green and water. I used the heat with it and the cover had a lot of condensation on it. I was a little concerned about that since a previous poster said he thought the condensation ran down inside the unit and could short out the circuitry. I didn't have any problems but I'm a little concerned about using too much heat.

I used silicone sealant around the steel tank and housing as per some of the reviews I read. Not an issue now.

 

[kelpaso1]

I'd love to get one, but I would want one big enough to put a Quadrajet or Holley baseplate in. That size gets spendy REAL quick...

Tommy

You can with this size. Put the carb parts in and clean. One end will be sticking out of the water. Do one end then flip and do the other end. The lid on the cleaner does not to be on when using.

 

[kelpaso1]

the HF one is made of stainless I think I have used it with something similar "grease lighting" my fav degreaser... but nothing solvent solvent...... problem is that it doesn't seems to be strong enough for heavy duty rusted / caked stuff. and hate to press that reset every 480 secs or something... saw a professional one on ebay "the ones that ppl use to clean guns professionally". but got outbid at $400 that was a good deal, unit sells new for $1500 or something.

Also some DIY driver boards/transducers (60W and 100W)........ anyone build one or have the commercial version of it to compare ?

Ultrasonic won't remove rust.

 

[Bobf]

I used silicone sealant around the steel tank and housing as per some of the reviews I read. Not an issue now.

I was thinking about using the silicone sealer in the tube around the junction but wasn't sure it would stick well to the stainless. I take it you had no problems?

 

[kelpaso1]

I was thinking about using the silicone sealer in the tube around the junction but wasn't sure it would stick well to the stainless. I take it you had no problems?

Nope, used bathroom caulking, stuck good. The main problem I read was some of the solution would run into that gap between the tank and the housing when emptying the tank and get inside the unit.

Like most things made in china, sometimes you have to rebuild/remake or modify for it to work right

 

[drmarkr]

Has anyone used the HF one with solvents in the tank? Not just soap and water?

I was using WD40 in mine....didn't realize it was that big of a no-no.

Some others on here set me straight.

 

[mygarageone]

I saw a demo of one large enough to do an engine block , what a great way to clean .
The shop owner said it saved him hundreds of hrs in shop labor in cleaning by hand .

 

[buzz4041]

Mine gets a good workout. I got it a couple months ago for auto carbs mainly but have done a variety of things now. I did a batch of jewelry for my wife recently and was surprised at how much dirt was actually in it. Threw some sockets in yesterday and this is how much crud came out. I have been using a simple green solution and it seems to work pretty well so far.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

You can with this size. Put the carb parts in and clean. One end will be sticking out of the water. Do one end then flip and do the other end. The lid on the cleaner does not to be on when using.

I suppose, but the OCD/Type A Personality in me just doesn't groove on that. To me it's like baking a cake with it half out of the oven...

Tommy

 

[Bigtee]

Here is the one that I use, it works great. It is small, but my purposes it's all I need.

http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/20300

 

[Rockey]

My business uses a medium-large size ultrasonic cleaner for doing circuit boards and entire VFD's. Certain components need to be replaced before we put it in the ultrasonic cleaner. We also have control over the duty cycle and power output of our unit. It works amazingly well on most jobs but if it has build up of coolant from a mchine shop or heavy grease/oils it requires some elbow grease in conjunction to work well. Well worth the investment!

 

[stihlntime]

I use have used one daily for the last five years is a small engine shop several cleaning solutions work well. Mean Green from Dollar General 50/50 with water basically same as Simple Green at a fraction of the cost. Awesome cleaner from dollar store or WalMart 50/50 gets excellent results but may be a little harsh or strong for items with rubber components. Purple Power 50/50 does well. We used a HF unit for the first 2-3 years until the heater quit and went to a stainless commercial unit can't really tell a difference in the quality of the cleaning between the two units. We set the heat at 165 degrees on our new unit and have never damaged any item. I'll throw wrenches sockets and bits in it occasionally they come out looking like new. The cleaners have saved scores of two stroke carbs from the trash can,they simply clean orifices that can't be cleaned any other way.

 

[kelpaso1]

I suppose, but the OCD/Type A Personality in me just doesn't groove on that. To me it's like baking a cake with it half out of the oven...

Tommy

lol

 

[kelpaso1]

I use have used one daily for the last five years is a small engine shop several cleaning solutions work well. Mean Green from Dollar General 50/50 with water basically same as Simple Green at a fraction of the cost. Awesome cleaner from dollar store or WalMart 50/50 gets excellent results but may be a little harsh or strong for items with rubber components. Purple Power 50/50 does well. We used a HF unit for the first 2-3 years until the heater quit and went to a stainless commercial unit can't really tell a difference in the quality of the cleaning between the two units. We set the heat at 165 degrees on our new unit and have never damaged any item. I'll throw wrenches sockets and bits in it occasionally they come out looking like new. The cleaners have saved scores of two stroke carbs from the trash can,they simply clean orifices that can't be cleaned any other way.

Excellent point.

 

[VDubJoe]

Luckily I am about the opposite of that.

Joe

 

[dogdog]

so the question is.... does the commercial unit clean better or pretty much the same just different size tank plus some features/accessories ?

 

[Nexussian]

You can with this size. Put the carb parts in and clean. One end will be sticking out of the water. Do one end then flip and do the other end. The lid on the cleaner does not to be on when using.

I suppose, but the OCD/Type A Personality in me just doesn't groove on that. To me it's like baking a cake with it half out of the oven...

Tommy

I have a friend that uses his ultrasonic cleaner for carbs and other things.

When he has a part that's too tall for his cleaner, he has containers he can put those parts in.

It works kind of like a double boiler, except the other container floats in the cleaning basin.

He fills the secondary container with his chosen solution for the task.

I saw him using a quart mason jar to do a part that was not big around, but relatively tall (slide valve carb body IIRC).

Looked new afterwards.

 

[turfgnome]

I tried the cheap route and bought harbor freight ultrasonic cleaners, they seemed to work ok. However when one of the mechanics bought a commercial ultrasonic cleaner the harbor freight junk got tossed aside and we ended up replacing them all with commercial units. Trust me put them side by side and you do see a difference on what they get clean. My harbor freight units are stacked in the corner not being used.

 

[muguvian]

Make sure any residual Simple Green is thoroughly rinsed away from anything aluminum. They make an aircraft grade version that is supposed to be safer for Al, but the regular retail stuff breaks down the oxide film and accelerates corrosion. Even the mfr says not to have it in contact with unprotected Al for more than 10 minutes.

 

[nfk]

Is everyone just using the same solution untill its too dirty to work anymore? Or do you have to have new solution frequently?

 

[Kamn]

I always replace the solution after I clean a set of carbs
Its just water and simple green........and after you rinse your carbs off with fresh water, I also give them a shot with carb cleaner out of the spray can because if you don't rinse it well enough there will be a mild form of corrosion/powder on the aluminum body, the carb cleaner stops this from happening
And yes it gets the internal passages cleaned that you otherwise cannot reach, and if you have CV carbs on any of your bikes then you will know what I am talking about (sensitive bastards)

 

[daven]

Does anyone know if these are any good? 30 liter seems like a decent size

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Stainless-Ste...r-Heater-w-Timer-New-/400812713850?nav=SEARCH