Topic: My Ultrasonic Cleaner Experience

[jneuf]

I know these have been talked about a bit here before, so I thought I'd just provide my own personal experience...

Harborfreight had the 2.5 quart model on sale recently for $74.99, and with an additional 20% off coupon code for online orders, I decided I'd take a gamble and give it a shot. I was able to get it out of the box last night and was going to give it a shot, and then I realized I was out of simple green. Crap....The only thing I could find in the house to use was some of that orange TKO cleaner / degreaser stuff my wife bought awhile ago....so I tossed a teaspoon of that, filled it up with water and threw in and old carb I had kicking around to see what happened.

First observation was that it was way louder than I thought it would be.....So I plunked it into my basement and went down every 10 minutes to reset the cycle (480 seconds is the longest cleaning cycle you can set it for), ran it three times (total of 24 minutes), pulled the carb out and to my surprise, it was very clean. I used a q-tip to remove some of the loose grime on the outside, but aside from that, it turned out really well. I was actually pleasantly surprised....

I'm going to go pick up some simple green tonight and toss in the jets, and try it out again...I'll try to post some before and after pictures.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Grab a tumbler while you're there and throw in some old nuts and bolts and some stainless nuts and bolts and report back   

I'll be looking forward to both trials 

Oh hey, please list your model number!!

[jneuf]

This was the ultrasonic cleaner I got:

http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html

Sadly, I`m up in Canada and the closest Harborfreight is probably about 3 - 4 hours away, so I had to have it shipped to me. If I would`ve known about the tumbler, I would`ve given that a shot too! Have people here used it with good success on nuts and bolts?

[Really?]

I think payed less that $50 for that one.  Sale and coupon.

NEway, I have just used distilled water and lemon juice with it.  Worked out well.  Does one carb at a time.

I have been meaning to put my E-cig atomizers in there but have not gotten around to it yet.

[eshumaker]

I use a tumbler for cartridge reloading, works great. Never tried bike parts, have to give that a try. The crushed walnut media seems to work well for shell casings best..

[bollingball]

The first thing I would do is take it apart and by pass that 8 minute timer. Then get a adj. timer so I could set the time I wanted
Ken

[Mainerider]

With all due respect, HF's $79.95 sonic cleaner is little more than a toy. It's really just a jewelry cleaner and a low-end one at that. You simply can't buy a true ultrasonic carb cleaner for $80. I have a SharperTek SH180 sonic cleaner designed specifically for carbs;quality- made in USA and no plastic. Much more powerful and effective. $950 retail, sale prices usually around $650. I also use their carb Shellac Buster chemical and their carb degreaser/cleaner. Both highly effective. Yes the HF will make grimy carbs  shiny on the outside (actually mostly just your chemical bath at work) but It's not strong enough for deep ultrasonic cavitation. Not advising everyone to drop $750 for a cleaner and chemicals; just realize what you are truly  getting for $79...

[750K]

I've been using ultrasonics for years at work, they work great. Just make sure you use a basket in the tank, you don't want anything touching the bottom of the tank. I fill the tank with water and use a plactic jar for either carb cleaner or simple green cycles, the jar sits in the basket.

I've cleaned some nasty jets and gummed up petcocks with an ultrasonic, no scrubbing or guitar strings for me anymore.

[jneuf]

With all due respect, HF's $79.95 sonic cleaner is little more than a toy. It's really just a jewelry cleaner and a low-end one at that. You simply can't buy a true ultrasonic carb cleaner for $80. I have a SharperTek SH180 sonic cleaner designed specifically for carbs;quality- made in USA and no plastic. Much more powerful and effective. $950 retail, sale prices usually around $650. I also use their carb Shellac Buster chemical and their carb degreaser/cleaner. Both highly effective. Yes the HF will make grimy carbs  shiny on the outside (actually mostly just your chemical bath at work) but It's not strong enough for deep ultrasonic cavitation. Not advising everyone to drop $750 for a cleaner and chemicals; just realize what you are truly  getting for $79...

I'm more than aware....Harborfreight, or it's Canadian equivalent, Princess Auto, aren't exactly known for their high end tools/products.

Total price was $59 after the sale and coupon, and trust me, I've probably blown $59 on more ridiculous things in my life.

Is it totally made of plastic? Yes.
Is it made in the U.S.A. of the highest quality components? Not a chance.
Is it going to continue working for more than a year or two? I doubt it.
Am I going to spend $950, or even $650 on an ultrasonic cleaner to use at home? Again, not a chance.

I put in a disassembled cb750 carb, and it came out clean (inside and out). That alone met, or exceeded my expectations...

[Prospect]

How much did you pay for shipping to Winnipeg?  Do they use UPS or USPS?

[jneuf]

How much did you pay for shipping to Winnipeg?  Do they use UPS or USPS?

I actually use a parcel service in North Dakota, and get everything shipped there. Much less hassle that way...

My parents live about 10 minutes from the town in North Dakota where I get the stuff shipped to, so it's pretty convenient.

[Mainerider]

I wasn't denigrating your purchase; I was trying to put things in perspective. HF markets these as carb cleaners and they are not. I know $59 isn't much money but a $25 1 gallon carb dip tank from NAPA will do the job as well as HF's jewelry cleaner. For severely  gummed-up carbs only the higher-end cleaners have worked for us in the shop. As I said, I'm not recommending that you run out and buy one. 

[Really?]

I dip too!

[lucky]

The first thing I would do is take it apart and by pass that 8 minute timer. Then get a adj. timer so I could set the time I wanted
Ken

It has a time limit to protect the components.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Tumbler - The guy in England (Inox) I bought my stainless kit from apparently uses a tumbler for his "electro-polish" finish. Mind you this isn't nearly as nice as buffer wheel chrome like finish on stainless but they look considerably better than right out of the box flat finish looking stainless hardware. Shiney but not smooth mirror finish. I'd bet that our old fasteners would really benefit from this too.