Ultrasonic cleaning alloy

Spider Wales

Hero member
A question for the experienced out there.
Does anyone have any recommendations for fluid to use in an Ultrasonic Cleaner that doesn't make alloy black, but leaves it clean and,,,,, well, aluminium colour. Anything I seem to use leaves the parts coated with a black goo, or discolouration, which is horrible to clean off.
I have tried a number of different proprietary cleaners offered, all state they do the job, but so far I have had little success, am I running at too high a heat for too long?
 
How long do you leave the parts in the sonic bath? Is the ultrasonic cleaner heated? Tickopur R33 works best on carbs.

HTH
Gerald
 
+1 for Tickopur R33, dilute as specified on container.

Run no longer than 20-30 minutes, remove and rinse immediately after the cleaning cycle stops.

I generally run stuff through at 15 minutes/60-70°C. Remaining crud can often be removed with an old toothbrush and normal cleaning solvents.

Ultra-sonic cleaning should not be considered the end-all in our case. Does a beautiful job on jewellery, spectacles, and other "light" contaminations, most of our jobs are "heavy-duty".

Lots of differences between various aluminium alloys, many carbs have a high zinc content (most Amal!) to aid casting, this will often cause a blackish coating/residue with some solvents.

piet
 
A question for the experienced out there.
Does anyone have any recommendations for fluid to use in an Ultrasonic Cleaner that doesn't make alloy black, but leaves it clean and,,,,, well, aluminium colour. Anything I seem to use leaves the parts coated with a black goo, or discolouration, which is horrible to clean off.
I have tried a number of different proprietary cleaners offered, all state they do the job, but so far I have had little success, am I running at too high a heat for too long?
Try these people. https://www.allendale-ultrasonics.co.uk/collections/ultrocarb They do a product called ULTROCARB.
I cleaned 4 old & nasty PHF 32 carbs, 2 of which were from a Montjuic that had sat for almost 30 years, & was pleased at the results. It's important to move the carbs around to try & dispel any air pockets. I ran the cleaner for 15 mins at a time, at 55 deg C, then turned the carb 90 degrees through both horizontal & vertical planes. Yes it took a while, but if your're gonna do it, be thorough !! You must back the ultrasonic clean up with a manual going over. Get yourself one of the carb cleaning brush sets off Amazon. A worthy investment !!
 
Back
Top