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Ultrasonic Cleaners

immersion heater makes a huge difference
you want it as hot as you can get it
mine doesn't do anything when its got warm water in it, hot water makes it work okay, put boiling water in it and it'll work amazingly fast

I use powdered laundry soap

one thing, don't put your fingers in it, I did once, it's okay until you get to the knuckle, the joint immediately rewarded me with severe pain, it went away but I'll prolly get arthritis or something in that finger a lot sooner.
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
I wish you could throw a air cleaner in there, that would be awesome
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I've had good results just swishing them around in the washtub
use the suds saver water that the clothes washer discharges so that its somewhat soapy and warm

ETA: this is just normal paper element air filters
 
[486] said:
I've had good results just swishing them around in the washtub
use the suds saver water that the clothes washer discharges so that its somewhat soapy and warm

ETA: this is just normal paper element air filters
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I'm more thinking about my foam oily motorcycle air filters
either way, it would still be cool
 
Austin said:
Yea I ran the first batch with stuff in ziplock bags, glass would be way easier
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Don't use Ziplock bags, when the water comes up to temp they shrink and if it shrinks around a sharp part it ends up with holes in it and your shiny new toy is all greasy.

All I have around are some pickle jars. I'd like to clean those medium sized parts that wont fit in those, but aren't big enough to justify putting 30L of cleaner in the whole thing. May hit up petsmart to check out the small fishtanks or look for a class salad bowl or something. Some glass to fit carbs in.

Here is my first nights experiment, the old fuel pump off a Unimog 404 and the oil filter mount straight off the rig, then put on a shelf for a year, then into the cleaner. The bigger piece at the top with the brass coming out of it has a lot of the OD green paint form the factory... you know ... the gold ol' 1960s leaded super glue type shit.
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Everything but the top of the oil pump fit into a large pickle jar which I filled with gas and set in the tank. I've seen on YT that gas is better then all the cleaners and available all over. I was was a bit worried when watching it in the cleaner. It bubbles like crazy as it heats up and even overflowed once the ultrasonic switch was flipped on. Note to self, put less in, or get a bigger glass container. Since the overflow tainted my water, I set the top of the fuel pump in just to see what water at 170* with the ultrasonic part on did to it. I should have got pics as I pulled these out. Everything in the jar just needed a rinse and they looked like pictured. The big piece from the water needed a bit of work, not much effort, with a soft old tooth brush and running water to get the gunk off.

I'm super impressed how everything in the glass/gas jar came out. Surprised that paint came off. As far as the big part I'm curious how much of that was the hot water vs the ultrasonic.

... if you're curious unleaded pump gas has a spontaneous ignition temp of 536*. So 170* is safe ... ish
 
I have a 10L that I use on brake calipers when I only have a small batch and don't feel like heating up the 25 gallons of solution in my parts washer...it works well. I use the yellow "Awesome" cleaner from the 99 cent store cut 50% with water. Stuff comes out very nice.
 
billybob_81067 said:
Hell I've had great luck with gasoline in a sureshot and a blow nozzle for most stuff... Maybe a little bit of wiping and or wire-brushing.

Austin, how long did the ultrasonic cleaner run for those parts to come out clean?
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ehh, those ... I don't recall. Lots of rookie moves with those initial ones so honestly probably a day or two process. With the glass containers I got now, I put them in there, put the gas in and let them heat up overnight. Let it run for 30min cold and do it again when hot. Done. More time than effort

Lbhsbz said:
I have a 10L that I use on brake calipers when I only have a small batch and don't feel like heating up the 25 gallons of solution in my parts washer...it works well. I use the yellow "Awesome" cleaner from the 99 cent store cut 50% with water. Stuff comes out very nice.
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I'll have to get that, I've been doing just water in the tank and gas in the the glass jars. I have a intake manifold that won't fit in a jar so I got this stuff coming today: https://www.amazon.com/Master-CLEAN...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

I'll post back up how it works.
 
Austin said:
ehh, those ... I don't recall. Lots of rookie moves with those initial ones so honestly probably a day or two process. With the glass containers I got now, I put them in there, put the gas in and let them heat up overnight. Let it run for 30min cold and do it again when hot. Done. More time than effort


I'll have to get that, I've been doing just water in the tank and gas in the the glass jars. I have a intake manifold that won't fit in a jar so I got this stuff coming today: https://www.amazon.com/Master-CLEAN...pY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

I'll post back up how it works.
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The yellow shit is $4/gallon at the 99 cent store....and it's not alkaline so it doesn't dissolve aluminum.
 
Lbhsbz said:
The yellow shit is $4/gallon at the 99 cent store....and it's not alkaline so it doesn't dissolve aluminum.
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"LA's Totally Awesome" is good shit and cheap. The spray bottles and bigger refills are $1 and like you said the jug is around $4.


For stuff that isn't super caked and you don't need the high test cleaner for, I tend to go to diluted simple green. It's a little less harsh, doesn't burn your eyes and I feel a little less bad about dumping it on the lawn. :laughing: For most stuff it still does an amazing job.
 
arse_sidewards said:
For you guys running the LA's, how often do you change it out?
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If you're doing really greasy shit, pretty much every time you use it. At a minimum I'd dump it in to a holding container if you want to try to re-use it later. You don't really want to leave them sitting full all the time.

But mine's also only like 2 or 3 liters and I probably only use it once or month so it's not that much to worry about just dumping it ever time I'm done with it.

It's also why for smaller parts you're better just filling it with water and putting your cleaner and parts in glass jars.
 
bgaidan said:
If you're doing really greasy shit, pretty much every time you use it. At a minimum I'd dump it in to a holding container if you want to try to re-use it later. You don't really want to leave them sitting full all the time.

But mine's also only like 2 or 3 liters and I probably only use it once or month so it's not that much to worry about just dumping it ever time I'm done with it.

It's also why for smaller parts you're better just filling it with water and putting your cleaner and parts in glass jars.
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I've run over 50 calipers through mine without changing it, and all the pistons and other shit....there's probably an inch of sludge on the bottom of the tank right now, I need to change it, but it still cleans just fine.
 
Lbhsbz said:
I've run over 50 calipers through mine without changing it, and all the pistons and other shit....there's probably an inch of sludge on the bottom of the tank right now, I need to change it, but it still cleans just fine.
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Awesome. That's exactly the kind I shit I need to know. I got a 20L on the way.
 
Austin said:
I'll post back up how it works.
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This stuff started off super impressive, I should have got video .... diluted it by 10%, and dropped in this alum intake (didn't take a pic of it off the motor)
IMG_2905 2.JPG


I wish I took a pic or video of it, it was not heated, fresh well water so about 60*, but it started bubbling and looking super nice ... I was impressed by it. Came back about 2hrs later and it was up to temp and the water was super dark and cloudy. I pulled it up and there was a ton of muddy soot just sitting on it. Put it back in and ran it on the 30min timer a few times.

Pulled it out a few hours ago and it almost seems like that soot, that washed up as I pulled it out of the solution, left stain marks ...

IMG_3260.JPG



IMG_3261.JPG


This was the steamy muck in the tank after .... what didn't wash down the drain itself ...
IMG_3262.JPG



So ... it's cool and all ... but dealing with 5gal at a time is becoming a PIA ... I'm starting to wonder if I should have got a media blasting cabinet for the big stuff. Seems like it would take less time and materials ... and maybe do a better job for the big parts I'm trying to do... not really sure... never had a media cabinet.
 
Austin said:
This stuff started off super impressive, I should have got video .... diluted it by 10%, and dropped in this alum intake (didn't take a pic of it off the motor)
IMG_2905 2.JPG


I wish I took a pic or video of it, it was not heated, fresh well water so about 60*, but it started bubbling and looking super nice ... I was impressed by it. Came back about 2hrs later and it was up to temp and the water was super dark and cloudy. I pulled it up and there was a ton of muddy soot just sitting on it. Put it back in and ran it on the 30min timer a few times.

Pulled it out a few hours ago and it almost seems like that soot, that washed up as I pulled it out of the solution, left stain marks ...

IMG_3260.JPG



IMG_3261.JPG


This was the steamy muck in the tank after .... what didn't wash down the drain itself ...
IMG_3262.JPG



So ... it's cool and all ... but dealing with 5gal at a time is becoming a PIA ... I'm starting to wonder if I should have got a media blasting cabinet for the big stuff. Seems like it would take less time and materials ... and maybe do a better job for the big parts I'm trying to do... not really sure... never had a media cabinet.
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You need to get the grease off before you media blast...part needs to be clean and dry anyway. That's what I used my ultrasonic for before I bought my EMC Jetsink. It may not get things perfectly clean, but it will loosen up everything to where a toothbrush and another 5 or 10 minute cycle, followed by a rinse in clean water will get everything off thats gonna come of.

Don't let aluminum sit in the solution for too long. Run it for 10-15 minutes, take the part out and rinse it...maybe hit some rough spots with a toothbrush, then give it another round in the machine. Aluminum doesn't play nice soaking in cleaners with no activity.

Try different cleaners. I ran one batch of rusty stuff with 2 gallons of white vinegar and was surprised at how much rust came off the parts...but it didn't do shit for carbon or grease.

EDIT: Also, I run my cleaning solution through a coffee filter or rag or something to get out the particulates on occasion, then clean the tank and poor the old stuff back in. There is no point in changing the stuff everytime you use it.

If you find a cleaner that turns black faster than the other stuff you've tried...that means its working better.
 
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Just gonna bump this thread back into the loop again since it came up in conversation over in my Cinci rebuild thread.
I am picking up a USC here soon and there are lots of good tips and tricks mentioned in this thread so far. Hopefully some folks that missed this originally (myself included) can play catch up.
 
Skid steer having issues traced to ECM's to find this:
PXL_20221023_220359164.jpg
Fried AUX ECM, replacement $1900:
PXL_20221217_234539207.jpg
In the cleaner with mild detergent and baking soda:
PXL_20221218_234945495.jpg
After a couple of hours:
PXL_20221219_203000936.jpg
Cleaned them both, all symptoms corrected:
PXL_20221220_194855388.jpg
 
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