Ultrasonic cleaners

[unterhausen]

There is nothing to an ultrasonic cleaner. I think a lot of the lower-end commercial units are barely better than the $100 ones. And the high end commercial units are $2000 and up.

One idea that I haven't tried yet is putting the parts in a bag with your solvent and then filling the ultrasonic cleaner with water. The other advantage of the bag method for me is I don't have to clean out the flux residue.

[alexihnen]

I have a larger cleaner - large enough for a crank with the rings on. It was maybe $200. I’ve used it a ton on older parts. It doesn’t replace a brass brush and some elbow grease, but it’s been a massive help. It removes a ton of grime with water and some simple green. If only using for chains, I’d probably do the shaker/solvent route. Newer components with fancy finishes may not do well in a cleaner, but the old (pre-1990s) stuff does well.

[Geemalar]

@ unterhausen

That’s what I do, I fill the pan with hot water, and put my cleaning solution in a zip loc bag with the part. After its done cleaning, I pour out the cleaning solution, and pour out the water from the ISC pan.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by weiwentg

I have a relatively cheap US cleaner, and I'm thinking that it's not at all necessary for waxing. If you're starting with a new chain, an ultrasonic cleaner definitely isn't necessary to get any dirt out of the chain, because there isn't any. Soaking and agitating the chain in degreaser is what you need to do, and gatorade bottles (or whatever bottle; probably glass if you're using mineral spirits) are enough for that.

I recently had this illustrated with a Campy SR chain. I did my usual bottle routine with degreaser, but the chain was still a bit waxy. I just couldn't get the last bit off. I fired up the ultrasonic cleaner, but still no effect. Eventually I tried mineral spirits in a glass jar. That was what got the grease off. Didn't need the ultrasonic. The previous Dura Ace chain was fine with just degreaser, so I assume that Shimano's factory lubricant is a bit easier to break down than Campy's or SRAM's.

WD-40 is a great solvent as in diesel fuel(yes, yes, I know).
BITD, pro bike wrenching dudes used to use diesel with a stencil brush to clean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ktTXjSqvJc

[Gasman1440]

I never had much lick ….

[MikeD]

https://moltenspeedwax.com/pages/clean-your-chain

You don't need an ultrasonic cleaner for hot waxing a chain. Start with a new chain. Results aren't as good with a used chain as, even with an ultrasonic cleaner, you can't get it clean enough or you have to waste an inordinate amount of time to do so. Once waxed, cleaning is either unnecessary or can be cleaned in boiling hot water.

[bshell]

Just read and follow the information provided by the Zero Friction Cycling guy's site and/or the Silca instructions.

You can definitely get a used chain appropriately clean for wax treatment w/o an ultrasonic cleaner.

Whether that's a waste of time is up to each person.

[many_styles]

ZFC has noted that if you use UFO clean as the degreaser in the agitate method, that you can reuse to clean more chains.

It’s also not as toxic as other solvents., but good as decreasing and cuts through wax lubes as well. It's good stuff! Only con is the price.


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