What ultrasonic can do for you!

You must have a large unit..any specs you can share?

Thanks

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I have been using ultrasonic cleaner for years, it really does works great specially when cleaning carburetor parts.

 

I remember in school many years ago the prof dropped a ball of AL foil into an US cleaner. I just sat there until he switched it on. The AL ball dissolved like an alka seltzer dropped in water.

Are those Ferrari heads the same size that they used to be?

 

Those look very impressive!

 

It looks like your ultrasonic cleaner is not only much larger than mine, it is MUCH better than mine. My stuff comes out cleaner, but not like that. What solution are you using?

 

Was thinking of getting a 15 liter, but not thinking a larger is in order.

 

Also great for vinyl record cleaner. Made my own rotisserie kit to go on top of the 6L ultrasonic tank with heater and timer and all I use is Distilled water, works like a champ. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

If it dissolved aluminum, it was probably caustic soda. Did it have a lot of white fumes ?

 

I use an ultrasonic cleaner for my bike drivetrain parts -- cassette, chain, etc. They are amazingly useful devices and I'm always smiling when I see a filthy, dirty, greasy, oily part emerge as a fresh and shiny item.

In my case, I use diluted Simple Green for my application, but @miketuason using distilled water is a much safer approach for delicate things.

 

I clean my surgical instruments with an ultrasonic cleaner. When you use water, any dissolved gas will boil out of solution and usually adhere to the surface of your part. This forms a tiny lens effect which causes pitting. My medical cleaner has a "degas" function - you put a piece of aluminium foil in for a few minutes and the gas comes out of solution on it, and not your instruments. The foil comes out full of tiny pin holes. After that, your solution is safe.

 

The AL ball didn't dissolve at all until he turned on the unit, it just sat there. Caustic soda would have started dissolving the AL immediately. I know this because used to make H gas by mixing up Drano/water in a bottle and dropping in a lot of AL foil balls. I had a rubber stopper/tube attached to the bottle and would light the H gas coming out of the tube, making a (very) mini torch. Hey, it was back before there was internet so we had find other ways to amuse ourselves.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The flame can back up into the bottle and a loud noise/exploding bottle can result. You can probably guess how I know that!

 

We used to use edge fuel filters on a diesel generator, these are a aluminum core with stainless wire tightly wound around the core - the filtration is the gap between the wound wire. These were a pain to get clean so the chief decided he would get it clean with caustic soda solution. Having dropped it into a stainless sink of caustic solution it started to boil, thick white fumes and a roaring sound- we ran away from it and by the time he managed to drain the sink, the only thing left was a bit of the casing and this coil of stainless wire looking like a spring swinging about in the sink bottom- he was not impressed when i said it was nice and clean, or what was left of it. Needless to say we did not try a second time.

 

The heads look nice. I soda blasted mine since I didn't have an ultrasonic cleaner. I will look into getting one now.

 

building a Ferrari for mini-me?

 

great story - chemistry is a wonderful mentor.

 

Fabulous results cleaning those heads! Please share details of solvent used, actual dwell time (hours?) in the US cleaner, temperature of the bath, and how you fixtured the head - or did you just let it sit on the bottom of the tank or in a basket? Also, what did the bath look like when you were done? I bet there was a ton of sediment, and the medium turned a murky brown color?

 

That is how you test them to see if they are working properly

 

Are you the same Akitaman from Alfa BB that does fabulous metal work?

 

I'm thinking this could be used to clean rims.

 

Just be careful that the diameter is not reduced and throw off the speedometer...

 

Yes, you should be able to, they come in different sizes tank. Here’s where you can buy one as big as 30 L
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-Kit-Ultra-Sonic-Bath-Timer-Jewellery-Cleaning-Tool-US/401544031078?hash=item5d7de3ab66:m:mm4VL7xGDdycDsgWThzbKSQ