Ultrasonic cleaning - help please!

Marmite

Marmite

Hero member
Hi all,

I have recently acquired an ultrasonic cleaner and made a start on learning how to use the sucker. Instructions were about 100 words, so what could be difficult?  ::)

Used some spare float bowls for the test. Plain water...not much happening. Water + detergent....pretty much the same.

So, I surfed the net and saw that dishwasher powder seemed a safe option.  It seems to work, the bowls are clean.......BUT, they are now mottled dark grey.  I guess it's not too much of problem, as it's just visual, but I would quite like clean and smart.  For information: 2 x 10 minutes at 55 degrees C and and 80w ultrasonic bath.

Anyone have any ideas?

cheers

Pete
 
I use US-CAR for carburettors.  I also get the water nice and hot then put the carb in fully covered.  One 360 second cycle per side of the carb usually gets it clean, So that's four cycles to my logic rather than six.  Follow up with a blast of compressed air to dry the carb and the jobs a good un.
 
I use a proprietary carb cleaning solution at the recommended 10% addition to water.
Then the bath is set at 80?C (as per instructions).
I leave the parts in for as long as it takes, could be an hour, could be longer.
When they are removed the solution soon dries off (80?C remember) so I make sure there is no puddles of solution otherwise it can leave a powdery stain.
I asked the bath supplier for a recommendation on which solution to use as they did not supply solutions and then I bought a 20 litre drum from them (in Ireland if I recall correctly).
If you trawl through ebay or the net in general you will find all sorts of solutions available.
 
Poffer said:
Hi all,
So, I surfed the net and saw that dishwasher powder seemed a safe option.  It seems to work, the bowls are clean.......BUT, they are now mottled dark grey.  I guess it's not too much of problem, as it's just visual, but I would quite like clean and smart.  For information: 2 x 10 minutes at 55 degrees C and and 80w ultrasonic bath.

Anyone have any ideas?

cheers

Pete
Click to expand...
Dishwashing powder is highly caustic and destroys the shiny surface of aluminium, as you will see from your dishwashing machine if you wash aluminium utensils in it.
 
MotoV said:
I use TSP (trisodium phosphate - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisodium_phosphate) it is a wettening agent and sometimes I use Simple Green in a light solution i.e. not strait up. It can stain aluminum, mainly for nuts and bolts
I usually leave items in for about an hour. Dish powder can be harsh YMMV
Click to expand...

TSP is pretty hard to get as banned in most western countries due to phosphate pollution of waterways and a lot of products which supposedly contain it actually have far more toxic chemicals substituted. TSP is actually harmless to humans and is listed as a food additive.
 
I've been using stuff sold through France Equipment for many years now and am quite happy with it. It's called Ultraschall Reiniger (Ultrasonic Cleaner) and comes in a 3L container. Mix it 1:10 with water. I've tried a couple of other things in the past but found they were too agressive. No problems since using this.

Tom
 
Tom Eatman said:
I've been using stuff sold through France Equipment for many years now and am quite happy with it. It's called Ultraschall Reiniger (Ultrasonic Cleaner) and comes in a 3L container. Mix it 1:10 with water. I've tried a couple of other things in the past but found they were too agressive. No problems since using this.

Tom
Click to expand...

"Concentr? de nettoyage pour appareil ? ultrasons" in french!
Paul
 
Thanks to everyone for explanations and suggestions. I should have know that internet wisdom was risky....at least I only tried it out on some spare bits.

Grant, I found your earlier post about your supplier and ordered some up.  They were extremely helpful and let me have a mixed batch of cleaners at the volume price for 4 x 5 litres.

Once again, thanks  :)

Pete

 
Davo said:
TSP is pretty hard to get as banned in most western countries due to phosphate pollution of waterways and a lot of products which supposedly contain it actually have far more toxic chemicals substituted. TSP is actually harmless to humans and is listed as a food additive.
Click to expand...
It's only banned from being used in laundry soap. Its readily available in the USofA
 
Dishwashing powder is highly caustic and destroys the shiny surface of aluminium, as you will see from your dishwashing machine if you wash aluminium utensils in it.
Click to expand...
So I wonder if it is any good with a small stiff bristled brush, for crankcases with 30 years worth of crap on them?.
(any1)
 
"SPIDER" said:
So I wonder if it is any good with a small stiff bristled brush, for crankcases with 30 years worth of crap on them?.
(any1)
Click to expand...
soda blast - just cover the shiney stuff - maybe a degreaser before would help. leave the dish powder at home
 
Simple Green HD - the purple stuff works very well on aluminum and isn't caustic like the regular green is or dishwashing liquid is - if its changing the color of your carbs / aluminum bits by darkening them its eating away the metal - heating it up helps cleaning generally

cheap ultrasonic cleaners are not really ideal - good for the gold ring cleaning but tough shit not so much
 
Hi Mik,

Thanks for the tip on Simple Green - I have something on order, so hopefully that will work out. Ultrasonic cleaner wasn't cheap, is a Eumax and cost me a couple of days work. I think (hope) the previous posters were right and the problem was the caustic solution. All new to me, so I will see how it goes  ;)

cheers

Pete
 
no problem - i use the things daily, not for cleaning so much (unless the boss/cowankers aren't around)
but for making anti-cancer drug solutions up etc etc  (non human testing) for administration

also if it has a bed (a resting part in the tank) - or a way to hang the part in the solution  there is an increase in  "vibes"



=rs
Poffer said:
Hi Mik,

Thanks for the tip on Simple Green - I have something on order, so hopefully that will work out. Ultrasonic cleaner wasn't cheap, is a Eumax and cost me a couple of days work. I think (hope) the previous posters were right and the problem was the caustic solution. All new to me, so I will see how it goes  ;)

cheers

Pete
Click to expand...
 
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