Ultrasonic Cleaners

[moparfreak]

I'm thinking of getting an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning small items, nuts and bolts off the charger, wife's jewelry, etc.

Has anyone used this one from HF?

https://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-63256.html

I used to have a smaller version from HF that worked decent, except it got cracked during a garage move.

What are the best cleaner / degreaser solutions that folks have success with?

 

[dodge610]

Yes I have that exact one is sitting in my garage. I use it for the same purpose and and use it with simple green. For degreasing works fantastic. Used the cleaning powder i allready had to clean other things. Havent tried HF cleaning powder.

 

[moparfreak]

I figure the best way to restore hardware is run it through a vibratory tumbler first to knock off the corrosion and scale, then use the ultrasonic to get the grease. Does this make sense? I've got a LOT of hardware coming off the charger I can't replace so I'd like to restore wherever possible. Is there any step missing?

 

[bluebolt]

I figure the best way to restore hardware is run it through a vibratory tumbler first to knock off the corrosion and scale, then use the ultrasonic to get the grease. Does this make sense? I've got a LOT of hardware coming off the charger I can't replace so I'd like to restore wherever possible. Is there any step missing?

I would use the ultrasonic first to get rid of the grease so it doesn't contaminate the tumbler media.

 

[Unruh]

I've been looking at that for awhile as well. I'm trying to convince my wife it's for keeping jewelry clean.

 

[M6erfan]

I also have that HF USC for the same purpose. What I do is soak the parts in a degreaser to clean as much grime as possible (I use everything from Superclean, Kerosene, WD40, depending on the situation) then put the parts in the ultrasonic (usually in a container of kerosene) to give them a good deep clean.

I've had mine for about 4 years and it's held up just fine. Use it for lots of small parts, fasteners, carburetors, jets, etc.

I don't use a media tumbler but that seems like a good idea

 

[dodge610]

I figure the best way to restore hardware is run it through a vibratory tumbler first to knock off the corrosion and scale, then use the ultrasonic to get the grease. Does this make sense? I've got a LOT of hardware coming off the charger I can't replace so I'd like to restore wherever possible. Is there any step missing?

Yes sir i use the vibratory tumblr second also got that at HF it was the biggest benchtop unit they had. So far zero complaints on that also its held up very well. Use media i bought at menards in that.

 

[Cahark]

I use the simple green aircraft Precision cleaner in my ultrasonic. It’s an absolute workhorse for most of the jobs that I do.

It takes about six Ounces per gallon of water. Also, it works much better at high temperatures than low temperatures.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ndnchf]

I have the same one. It works well with a 50/50 solution of simple green and water. One tip, seal the joint at the top of the metal tub to prevent liquid from getting down into the electronics. I used RTV silicine.

 

[dodge610]

I have the same one. It works well with a 50/50 solution of simple green and water. One tip, seal the joint at the top of the metal tub to prevent liquid from getting down into the electronics. I used RTV silicine.

Thanks for the tip never thought about it till you mentioned it going out to do it now while its empty and dry.

 

[930dreamer]

I bought the small HF unit , it worked for a few months and then nothing. I'd love to have a huge self heated unit.

 

[moparfreak]

Does that simple green aircraft cleaner work really well? I'll definitely have to try that one out. That small one was alright but I would like the heated element as well as larger capacity, plus they don't sell the small one anymore.

 

[mikebaker1129]

I just microwave my bowl of ware for 5 minutes ,add to the US cleaner,add chemical and turn on.
I use a chemical available in our storeroom called Hurricane.
Hot water makes a huge difference !

 

[Bagherra]

I've been looking at an USC to clean my gun parts.....

 

[gtr1999]

Those little bench top US cleaners are limited but may work for your application. I use commercial US cleaners we had made and have provisions for heat and filtration.
Since our production has been send outside the USA now I had couple of 6' US benches I couldn't give away. If I had room I would have taken them.

US come in various frequencies, average is 40 kHz. More aggressive would be 30 kHz, higher Frequencies will be finer implosions.

Simple green will work 50-50 but it will work better with hot water. Some of the better Branson little benchtops ($1000) come with heat and timers but I don't recall any with filtration.

Important with these tanks is to never start them dry or very low you will burn out the transducers on the bottom of the tank in no time. Since these are Chinese made they probably are no where the quality level of the USA ones so I would expect the performance among them will vary. Be careful not to stack parts too tight either as the sound waves may be blocked. Use SS or glass to hold parts, plastic will block the waves.

 

[ndnchf]

I use mine (50/50 simple green/water) to clean antique sewing machine parts of 100+ years of dried oil gunk. Here is an example of before and after 15 minutes in the hot tub. What little still remained was soft and easily removed.

 

[guy48065]

Is the HF (larger) unit powerful enough to excite the solution in a smaller container set in the USC bath?

I've heard it's a way to clean with different chemicals without ever changing the regular bath--but to my eyes the action inside the cup is noticeably less than outside.

I could be doing it wrong...

 

[ndnchf]

Is the HF (larger) unit powerful enough to excite the solution in a smaller container set in the USC bath?

I've heard it's a way to clean with different chemicals without ever changing the regular bath--but to my eyes the action inside the cup is noticeably less than outside.

I could be doing it wrong...

I often use a pickle jar with solution in it to clean tiny screws and other bits that are more easily lost in the main tank. I fill the jar with hot solution from the main tank, put the parts in and set it back in the tank. When done I can lift it out and use a magnet tool to pull out all the little bits, nice and clean.

 

[tool-guy]

We are in the process of having 1 built that will be 4 feet wide, 3 feet in length and 3 feet deep with an overhead gantry and rotator to allow wheels and rims to be cleaned. Not cheap but will be a huge time saver for cleaning wire wheels and without the harsh chemicals for the cleaning of wheels of the high end cars.

 

[Zewnten]

Had several of the HF ones at work, get the warranty IMO, ours only last about a year ish with fairly heavy use. And we use a splash of simple green with hot tap water.

 

[M35A2]

I got one mainly for cleaning old cycle carbs but now I a using it a lot for gun parts too. I got a bigger one off amazon and it is great so far. For really oily/greasy parts I have found Blue Dawn soap and water works really well and cheap. For carbs, Ultra simple green for aluminum works awesome.