Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Hi all folks!

Here are the pic who are tell more than i am writing..

The advandages are very short cleaning time, effectiv to remove old gummed castor oil. After all parts are cleaned, the parts are clean and free from oil and dirt.

See the movie.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOlcxZrdCTQ

Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner after you has spottet the pic and movie? ;)

Important: Never add anodized parts in the ultrasonic bath or the ultra sonic cleaner will fiddle all color out of pores in aluminium and the aluminium are clean and free for color after cleaning.
Lubricate all steel parts to prevent rust if the engine are not assembled in a long time since the oil are removed out of all pores in surface..

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Nice results. I especially like how it cleans gummy bolts. I have been pricing them at different places. We have a discount tool chain in the US called Harbor Freight. They have one for $30 that might be worth trying.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3305

David

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

this is better for the environment!

antifreeze fumes makes me sick, even when I did it outside the house.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Ultrasonic cleaners will get things clean that no other method will. A heated cleaner will work 10x times faster than a cold one. There are issues with fragile items, like some gems stoes that will not stand up the the cleaners, but there is nothing that I'm aware of with our engines that would be at risk.

As for the cleaning solutions, the neat thing about the ultrasonics is that if you put a glass jar with liquid and parts in it, and put it in the liquid in the ultrasonic cleaner, virtually all of the enegery is tranfered through the glass and into the solution in the jar. The key is to not let the jar rest on the bottom or sides of the cleaner. When I had my jewelery store, I kept three or four different jars of cleaning compounds that I woudd supmerse in my Ultarsonic. As long as you keep a tight lid on the jar, none of the compound is mixed with the liquid in the cleaner. This is a very important point. Watch what you mix together, some mixes are very toxic.

Another point to consider is the Base liquid in the cleaner. Water alone is not a good choice. It will cavitate at the surface of the tank and cause the electronics and transducer to fail. You need a liquid that will keep the tank wet at all times, and still transmit the power to the jars. Most jewelery cleaning fluids are OK. Stay away from any that have an amonina compent to them, the smell can overcome you.

Last, keep what you are cleaning free from the sides and bottom of the cleaner. Hang it by a wire. You don't want metal to metal contanct with the tank. Or hard materials with the tank for that matter

A company that I used to send my ultrasonics to for repairs ( they do fail frequently) told me that they routinelly had to replace tanks because a small diamond had popped out of it setting and would drill a hole through a stainless steel tank in just three or four minutes of run time. The hardest item in the tank wins. Don't let losse parts, screws and such loose in the cleaner. keep them in a mesh basket off the tank floor or sides.

Don

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

I would save my money. If the tank in the cleaner isn't stainless steel, you have a vibration cleaner, not an ultrasonic. Get one with a heater also and also one with a timer. Turning one on and forgeting it will cause you grief. The fluid will boil out, and the tank will run dry and then it is off to the repair shop for your cleaner. Now how do I know this:(

Don

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Hello Jens,
A very impressive movie.
What did you use for cleaning fluid? and at what temperature?

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

thats a very impressive and convincing video there Motorboy.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Jens that's very impressive. Mine does not work that well. Even at 140°F. The one I bought is supposed to have 100W ultrasonic power. What is the power rating for your cleaner?

Jens, I read that cleaning bearings in the ultrasonic is not a good idea because the races will Brinell. Google turns up many instances of cleaning bearings in ultrasonic cleaners, however.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Don, how about one like this. It says it's stainless steel:

http://www.brilliantstore.com/person...er_hu380s.html

David

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Hi, i am using the Allosil cleaningfluid for engineparts, 5% added in 50-60 degree water.

Allosil cleaningfluid do not etsing the aluminium engine parts. See pic..


I am not sure it will brinell the bearing. The skateboard user are cleaning the ballbearings free for dirt.. [:o]

But high intensity ultrasonic fields are known to exert powerful forces that are capable of eroding even the hardest surfaces. Quartz, silicon, and alumina, for example, can be etched by prolonged exposure to ultrasonic cavitation, and "cavitation burn" has been encountered following repeated cleaning of glass surfaces. The severity of this erosive effect has, in fact, been known to preclude the use of ultrasonics in the cleaning of some sensitive, delicate components.

Ultrasonic cleaning has, however, been used to great advantage for extremely tenacious deposits, such as corrosion deposits on metals. In any case, cavitation forces can be controlled; thus, given proper selection of critical parameters, ultrasonics can be used successfully in virtually any cleaning application that requires removal of small particulates.

Although the ultrasonic cleaning process has been used for over half a century, no reliable means of quantifying its cavitation activity has ever been developed. Indirect methods of measurement, such as erosion tests on metal surfaces, soil removal from weighted samples, acceleration of chemical reactions, thermodynamic studies, and white noise measurement, have been employed to a limited extent, but none of these methods has proved to be effective.

Thus, operators who seek to assess the performance of an ultrasonic cleaning system must rely almost exclusively on the evaluation of actual cleanliness levels achieved. Surface patterns produced on cavitating liquids can also be observed, as can the overall degree of agitation of the cleaning medium. Operators have also observed erosion patterns produced on aluminum foil following exposure to ultrasonic cavitation. This "aluminum foil erosion test," as it is called, has come to be recognized as a fairly dependable, albeit subjective, means of demonstrating the existence of cavitation in ultrasonically agitated media. The measure has been used not only to provide an indication of the distribution of the sonic field throughout the bath, but also to locate the sites of the nodes and antinodes of the standing sonic waves. It can also generate fairly reliable side-by-side comparisons of different ultrasonic cleaning systems. In no way, however, can it be used to obtain quantitative measurements of cavitation activity.

Also regulate the power of ultrasonic cleaner to not erode the material when testing with "aluminum foil erosion test". My ultrasonic cleaner do not erode the aluminium due low watt at 30 watt and 50 watt and has a duration at 1.5 minute. The plain bearing fit in my model engine are still good when the crankshaft are mounted into the crankcase.

You can see the corrosion in the bolts in early post are not removed, also my ultrasonic cleaner are not a high intensity ultrasonic cleaner. ;)

My ultrasonic cleaner has reservoir made of pressed stainless steel with transducer who are producing 40 Khz ultrasonic fastened and centered in the reservoir.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Dave, that one isn't a good buy. No heater and very small. This one would be a better choice. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=95563

You can get around the heater issue though by using an aquarium heater. The trick is to heat the solution, then remove the heater. It you turn on the ultrasonic when the heater is in the solution, it will wipe out the heater.

Idealy, this is what you wan't. http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?P...MITEM=890-9565

I am having a hard time with the sticker shock on them though. I used to sell those same cleaners and if memory serves me right, they were around $130. Of course that was 10 years ago though.

I checked Ultrasonic Cleaners on Ebay and there are some good ones there. Search Ebay for this item number. 120303789124

A good basic solution is a jewelery solution. It provides the proper weting of the tank and is a mild digergent. You can then suspend jars in it for more agressive cleaning solutions.

IMHO any of the round side tanks are "jewelery" cleaners that are cheap and not very effective. I could be wrong, but I personally would not waste my money on one. THe square tanks are more along the lines of what you want. Tank shape is important in how effective it directs the waves. Go into any Jewelery store or machine shop and ask what ultrasonic cleaners they use. You will get brand names like Chest and L&R, and they are ones to look for. There have been some newer lower cost ones that work well also, but they are based on the design of those two cleaners. I would say that the Ebay one I mention above would be my first choice with the limited research I've done on it this morning.

Don

PS NEVER turn on an Ultrasonic without fluid in the tank. It will destroy the transducer. They are expensive to replace. Don't ask me how I know.

Don

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

I just made a solution using laundry soap. That seemed to do much better. The interesting thing is the oil floated up to the top. I still have to go to the autoparts store so maybe I'll find a good soap there.

Mine is a model made by the company that makes the Eumax. 2.6L tank. There seem to be several different brands that are the same thing, as is typical with Chinese products.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

The Dawn Power scrubber is a good base. It will desolve the oil which is what you want. When you get into the stuff from the auto parts, read the safety lables closely. Some are flamible and some are just plane nasty. They clean good, but are not good for you.

Johnson Brothers distributes a jewelry Cleaner concertrate that is very good It mixes from 40 to 1 with water for standard cleaning up ot 5 to 1 for very heavey duty cleaning. I would fill the tank with the 40 to 1 for tank wetting and then use a glass jar with a smaller amount of the high concertate for the heavy duty cleaning.

Another point, use distilled water when mixing the concertrates. It prevents mineral buildup as the water evaporates from the tank, which it does susprisingly fast.

Don

Wopps forgot the johnson Bros link http://www.jbfc.com/products.php?cid=110&pid=258

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

http://www.bransonic.com/chemistry.asp

I was going to try chasing down the MC-3 listed above.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

This is the chemical cleaner:

MC - 3 METAL CLEANER
Biodegradable, phosphate and caustic free alkaline cleaner formulated for general purpose and normal maintenance cleaning applications. Removes oils, grease and a wide variety of soils from steel alloys, titanium alloys, copper, copper alloys and stainless steel.. MC-3 is specially-formulated for effective cleaning of active metals like aluminum and aluminum alloys without risk of damage.

It is about near same as i has the chemical cleaner Allosil as i added in my ultrasonic cleaner.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Brands may differ in different countries. The use of car engine cleaner seems the way to go then. They lower surface tension of the liquid, and are compatible with steel and aluminium, and that is what counts most.
I do have a UScleaner, but simple dish washer does not cut it. Will try car engine cleaner next.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

I used to use B-12. But it was so caustic and hard to dispose of I quit using it many years back and switched to water and dawn dish washing soap for the sonic bath. Only used for carbs. I use the anti freeze method to clean the burned on stuff. I wonder what would be equivilent in the US for MC-3. This dog aint that old.
Edwin

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Yes, it is true.. must try difference brands of cleaner and see what you get the parts cleaned with goos results.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Im considering buying this ultrasonic cleaner for my all hobby related cleaning purposes.

[link]http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95563[/link]

the one Im buying is under another badge but its the same machine with 175W of power.

will this be enough to clean the dirt,oil marks,stains and carbon off my engines, mufflers and carbs?

Im thinking of using water + powerful detergent as main solvent. - or trichloroethylene in a small jar for stubborn nasty stuff.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

As a rule the effect are 10 watt per litre are minimal for a normal use in lowest effect and and the ultrasomic bath you showed has 2,5 litre and 175 watt, it will give 70 watt per litre. It is more than 10 watt per litre. ;) My ultrasonic cleaner has 50 watt and 0,5 litre in totalvolume, also are the effect 100 watt per litre :D.

Do not use trichloroethylene, think at your health! You will never get rid of the cancer in your body later.[X(]

I am using the Allosil cleaningfluid for engineparts, 5% added in 50-60 degree water.

Warm water + cleaning fluid make more effective to remove the dirt of the engine parts in short time.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

thanks motorboy. That means this cleaner will cut it I guess. I will buy it with "try it, if satisfied; buy it" way. Ive got a really dirty bisson muffler as the test subject. :)

as for "pure" trichloroethylene, we use it alot as a special activator for manufacturing purposes, so I literally have tons of it. Im familiar with that nasty stuff :D

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Trichloroethylene is great for a fast "kick".
I remember the first time I used it to clean an engine: whenever I got up, I couldn't stand on my feet with the shop going round and round and... mind you I had good ventilation!
Gotta get me one of those ultrasonic cleaners ;)

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

The stuff is banned by law in Holland, and for good reason, even though we used a sealed condensing vapour closed cirquit system.
It did clean deep into all pores and crevasses though.

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

I remember a guy at a shop here in USA that was overcome by fumes from a cleaning tank with tri-clor in it. They found him deceased the next am....very sad...but true. Never get by any form of Tri-clor. Capt,n[:@]

RE: Will you prefer the crock pot method or ultrasonic cleaner?
 

Off topic a bit, but I use this to remove carbon and gunk from my engines.Really works even on stubborn baked on carbon.

http://www.tableauproducts.com/categ...bon_Remover/15