Topic: Good ultrasonic cleaner?

[74cb750]

Hi,
any recommendations for a good ultrasonic cleaner?
Are there any that fit a bank of carbs, at a reasonable price?

What is a good quality brand? ie, something that will last?

[Stev-o]

I'm considering buying one too

[KCSOHC]

In my experience working at a pharma company the two best quality were VWR and L&R Quantrex. Both are not cheap new but you might find reasonably priced used on eBay. Many pharma companies also sell unwanted lab items on equipnet. That might be worth a look also. -J

[74cb750]

Yeah, I checked them out. Unfortunately all the ones I checked out follow the sites policies of NOT declaring anything about the condition of the machine, nor offering Any information on said machine is rather disconcerting and for me a big financial risk ($900)  I guess you have to know what you're buying by visiting the seller.
I should ask my daughter for help as I'm pretty sure she used to purchase  these and deal w/ sales reps when they failed in her dental office.
But thanks for the link anyways.

I really would prefer to purchase one made in domestically (usa), but have found nothing under $$2,500 so far, don't trust chinese made high end products, so that has narrowed my choices.

[PeWe]

I bought a cheap 30L that takes a complete rack of 4x carbs or head or cylinder. Runs OK for garage use, a professional workshop might be able to invest 4 times more.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-3L-2L-3L-6L-10L-15L-22L-30L-ULTRASONIC-CLEANER-BATH-CLEANING-W-Timer-/221894760638?var=&hash=item79416405ff

[sinister902]

I have the same brand but different dimensions as PeWe and the thing works amazing. I think it was around $350-400 on amazon

[RAFster122s]

The bigger Harbor Freight Ultrasonic cleaner only has either one or two transducers and as a result it has areas which are not as effective.  It will only run for a limited time and you are not suppose to run the heater constantly.  I bought one and used it on a pair of CV carbs off a 78 CX500 and it did a good job but, it took a lot of babysitting to restart it as its run time is low.  I would run the heat for it's recommended value and that got it hot enough it was uncomfortable to put your hand in for a cycle or two.  I ran it to the maxtime for the heat then I think the downtime was not more than X for Y time period.  So, i would run it for two or three cycles and I repositioned the parts every  cycle moving them so the ultrasonic waves were stronger under a different section I was cleaning, within the limits of the cleaners roomto do so.,
The Harbor Freight unit I have is not tall enough to fully immerse the carb body from throat to throat opening. I merely flipped them over then repeated the time.

You can see where the transducer waves are strongest by dipping vertically a sheet of Aluminum foil for a few minutes.  It will have deformed and ripped the foil where it is strongest.  You can then tell where to put things for maximum effectiveness.

I always used distilled water and tried to avoid any with added minerals, steam distilled will not have minerals and I believe most reverse osmosis systems also filter out the minerals and any particulates.

I would rinse them well with tap water followed by carb spray.  Let them air dry and then bag them until reassembly.  CLR used for couple minutes outside the ultrasonic will attack many hard to clean deposites of hard white stuff and any rust, lime, or calcium, etc.

Yamaha carb cleaner used to be fantastic stuff until they reformulated due to epa rules.  Do not know if they refined it since I was last in a discussion about it.

What brand are those you link to?  I haven't been able to follow the link to ebay  on this device... will try to recall to pull it up when on the PC.

Looks like a nice unit.

David
 

[74cb750]

Well, I thought I would buy American made, then I received the price quotes:

Tierra-tech = $3,567.34usd
Omegasonics = $3,749 usd
Crest             + still waiting for quote, been over a week, but probably in the same range.

One thing I do notice is the American made ones have warranties that range from 2-10 years, whereas all the ones on ebay have none that I could easily  find.

[MauiK3]

I have this from Amazon. It works very well, heats quickly and really cleans things up.

[74cb750]

I have this from Amazon. It works very well, heats quickly and really cleans things up.

what are  ;you using for a cleaning solution?

[Stev-o]

I have this from Amazon. It works very well, heats quickly and really cleans things up.

Brand/model number?  (Or link?).   I want me too. 

He uses Simple Grean as the cleaning solution.  50%?

[MauiK3]

Straight simple green, just don't put polished aluminum in, it hazes the surface. Easy to polish off though.
Tec Motion 10L
I loaned my airless paint sprayer and it came back with the gun covered in dry latex. It softened it all up and it fell off.
I have not done my carbs yet, before I do I will change the fluid.
Really removes almost everything. Heater works great although for a long session it heats anyway from the ultrasonic.

[Medyo Bastos]

doesnt simple green bleach/stain aluminum?

[preston]

 Hi, new here. Been using an ultrasonic cleaner on carbs for the last
7-8 years and have found using distilled water and a few drops of Dawn
dish wash soap and about a tablespoon of lemon juice.
  Run temp. up to about 165 degrees for 1/2 hour, rinse with water and
blow out all body passages (fuel and air).
 Hope this helped.

[MauiK3]

Yes, I find that highly polished aluminum, if placed back in my 100% SG will haze over. Polishes back off easily. The 100% SG really cuts the caked grease and stuff, I've even skimmed the floating oil off the top. For less dirty jobs, I will be diluting it. Might even try the dawn dish soap recipe.

[RAFster122s]

Home Depot carries a purple industrial Simple Green that is safe for Aluminum in concentrations below 50%.  Left in a long time it will dull aluminum.  Simple green was banned by USAF because it was causing composite structures to delaminate and other alkaline corrosion problems.  Simple Green is highly alkaline and must be rinsed very thoroughly...

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Home Depot carries a purple industrial Simple Green that is safe for Aluminum in concentrations below 50%.  Left in a long time it will dull aluminum.  Simple green was banned by USAF because it was causing composite structures to delaminate and other alkaline corrosion problems.  Simple Green is highly alkaline and must be rinsed very thoroughly...

I've used the purple SG before to soak parts, but didn't know it wouldn't dull aluminum if diluted to half strength.  You learn something new every once in a while.