Ultrasonic & Pinesol?

[The Cobbler]

any one use pinesol in an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning carbs?
I have used pinesol before I had the ultrasonic cleaner & it worked well. just wondering about a 10 minute bath with pinesol in an ultrasonic?

 

[Rinspeed]

I've cleaned a lot of carbs but never used Pinesol, after looking at the ingredients I see no reason why it wouldn't work just fine with ultrasonics.

• Original Pine-Sol Multi-Surface Cleaner
  Contains water, C10-12 alcohol ethoxylates, sodium secondary C13-18 alkyl sulfonate, fragrance, citric acid, colorant, xanthan gum, and preservative. It also contains fragrance allergens.

 

[Jswain]

Pinesol works great. You just have to be aware it will turn them (some of them anyways) chalky black if you leave it in too long.

 

[jar944]

Yes

 

[RoninB4]

Would be interested hearing the results

 

[jar944]

Would be interested hearing the results

The original (that can only be ordered directly from the manufacturer now) with pine oil works amazingly well

 

[RoninB4]

The original (that can only be ordered directly from the manufacturer now) with pine oil works amazingly well

Very familiar with using Pine-Sol for cleaning carbs, just haven't used it in an ultrasonic bath.

 

[jar944]

Very familiar with using Pine-Sol for cleaning carbs, just haven't used it in an ultrasonic bath.

I've only ever used it in a ultrasonic for cleaning carbs/parts

 

[Old Man Roger]

Works great without an ultrasonic cleaner, I would guess it’s faster with one.

I agree with Jswain, don’t leave it in there too long. I’ve never needed more than an hour without an ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[tak1313]

Pinesol will work in an ultrasonic cleaner, but there are two things you have to be cognizant of. Note that I don't know about cleaning a carb, as I never even though of cleaning a carb with Pinesol even without ultrasonic cleaning.

One is viscosity. Undiluted (how I assume you plan to use it) Pinesol has a slightly thicker viscosity. That thicker viscosity MAY reduce the effectiveness of the ultrasonic vibrations, but I don't think it would totally negate it.

That viscosity also means it will be harder/take longer to degas. If you're not familiar, usually, when using any liquid/cleaner for ultrasonic cleaning, it's best to degas the liquid first. There are various ways to do this, including letting it sit for awhile or running it for a few minutes with just the liquid. Entrained gas (in this case atmospheric oxygen) also reduces/interferes with the effectiveness of the ultrasonic waves because the microscopic bubbles collide and absorb the energy instead of the energy being directed to the material being cleaned. The higher the viscosity the liquid, the harder it is to degas.

 

[geneg]

Works great without an ultrasonic cleaner, I would guess it’s faster with one.

I agree with Jswain, don’t leave it in there too long. I’ve never needed more than an hour without an ultrasonic cleaner.

When I was a kid, I had a Great Uncle who swore by Sno-Bowl for cleaning small engine carbs. Worked great unless left in too long & none of the threaded passages had threads anymore. I don't know if PineSol has the same risk. Iwouldn't think so since it isn't caustic.

 

[Old Man Roger]

When I was a kid, I had a Great Uncle who swore by Sno-Bowl for cleaning small engine carbs. Worked great unless left in too long & none of the threaded passages had threads anymore. I don't know if PineSol has the same risk. Iwouldn't think so since it isn't caustic.

I’ve done some experiments and see it remove certain finishes.

 

[acer66]

So the best is to use the OG Pinesol degassed possible diluted up to an hour?

 

[Rinspeed]

So the best is to use the OG Pinesol degassed possible diluted up to an hour?

That would all depend on the cleaner you had as they certainly aren't all created equal. A good way to think of it is the ultrasonics are what's doing the work, not the solution. The solution just helps. Aluminum is fairly soft and if your cleaner had some decent power 1 hour very possibly might be way too long resulting in damage.

 

[BrandonV]

Worth a shot. It's important to note that ultrasonic cleaning is heavily dependent on the solution being ideal for cavitation.

 

[Jswain]

That would all depend on the cleaner you had as they certainly aren't all created equal. A good way to think of it is the ultrasonics are what's doing the work, not the solution. The solution just helps. Aluminum is fairly soft and if your cleaner had some decent power 1 hour very possibly might be way too long resulting in damage.

Agreed. If the carb is fairly clean and you're just cleaning it in the ultrasonic cleaner being proactive. 1hr isn't doing a better job then say 15 minutes, and maybe worse if it starts chalking the body of the carb up.

If the carb is very dirty internally well you will have to gauge that. If you have the solution nice and warm, and even a decent ultrasonic cleaner then I would start with 10-15 minutes and check from there.

 

[Rinspeed]

If you're not familiar, usually, when using any liquid/cleaner for ultrasonic cleaning, it's best to degas the liquid first. There are various ways to do this, including letting it sit for awhile or running it for a few minutes with just the liquid. Entrained gas (in this case atmospheric oxygen) also reduces/interferes with the effectiveness of the ultrasonic waves because the microscopic bubbles collide and absorb the energy instead of the energy being directed to the material being cleaned.

There are some great posts in this thread but this one is pretty important. Getting trapped dissolved gas out of a running tank is not always easy if you're not using any soap/surfactant. That why I said in post above that "the ultrasonics does the work, not the soap". The main reason why people would use any soap in an application like a carb is the soap lowers the surface tension of the water, and like you said, it allows the sound/cavitation bubbles to penetrate the water much better.

A little experiment for those of you that have a tank to understand better. Fill your tank with hot water and turn it on. Look at the surface activity and note the volume. Then add a cup or two of Dawn soap, if you have trapped gas you will almost instantly see more activity and it will get louder because the sound is now penetrating the water. In a post on another forum I mentioned firetrucks using Watter Wetter in the tanks. A couple of them thought I was off my rocker that they make a surfactant that makes water wetter. All it does is lower the surface tension of the water.

 

[jar944]

So the best is to use the OG Pinesol degassed possible diluted up to an hour?

I used to use about .5 gallons of pinesol (1/2 of a 140oz jug) in my 30L ultrasonic unit. That was when you could buy two 140oz jugs from costco for $9 or so.

 

[tak1313]

So the best is to use the OG Pinesol degassed possible diluted up to an hour?

I would think the whole point of using an ultrasonic, besides being able to get to parts that are more difficult to clean otherwise, is the speed and effectiveness. If it takes an hour of simple soaking, and an ultrasonic is effective for what you are trying to clean, it would likely just take about 15, maybe 20 minutes or so.

So one advantage, assuming it works, is that if Pinesol is as caustic to the metal as some state, you would reduce the time the carb sits in the damaging solution.

 

[The Cobbler]

haven't got back to the project. maybe Sunday or Monday

 

[The Cobbler]

got around to it today, here is before picture. sorry for out of focus, but it was gummed up badly


didn't get pics of disassembly and cleaning, but it was filthy & gummy .
here it is assembled without the float bowl.
about 10 minutes in the ultrasonic with some pinesol & water maybe 4 oz of pinesol & a gallon of water .

 

[The Cobbler]

I left the fuel strainer & float bowl in the cleaner after it was cooked. I guess too long as it blackened them .
will be a few days to know if the cleaning was successful. but I am confident .