Ultrasonic Cleaner?

handi2 · December 13, 2014, 04:36:39 PM

I bought one similar to the one above from Amazon. I have Amazon prime so I did get it there. It just takes too long and I can get them clean in my parts washer using kerosene and Gunk cleaner. The mix is 4 parts kerosene to 1 part Gunk. The Gunk concentrate is some strong stuff. It removes oxidation, corrosion, and the green stuff in just a few minutes using a soft brass brush. Blow everything dry and go back to work in 5 minutes.

Dominick · December 13, 2014, 07:12:04 PM

Quote from: handi2 on December 13, 2014, 04:36:39 PM
It removes oxidation, corrosion, and the green stuff in just a few minutes using a soft brass brush. Blow everything dry and go back to work in 5 minutes.

Wow! you mean cleaning the stuff is not work?

Dominick

Bryan Young · December 13, 2014, 07:48:21 PM

The cleaner doesn't necessarily help speed things up, but helps cleans really cruddy reels to my satisfaction.

Tightlines667 · December 15, 2014, 04:27:55 AM

If it's a Dam Quick spinner, Fred is your man. Post it up in the historic reels thread.

Unutt · December 15, 2014, 04:38:12 AM

It is a casting reel. I am posting pix now.

DCrosen · January 09, 2015, 06:50:12 PM

How do the ultra sonic cleaners work?

handi2 · January 09, 2015, 11:38:02 PM

I'll change my post from above now. I wasn't using enough cleaner in the Ultrasonic cleaner. With full strength purple cleaner it's doing wonders now. So much I bought another identical unit to keep full of Simple Green. The parts are coming out better than ever before.

All these cleaners do is emit sound waves throughout the cleaning fluid to clean and remove dirt and grime.

Tightlines667 · January 10, 2015, 01:32:11 AM

So far I have been happy with the performance of my cleaner. I keep it full of deionized water and put my reel parts in glass jars or metal or plastic coffee cans with either simple green, purple engine degreaser, or a strong ospho-based marine cleaner. I typically dilute 1:1 and its looking like 15mins in the cleaner seems to do the trick. So far I've only tested it out on the smaller reels, but I'm sure it should do a good job on the larger reels as well.

Shark Hunter · January 10, 2015, 05:41:01 AM

Keep it up John and Keith and I will have to buy one of these bad boys!
I know Fred uses one too. Seems like the ticket to get your parts cleaned quick and efficiently.
I'm really getting tired of going out in the driveway with a can of Brake Cleaner and a toothbrush!

Jighead61 · February 08, 2015, 02:09:21 PM

My old L&R bit the dust. My ONLY requirement for an ultrasonic cleaner these days is for cleaning bearings so a small unit would be sufficient. What brand and model would be ideal for this purpose without breaking the bank? Thanks.

MidTNKayakAngler · February 19, 2015, 07:27:05 PM

I've been using a Kendal, not a Commercial machine, but a smaller machine, and its been doing very well.

Mine has a heater, and timer to 480 seconds.

I've filled the machine to the recommended fill line with water. I have small glass jars that I've designated for chemicals. Two jars for Simple Green, and two jars for Acetone. The jars with Simple Green are designated for plastic, and painted parts, and the Acetone is for metal parts and bearings. I run all parts through the Ultrasonic for about twenty minutes. The parts in the Acetone are placed out to dry on a paper towel, and the parts in the Simple Green get brushed with a med bristle brush, rinsed with tap water and dried. Then bearings are spun and hit with compressed air. If a bearing doesn't spin like I want then I hit them with aerosol brake cleaner a few times, until I'm satisfied or replaced.

I've been keeping busy with about 8-12 reels a week since early November, and the cleaner has held up well.

Jeremy

Tightlines667 · February 19, 2015, 07:55:45 PM

Quick update on the use of my ultaso ic bath/cleaner...

I have been toying around a bit with my procedures, and am currently filling the bath with 1:3 (or4) Simple Green/water mixture. I use a large metal basket to soak and clean larger parts on larger reels (side plates, spools, bridges, etc), and am putting bearings in a glass jar containinf mineral spirits, all brass/bronze/copper parts are put into a jar containing vineger, and remaining small parts go into a jar with str8 simple green. I run the cleaner fir 15mins w/o heat, then strain through mesh rinse in freshwater, then all to air dry. Bearings are shot w/brake cleaner, spun, and dried w/compressed air. Heavily corroded parts, or those that still contain any old residue, are brushed w/ a toothbrush, nylon brush, and/or a brass brush or fine steel wool, and re-rinsed. Sometimes I use quetips, pipe cleaners, or brake cleaner to get into tight spaces. The sonic cleaner has been doing a fune job of loosening up crud, and caked on stuff, and corrosion/salt deposits.

A word of warning...
thin copper parts, or thin lightly corroded parts can get damaged in the cleaner. I have had some small dog springs, and thin parts come out of the cleaner with cracks ir holes in them. Guess this is one way to find out if these parts have micro defects in them that warrent replacement. Overall, I am happy with the performance. There have been several small reels, or some not in rough shape, that only required a quick 15min stint in the bath and a rinse. The other ones that needed additional treatment still appeared to benfit from the cleaner. I think this is a useful tool to ensure truely clean parts, and it can save me significant time, but certainly isn't adding service time to my work.

coastal_dan · February 20, 2015, 07:48:25 PM

Thanks for the update...I would really like to get one of these at some point; but I need to do further research on mixes and the technology. It would certainly save some time over these 2-3 day simple green soaks. Thanks for sharing!

Brendan · February 24, 2015, 04:06:44 AM

John, how did you finally narrow your choice down? It realy seems like the list on EBay goes for days.
Thanks in advance, Brendan.

Tightlines667 · February 24, 2015, 05:08:04 AM

Quote from: Brendan on February 24, 2015, 04:06:44 AM
John, how did you finally narrow your choice down? It realy seems like the list on EBay goes for days.
Thanks in advance, Brendan.

Simple. I wanted a basic, no frills, powerfull unit with a large stainless steel reservoir, an analog timer, and no heater. I used to work in labratories, and respect the rugged reliability of the Fisher Scientific brand. I figured that this was the size (11 liter/2.5g?) that would hold 2 full 130 sized reels completely dissasembled, and could hold 2 coffee cans worth of parts, w/o taking up too much space in my workshop (aka the dining room). It was stainless, and had a drain. A little research on the power and number of transducers, also showed this model to be the most powerfull (# of transducers, and power/transducer), of any other used units I came accross in this size. It also had the analog control I wanted.

After I decided...
the main problem was finding a used one for under $450 from a seller that would ship to HI. I looked for cl9se to 9 months off and on (since last summer), and just before XMas I was ready to buy a refurbed one from an outfit in MN, and have it shipped to my parents place, so I could ship it back to HI myself. Just so happened 4 days before I was gonna order found this one from a motorcycle mechanic in CA for $250. Immediately bought it, and it was here in 5 days.

End of story.

Side note:

The only other ones I really liked were the long industrial style ones made to hold gun parts. These looked like they had great baskets, plenty of storage, and good baskets They would also likely be able to serve as a great bath for bluing, etching, finishing, chromimg, stripping, etc.., but way too big for my place, needs, and well outside of my budget. Honestly, I think any of the units with a large enough resouviour to hold your parts would do the trick. I just knew lab grade and simple but powerful would likely last longer, and I didn't want a knock off unit.