Ultrasonic cleaning alloy

[Spider Wales]

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?

 

[Gerald]

How long do you leave the parts in the sonic bath? Is the ultrasonic cleaner heated? Tickopur R33 works best on carbs.

HTH
Gerald

 

[Spider Wales]

Hi Gerald, 30minutes, 60 degrees.,but I have experimented all over the range of times andwith varying degrees of heat.

 

[sfcpiet]

+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

 

[F500fan]

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 !!

 

[1969mustang]

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?

I have just bought a small Ultrasonic mainly for carbs but have done a few other alloy and steel items with good results, just cleaned mu Jota Carbs they came out great, 25 mins at 50-60 deg

I have tried two De-greasers, First was Simple Green HD the purple coloured stuff, was good results, was talking with Wolfgang yesterday he uses Mean Green, its half the price of the Purple HD Simple Green, i bought a jug this morning and will use it on the next Carb.
My cleaner is a small 6 litre , heated tank, i put 1.5 lts of detergent, top up with water, great results , no discolouring.

 

[Ian Short]

I use Simple Green Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner, but I've also used Dawn dish soap as well. The Simple Green Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner is a little safer for the aluminum than the purple , or so they claim. It's just over $50cdn/gallon on amazon.ca, but I'm sure that Wolfgang has it all sorted out as well.

Also check out Aircraft Spruce Canada, an aircraft supply store. I have found some reasonable deals there from time to time; cleaning products, tools, safety wire, etc.

Cheers

 

[ksoholm]

Many Simple Green products are too alkaline and will blacken Al.

There are lots of citrus-based cleaners that are safe for Al, including Zep Heavy Duty citrus.

 

[1969mustang]

Not the best pics, these carbs have not been cleaned in at last 20 years, i used 1.5 lts of Mean Green and 4.5 lts of water, 60 deg, 30 mins, my first time using the ultrasonic, i think they look pretty clean

 

[motoddrob]

The carbs off my SFC. Thed 1st time they have been totally stripped and ultrasonic cleaned in over 50 years.
The cleaner was worth the expense.
Used a non alkaline water base degreaser. 60deg 30min