Ultrasonic Cleaners

[Plum Hill]

Looking at the various threads on chains got me wondering if anyone uses an ultrasonic cleaner to clean their chains (and other parts).
LBS has been using one for a while. It looks to be a good alternative to using chemicals for the purpose.

[Joachim]

not sure what you meant by alternative to chemicals, since the cleaner still uses chemicals (solvents). I've used one and the strong solvents work pretty well removing grease and grime when in the cleaner.

[shovelhd]

I have one but do not use it to clean bike parts.

[staggerwing]

Sure, I use the one at work. Chain goes in a peanut butter jar full of stoddard solvent, and that combo goes into the water filled ultrasonic cleaner. Works beautifully. Filter the solvent occasionally, top off, and you are good to go.

It is a very useful tool, but don't expect to just drop the chain into a warm water filled vat, and have it come out sparkling. Must have either a strong detergent or solvent to break down/disperse the embedded grease and grime.

Warm, non-sudsing detergent, and an ultrasonic cleaner work a treat on glasses and jewelery too.

[kramnnim]

I got one recently, a 2L, $75 deal. It seems to work well enough for cassettes if they aren't too caked up. Need to dump out the dirty water several times. Same with chains, but now people are saying that chains shouldn't be stripped so clean?

[Idris Icabod]

I also use one at work. Chain goes in plastic jar filled with hexanes and sonicate, you would be amazed at the amount of small gritty particles that you can get out of a seemingly clean chain.

[Velosmith]

I use Cascade dishwashing detergent (the dry kind) in my heated ultrasonic cleaner. It works great and no solvents to worry about.

[Vinci]

I've done it before with Simple Green in a heated bath. Worked well, but it's not like it came out 100% clean. Some of the really nasty stuff inside the links remained.

Overall, it was a lot more effective than other methods I've used.

You'll need to soak it in something afterwards, IMO. The ultrasonic cleaner gets out oil/lube/grease where you might have a hard time reapplying otherwise.

[cfox]

Total overkill for a bike chain; a bike chain doesn't need to be that clean. It's not really that precise a part. If you wipe it down and keep it lubed it should never really get nasty enough to need a cleaning like that. You can use Pro Gold or something like that; it has a cleaning solvent that dries and leaves behind a lubricant.

[spacemen3]

I put the chain in a ziploc bag, spray it thoroughly with WD-40, and then leave it overnight. The next day I run it through the ultrasonic parts cleaner. After toweling it off, the chain looks a whole lot better.

[FlashUNC]

Ultrasonic tank with some simple green cut with water does wonders for the metal bits.

[HenryA]

The ultrasonic works great for cleaning all kinds of things, including bike parts. You should buy Oileater at your local autoparts store and mix it with water for use in your cleaner or with a brush.

Where the ultrasonic really shines is cleaning cogs and other truly nasty small parts or anything with small details or holes.

[kppolich]

Does a sonic washer degrade parts faster? Has anyone used Simple Green in a sonic washer?

[onekgguy]

This is the one I have and it's been serving me well for at least 5 years. It does a nice job on my chain and cassette. It can handle my small chainring but not the large.

Kevin g

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by onekgguy

This is the one I have and it's been serving me well for at least 5 years. It does a nice job on my chain and cassette. It can handle my small chainring but not the large.

Kevin g

What do you use inside? What liquid?