Reel Repair Time

[oc1]

I am interested in how we all speed up the drying process after cleaning. 

Andy, how about a hair dryer or hot air gun.  Or, rinse everything in naphtha and it will evaporate without residue in a few minutes.
-steve

[Christopher M Songer]

US cleaners seem to make a big improvement in productivity. My ? is what US cleaners do you use? Size and model/brand. I have been wanting to get one and do not want to buy something that will not do the job and sit on a shelf in 2 months. I do not do a lot of reels and all fresh water so I do not need an industrial size or make. Thanks for any input.

[STRIPER LOU]

A 4.5L is a bit over a gallon and a 6L is a shade over 1.5 gal. For me, I prefer the slightly larger size as I use it with a basket. The tank is suppose to be 2/3 full for best operation.

Cleaning agents will depend on what you are cleaning. I'm using the Sonic Wave 1.7 gal with Manual controls. At work, the first thing to go out, was all the digital readouts and push button controls so I chose to go with manual knobs.
I even think there were a few recommendations here as Manual Control models got the nod. A formed tank is much, much better than a welded design. If you end up using it a lot, you'll eventually get leakage in the welded areas due to erosion from the Ultrasonics.

No doubt the have the ability to get into all the crevasses. I don't find it necessary to use the heat function. Don't recall what the wattage is on mine but it does do and excellent job. Usually, the higher wattage model may have more transducers.

As Fred O had suggested, you can store the used cleaning solvents in a jar and reuse several times. I quickly strain my used stuff thru and old shop cloth and junk the liquid when it starts to discolor.

Mine does not have a drain. When I purchased it, I believe it was around $125. shipped. I think they have come down a bit in price. It has a 10 yr warrantee but that would surprise me!

Been using mine for almost 3 years now and am quite happy with it.
Hope this helps and at least gets you started in the right direction,  ..  Lou

[steelhead_killer]

My process with the UC is two-fold.  First I have a glass mason jar (1 qt) filled with Simple Green.  Into it goes all the small parts.  I too use the cage as it is recommended.  I fill the UC with Simple Green and place anything that is too big for the glass jar into the cage.  I have little stainless steel cups from the cooking store that I place bearings into with just enough lighter fluid to cover the bearing.  Larger parts like frames and spools  go into the cage.  The whole reel goes into the UC at once.  I normally take the bearings out after a couple of minutes to either refresh the fluid or if they are in good shape take them out for good.  Bearings should not be left in the UC for extended periods.  I don't cut the simple green at all.  Seems to cut down on the cleaning time if you don't cut it.  But as others have mentioned don't forget a reel over night in the solution as some finishes don't like that at all.  Take everything out and rinse with fresh water.  I recycle the simple green until it no longer performs as expected. Note: each reel is in different condition.  Some clean up perfect in 10 minutes.  Others require 2-3 sessions at 10 min each.  My goals is to minimize the amount of hand cleaning with a brush on all parts.  This process works for 90% of the reels.  The other 10% require more hand work to get cleaned.

I will try the naphtha to expedite the drying.  Never really thought about that before your mentioned it.  I typically will clean a box full of reels first and have them laying out in small plastic parts bins in my storage rack air drying until assembly.  I bought my UC's on ebay.  I think next time I will step up the watts to see if they do work faster and go to the manual dials over the electronic.  Hope that answers a couple of questions.

ACS

[Christopher M Songer]

Thanks for the input on Sonic Cleaners.

[oc1]

I've been filling the sonic cleaner with water and put the stuff to be cleaned in small screw cap jars.  The jars have just enough naphtha to keep the parts wet and cut the grease.  Trouble is, the seals on the jars are soon ruined by the naphtha and they start leaking after a few uses.  I need to invest in some good Nalgene jars unless you guys have a less expensive idea.
-steve

[Christopher M Songer]

Got my US cleaner and just used it this AM. Great results, very happy. I had a gallon of Simple Green that is concentrated. It says Heavy Duty 1:1 dilution, General purpose 1:10 and light clean 1:30. What strength do you recommend. Fresh water reels only here. I did cut it one to one. May be more then I need, I plan to use it this way unless I hear it is too strong. Next batch I will look at cutting it a little more.