Ultrasonic Cleaner?

[Vet261]

Anyone using one? I've been wanting to try one and finally picked up a small one, I'm shocked at how good of a job it does. I have been cleaning super grungy old bike carbs today and they look like new after a couple of runs through the cleaner.

The carb on the right in this pic looked like it came off the titanic before I cleaned it.

 

[rsim141]

John - what make is the cleaner you have and from where? I've just picked up a 2nd 80's RM 250 for winter rebuilding and that looks like the way to go for some of the work I've got ahead of me!

 

[sturd]

John - what make is the cleaner you have and from where? I've just picked up a 2nd 80's RM 250 for winter rebuilding and that looks like the way to go for some of the work I've got ahead of me!

Ultrasonic cleaners are the bomb. A quarter cup of simple green and fill my 2 liter one the rest of
the way with water and a carb with decades old grunge in it comes out clean in 5-10 minutes.
How to test for a good one - put water and a couple inch square of Reynold's aluminum foil in it
for a couple minutes. The aluminum foil should have holes in it, see through, when done. Otherwise
it's just a "sonic" cleaner and will never do the job.

 

[TwentyThreeMX]

had a huge one at an old job once, did a few nasty frames and some other stuff with it..that thing was SO awesome!!!!!!!!

 

[Vet261]

John - what make is the cleaner you have and from where? I've just picked up a 2nd 80's RM 250 for winter rebuilding and that looks like the way to go for some of the work I've got ahead of me!

Harbor Freight 2.5 L.

I wanted a cheap one to make sure I liked it. I'm sold now and I'd recommend anyone interested go buy a larger one. I doubt anyone will be displeased.

 

[Double D]

When did you get it? I was there Saturday and picked one up.... funny

 

[Vet261]

Friday night, was a gift.

Grungo_RM125 carb before and after. This carb had some black paint on it too.

 

[rsim141]

Thanks for the update John! I was going to head down to Harbor Freight but now that you say bigger would be better - found a few on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/FULL-SET-DSA2...387765228&sr=1-14&keywords=ULTRASONIC+CLEANER

The 2 liter unit from HF was able to fit 2 carbs or one?

 

[Vet261]

It fit two 125 carbs but the 250 carb was too big for anything else to go with it.

For anyone into vintage bikes I'd suggest getting one big enough that you can put case halves into. That would be perfect.

 

[rsim141]

The cleaner I linked to on Amazon is a 7 liter and the basket is 12x6x6 so that's getting close! I'll have to do some measuring on my RM250 engine cases and see if that'll do it...

 

[kevin849]

Santa got me an ultrasonic cleaner for Christmas, just wondering what kind of cleaner do you guys use. Thanks

 

[Vet261]

I've been using Purple Power, it's an awesome degreaser and is cheap by the gallon. I've also used household cleaners like Fabuloso. Will try Simple Green today, I just hadn't had any until now.

I'm working on the '89 RM125 now and I love how I can just toss a pile of grungy bolts and misc in there and walk away!

 

[mooch]

Ultrasonic cleaners are the bomb. A quarter cup of simple green and fill my 2 liter one the rest of
the way with water and a carb with decades old grunge in it comes out clean in 5-10 minutes.
How to test for a good one - put water and a couple inch square of Reynold's aluminum foil in it
for a couple minutes. The aluminum foil should have holes in it, see through, when done. Otherwise
it's just a "sonic" cleaner and will never do the job.

With the ultra-sonic cleaning having that effect on aluminum foil, is there ever any kind of concern with aluminum parts where a tight tolerance comes into play?

 

[k01]

With the ultra-sonic cleaning having that effect on aluminum foil, is there ever any kind of concern with aluminum parts where a tight tolerance comes into play?

If your parts aren't actually foil, you should be ok. Just make sure the cleaning solution won't harm the parts. Should be more gentle on the parts than attempting manually clean them.

 

[sturd]

If your parts aren't actually foil, you should be ok. Just make sure the cleaning solution won't harm the parts. Should be more gentle on the parts than attempting manually clean them.

What he said. Unless your parts are as thin as aluminum foil of course.

 

[jeffro667]

What he said. Unless your parts are as thin as aluminum foil of course.

Sturd agreeing with kO1, must be a new years resolution or something?

 

[k01]

Sturd agreeing with kO1, must be a new years resolution or something?

Know how hard it was to resist an aluminum foil helmet reference?