Ultrasonic cleaners

[Dekonick]

I just bought one (non heated kind) and was wondering what products work well to clean bike parts. It came with some powder stuff to try but warns about not using it with Al parts... Hmmmm...

Simple green?

Dawn detergent?

(made purchase for non bike uses but I am sure it will clean a chain better than by hand)

[pdxmech13]

We were using these exclusively @ one of our stores and found it to be much slower than using a traditional solvent tank. However it worked wonderfully on most things that you would put in the ol' dunk tank. They were a little small for the new hollow tech cranks to put in but with the chainrings off it was fine ( I am sure I'll get some flack from someone about putting cranks in the tank but man it can sure save time and not having to worry about bolts not getting tightened sure makes me sleep better at nite.) To answer your ? about solvent we used the following and found all to work well.

Mineral spirits
Citrus base cleaner
Mild soap Detergent (least affective)
Eco tech like product.

Well sorry for the long answer. Hope that its somewhat useful. What made you buy that thing anyway the are $$$$ congrats are in order though

[Dekonick]

Bought it because I have a chainsaw, commercial grade lawnmower, blower, etc... I prefer parts clean before I re-install them and the ultrasonic cleaner was relatively cheap ~ $120. We use them to clean breathing apparatus face pieces (the face mask) at work (well - I know a department that does and they tell me it works great.)

This made me take the plunge and give it a try - worst case I sell it on EBAY for approximately what I paid. :p

[Dekonick]

Question # 2 - do you change the tank every time you use it?

(for sterilization you have to - but for parts?)

[Dekonick]

Holy cow!

I just cleaned a nasty grit filled chain - this thing works better than anything else I have seen before!

WOW!

[Idris Icabod]

I fill my ultrasonic cleaner with water and then put the part I want to clean in a wide mouth bottle filled with solvent (usually hexanes). It works as well as putting it directly in the bath and avoids having to clean out the bath. Rather dully they work by generating bubbles and then exploding the bubbles.
Regarding simple green as a cleaner. I read that this can cause damage to chains, not sure where. Luckily I have access to solvents and a means of disposal at my work (pharmaceuticals).

[rePhil]

And how much was it?

[yeehawfactor]

i like these because instead of standing there cleaning stuff, you set them in and then come back, having accomplished other things during the cleaning. of course those other things are usually reading a magazine, but i digress.

[Dekonick]

Damn - Pittsburg got the ball - DMAN DAMN DAMN...

oh well - watching NFL.com, the game on TV, and the forum during commercials...

What is so bad about simple green?

I am using a citrus degreaser at about 20:1 water/degreaser ratio - seems to work like a charm.

Puttting items in a water bottle works?!? Ill have to try that...

[Idris Icabod]

I remembered on my ride where I saw the article about Simple Green. It was on velonews. I didn't read it again but it might only apply to SRAM chains. The link is:
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/9216.0.html

Putting items in a secondary container works as long as that container is filled with a solvent. As long as it is the bath it will generate the bubbles in the solvent.
You can buy them from lab suppliers, but they can be very expensive. I think the one I use at work was a couple of thousand dollars, so not really useful for home use.

[Dekonick]

a link to the mfgr site

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?function=Search

I paid less on EBAY - but the seller advertised it as new. What I got was newsed...that is in new cond, but it had definitely been used. I threatened neg feedback and got a threat in reply.

WHEW! Denver is looking better... I gotta go - back to the game.... :banana: