Topic: ultrasonic jewelry cleaner

[dieselndixie]

so, I am reading alot about these on forums....first off:

1. what types of motorcycle parts, specifically, can they clean?

2. what brand/model are you using?

3. where and how much can one be bought for?

....is it worth it?

[gregk]

I had a ultrasonic drafting pen cleaner left over from another era and have used it to clean carb jets and other small parts. They  work great but you are limited by the size of the cleaner.  mine is about 6" dia and approx. 3" deep, so no big pieces.  Sorry I can't remember how much i paid for it.  Probably worth more than it is worth to a biker.

Greg

[Really?]

HF has bunch of different sizes.

[Jim F]

Branson is another one that you can look in to
they make tanks to do everything from ball point pins to aircraft engines

http://www.bransonultrasonics.com/

[Steve F]

I have a COLE-PARMER unit that has a tank of about 8" sq. X 6" deep. It also has a heater element built in to get the fluid quite warm without boiling, which works really well at breaking up greasy stuff.  You're not supposed to use any flammable solutions in it, so be careful what you put in these things.  I haven't used it for quite a while, and maybe the next time I'll try using Simple Green in a diluted form.

[Jonesy]

Branson is another one that you can look in to
they do everything from ball point pins to aircraft engines

http://www.bransonultrasonics.com/

+1. I've used Branson equipment and it really works well.

[Alan F.]

I can remember using a branson unit with flamable solvents, it had a nice stainless steel tub and was really well built = $$$

I would imagine that if one was to use the harbor freight units, you could fill a beaker or metal container (soup can or other even) with your flamable solvent and set that into regular tap water inside the cheapo ultrasonic cleaner....  Just to keep things safe.

And yes hot solvents work immensely better than at room temperature, in a past life of precision optics we used to use acetone at 150 degrees F to dissolve waxes and polishing pitch daily, aside from degrease the odd machine part... without much regard to flash point I might add, so be careful.

[Mustangsean]

I've used the HF unit for about two years (until it finally quit about a year ago).  It worked well for the money, but you can't submerse the entire carb in fluid.  Clean one side, flip, clean other side, flip...

Sean

[dieselndixie]

what size specifically?   1 pint sounds very small...