Topic: ultrasonic parts washer

[Don R]

 Santa brought me one, haven't tried it yet, any suggestions?  I seem to remember someone using simple green or pine sol.

[RAFster122s]

Regular Simple Green is very hard on aluminum and I would not recommend it. Home Depot carries a purple Industrial version of Simple Green that can be used in concentrations up to 50% that is safe for aluminum as long as you aren't leaving it in solution for days.  The regular stuff is just too alkaline and hard to neutralize.  It has caused corrosion problems with aircraft as it was used for several years on the flight line but discovery of the damage resulted in it being banned from USAF bases.  So, I try to avoid using the green stuff around the bike.

Heat is your friend when using the ultrasonic and I prefer steam distilled water because you aren't dealing with any minerals in the water during the ultrasonic cycle being added...

Pulling any press in jets when carbs are hot helps sometimes if they are giving you trouble.  Then clean them in the ultrasonic again...
Spraying clean with carb cleaner & scrub with brass brush helps get a lot of dirt off before going into ultrasonic.  Change solution in ultrasonic when it gets dirty and keep cleaning and changing until they aren't turning the solution a dark color.  Initially I run the solution until it is very dirty before changing with fresh.

Is your ultrasonic a harbor freight unit or an industrial model?

Congrats on the new useful tool.

David

[eigenvector]

I saw that one at Harbor Freight and I didn't see how you could fit anything in that little compartment.  I know they had a couple of them, both were pretty small - do they have a larger version that would work with something carb body sized?

[Bailgang]

I'm hesitant to recommend this because even though I have a gallon of it already I haven't tried it in my ultrasonic washer yet in fact I haven't tried it at all yet because I got specifically for the washer so I can't say how well it works. It's simple green pro HD and supposedly it's safe on metal surfaces and for use in ultrasonic cleaners, here's a link if you want to look into it further yourself.
http://simplegreen.com/products/pro-hd-cleaner-degreaser/

[Johnie]

Don...which one did Santa bring you?

[edwardmorris]

I've used the HF US Cleaner with a 50-50 mix of water and Simple Green HD Pro (purple stuff) with great results on carbs, master cyls and other bits. The Pro HD stuff says on the label that its safe for aluminum and other soft metals. Best part for carbs is that it doesn't discolor them like some dips do. For stock restos, you want that factory iridescent glow on the bodies.

[Don R]

http://www.ultrasonicsdirect.com/ultrasonic-cleaner-sh180-6l.html

 This one, it will hold two carbs at a time, just short of a rack. That will keep me from being lazy. The family all chipped in to get it because I mentioned stealing the jewelry cleaner that no one ever used.

 My buddy with the bike shop uses the purple cleaner but if he does it hot it discolors the carb bodies. It may just need clean juice. He did my sandcast carbs without heat. They are awesome.

[ekpent]

 What kind of metal exactly are these carbs anyways, some kind of a zinc alloy or what some people call pot metal ?
  Nice looking unit Don, your making us Harbor Freighter cheapskates look bad   

[eigenvector]

That is a nice cleaner.

I have 3 spare carb racks in the workshop that could really use that treatment.

[RAFster122s]

The bigger one can be used with CV carbs without issue if you split the rack.  Did a pair of CX500 CV carbs without issue.  Only one or two small tranducers so the tank has areas that are more effective than others.  Using a sheet of aluminum foil suspended vertically shows you the hot spots.  It will actually puncture the foil in hot spots.  It actually will deform or reshape areas around the hot spots, hard to explain. 
So, yes it is cheap but unless you drop some serious chabge for a good industrial ultrasonic then it will do smaller items just fine, just requires more interaction and limitations. Some ultrasonic machines have filtration systems to clean the bath extending its useful life.  Their tranducers are much higher quality and larger and more numerous.

I used the purple Simple Green and it works well.

The white deposits in carbs near the jets are difficult to break down without an ultrasonic. Jets/brass parts removed from carbs can be cleaned with CLR, but not too long as it is very aggressive...not more than 5-6 minutes.  Then polish them up.  I use numbered drills to clean the holes in the jets, being careful to not cut them any larger.  Carefully going up in size and stopping immediately if any sliver or chip of brass shows.  This way you can get all the deposits out of the jets.  It is really essential that they are clean and you will be surprised to see material that is not brass coming out of the process. Use a pin vice with the numbered drills.

David

[Don R]

 Thanks for the info, I'm excited to get to the shop and get busy. Been a little under the weather but nothing I can't kick. Doc says, you ever have this before? I said yes, He says well you got it again.
 I've been using a torch tip cleaner and/or guitar strings on my jets. Same as you said, being careful to not enlarge them.

[Don R]

 I used it on some gnarly petcocks and small parts. I also put some seriously grungy carb bowls in and it took 30 minutes but they came out nice and clean. I'd normally clean these some before the ultrasonic bath but it passed the test.
 I used the powder detergent that came with the unit. It looks a lot like laundry soap.
  A couple jets that were plugged solid didn't open up after a few minutes but I think once they can get flow through them they will clean out nicely.
 I dumped the liquid and there was a layer of nastiness in the bottom. So far I'm pleased. My wife said there was a huge price markdown or she wouldn't have bought it. When she called the order in they were making some that day.