# Ultrasonic Cleaner



## rwm (Apr 22, 2021)

This came up in another thread:








						2.5 Liter Ultrasonic Cleaner
					

Amazing deals on this 2.5 Liter Ultrasonic Cleaner at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.




					www.harborfreight.com
				




I have no experience with these but it seems interesting. This one is for use with water. I could see that being a problem for complex parts and bearings. Can you use solvent with these? What type of solvent? Please comment on your experience with US cleaning.

Robert


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## DavidR8 (Apr 22, 2021)

I use one to clean carb parts. I only use water and a splash of Simple Green. I have read that using carb cleaner also works well.


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## RandyWilson (Apr 22, 2021)

No, they are tuned to the dynamics of water.  I have two large ones at work (10 and 30 gallon). I tried that little HF one a few years ago at home. It didn't do anything useful.


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## foleda (Apr 22, 2021)

rwm said:


> This came up in another thread:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I had one of these . It was not as powerful as an industrial cleaner but worked OK for light duty use.  Unfortunately, it released the magic smoke shortly after the 90 day warranty expired so I can't really recommend it.


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## Diecutter (Apr 22, 2021)

A quick test  that an ultrasonic cleaner is working is to drop a piece of aluminum foil into the tank. After only a minute or two there will be many holes and tears in the foil which will be evident when it's held up to a light.  I tried this with my one quart used cleaner I bought for $10 and it only took a couple minutes to really rip up the foil.  I use ammonia and various cleaners in mine which seem to work effectively.


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## Flyinfool (Apr 22, 2021)

What the machine is made of will have a lot to do with what you can put in it. Many solvents will attack plastic and/or paint. Many solvents are flamable and this unit has a heater.


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## rwm (Apr 22, 2021)

RandyWilson said:


> No, they are tuned to the dynamics of water.  I have two large ones at work (10 and 30 gallon). I tried that little HF one a few years ago at home. It didn't do anything useful.


I was wondering about that. The impedance will not be right with an organic solvent. 
These are very highly rated by hobbiests
R


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## RandyWilson (Apr 22, 2021)

Ultrasonics don't clean by agitation. They clean by cavitation. As such, the cleaning agent must be matched to the with the driver. I've tried a few different solvents over the years. Varsol to ultra-expensive specialty cleaners. I keep going back to water with minimal amount of degreaser.  But that is what these machines were tuned to use.


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## JPMacG (Apr 22, 2021)

I'm considering buying either the Harbor Freight model or one of the stainless steel units for sale on Amazon and eBay.  They are about the same cost for the same capacity.  The HF model has more plastic and has a reputation for overheating.


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## kvt (Apr 22, 2021)

I have one of the Stainless ones for a few years, primarily use water with a little of the Zep orange concentrate in it.   Cleans pretty good but could do a little better on some build up stuff.


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## Ed ke6bnl (Apr 22, 2021)

I have been very impressed with Simple Green - SMP13406 Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner, 1 Gallon Bottle 13406 FOR GREASE AND OIL and have yet to try it in my ultrasonic. about 3:1 water to simple green. will prepare for direct paint after use.


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## rabler (Apr 22, 2021)

I have a stainless unit bought through Grizzly.  Looks like they don't sell it anymore, although similar units can be found on Amazon.  Overall I'm not too impressed with the one I have.  I'm mostly disassembling and cleaning machinery.  Even for smaller parts it does not do a great job of cleaning built up stuff.  You need to keep the cleaning fluid pretty clean, and certainly not overfill it.  I think it would be fine for light duty cleaning but for anything built up or caked on it basically isn't effective.  It may be that I have a bad unit, but I can see the cavitation so it's not totally dead.  The heat is probably the most useful part.


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## Aaron_W (Apr 22, 2021)

There quite a few videos on youtube.

One option for small parts is you can place them inside a glass bottle with the solvent of choice (Simple Green seems popular) and then set the jar in the ultra sonic cleaner filled with (much cheaper) water. Also helps with clean up since all the grease and nastiness stays in the jar.

The heater seems to be an aspect that really sets the good ones from the not so good ones. Many of the cheap ones you really need to start out with hot water as the heater is there mostly to help maintain the heat, not heat water up to temperature. The better ones can heat the water to a useful temperature in a reasonably short time.

I got one of the stainless steel ones for Christmas. My wife got it off Amazon and it had good reviews, both at Amazon as well as a couple of youtubers. It was about double the price of the HF one, but also more than 2x the size (6L vs 2.5L). It seems to work pretty well, but I haven't tried to clean any thing really nasty with it yet.

I think this is the one I have

6L Ultra sonic cleaner


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## JPMacG (Apr 22, 2021)

Standard practice where I worked (aerospace) was to use a 50:50 solution of deionized water and isopropyl alcohol.  We would place the part in a beaker, cover the part with the solution and place the beaker in the ultrasonic.  Then fill the ultrasonic with more water up to the level of the solution in the beaker.


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## matthewsx (Apr 22, 2021)

I'm the one who suggested ultrasonic cleaners in the other thread, I don't have any experience with the Harbor Freight one but they're easy to deal with if you're not happy with anything they sell.

The unit I had was a big custom built thing with two cleaner tanks and a rinse tank in the middle. I only had it hooked up correctly in one shop where I had three phase power and it was mighty nice with all the automated controls, heating and such. I mostly used it rigged for single phase so no heating or timers but it would clean like nobody's business. The original design used alcohol for a reclamation process at the company I worked for, but one of the operators came up with a better process that only took a special fixture and scotchbrite so this one was languishing in the maintenance shop. When I asked about it and the manager said to haul it out of there I couldn't rent a trailer quick enough. The thing was all stainless, about 6ft long, 4ft deep and 4ft tall and probably weighed over 1500lbs.

As for cleaning fluid it really does depend on the unit and what you're cleaning but I had good luck with the yellow degreaser from HF and water. Yes, any of them will work better if you knock the big chunks of crud off before putting your part in. Never heard of using a submerged container but that sounds like a good idea. I had a municipal waste water treatment plant request a sample for analysis and they said I could dump my used cleaner down the drain so there's that aspect as well.

Like any tool you usually get what you pay for unless you're lucky like me. But when you work on things like carburetors ultrasonic does what no other cleaning method can, like clearing out small the passages which clog up where you can't get to. For a hobby shop it's probably a good investment, for my business it was almost a necessity.

I ended up trading to the place I stored my boat and AFAIK they're still using it today.

John


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## markba633csi (Apr 23, 2021)

Great tip about the aluminum foil- Have to file that little tidbit of info away for when I get a machine for my birthday present
-Mark


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## pdentrem (Apr 23, 2021)

We have a couple of these smaller bench top cleaners at work. We use water and Dawn. Placing small parts in a breaker or other glass jars with more toxic cleaners does work well as mentioned. The larger Branson units we use industrial degreasing fluids naturally.
Pierre


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## hman (Apr 23, 2021)

A useful variation on the jar/beaker technique is to place the parts into a (freezer or similar "heavy duty) ziplock bag with your solvent of choice.  Then let the bag float in the water and turn on the good vibrations.  The large, flexible interface provided by the walls of the bag do a great job of transmitting the vibrations to the "inside" solution.


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## Watson (Apr 23, 2021)

I have used the harbor freight model (similar to the model shown on pg 1 but older) for years and it has worked excellent.  The heater will heat the solution fairly quickly and will get pretty hot if left on ...but I have never overheated the unit.  I use it regularly for cleaning heavily caked parts that are acceptable for the size of the cleaner.  At times I wish it had a second transducer for additional power, but overall it has proven its value 10x over.

Agree with simple green and similar cleaners.   works very well


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## Cadillac STS (Apr 23, 2021)

I have one of those. I got the least expensive one that had a ball valve at the bottom so I could let the water out easier.

I also just put water in it then put parts and solvent in a jar. That way the machine stays clean and I can use the appropriate solvents as needed in smaller amounts.  There is a minimum level needed of fluid and cleaners need a certain concentration so it can waste lot of product if only a small part needs to be cleaned.


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## JRaut (Apr 23, 2021)

I've got one of the standard 10L cleaners you see on Amazon/eBay. I'd been using with tap water and a bit of Dawn. Worked okay, but didn't work the wonders that I'd expected.

I recently added some Ammonia to the mix and it was a night/day difference. Cheap and significantly more effective.


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## pdentrem (Apr 24, 2021)

I use ammonia to clean my bbq grills as well. Garbage bag method.
Pierre


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## Packard V8 (Apr 24, 2021)

The cheapo HF, _et al_, ultrasonic units are a crapshoot as to quality and longevity.  I know of one used daily for ten years and probably ten others which barely outlasted the warranty and one owner who got three replacements within the warranty period before demanding a refund.

jack vines


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## Lucas E (Apr 27, 2021)

Just a heads up. I purchased 2 cheap 10L stainless units from different ebay sellers ($124). Both units failed to meet the stated wattage specs for the heater and ultrasonic. I then paid a little more for a unit from Amazon ($150, and it looked exactly the same) but this one came with a different basket and the PCB board seemed to be mounted slightly higher in the viewing screen. At any rate. Just because the chinese units look identical doesn't mean they are. I suspect a number of chinese companies are buying the housing from 1 supplier and then installing their own electronics. The cheapest of the cheap on ebay are using bottom of the barrel electronics that don't meet the advertised specs.

If you pop out the fuse you can hook up a multimeter to the fuse prongs and read the amperage it draws while running to make sure you get a good one.


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## Lucas E (Apr 27, 2021)

Oops, double posted.


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## JPMacG (May 3, 2021)

I just received a 3.2 liter unit from an eBay seller.  It was $65.  It seems to work OK.  I used it already to clean an engine for a R/C model airplane and it did a decent job.  I got to wondering if it would clean a file - and it did.  The file is not back to new condition but a bunch of filings came out of the grooves and it is a lot better than it was.  More effective than a file cleaning brush.

I'll check the current draw and see if it is as advertised.  I don't care much about the heater - but I would be disappointed if the ultrasonic transducer was not as advertised.


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## Cadillac STS (May 3, 2021)

JPMacG said:


> I just received a 3.2 liter unit from an eBay seller.  It was $65.  It seems to work OK.  I used it already to clean an engine for a R/C model airplane and it did a decent job.  I got to wondering if it would clean a file - and it did.  The file is not back to new condition but a bunch of filings came out of the grooves and it is a lot better than it was.  More effective than a file cleaning brush.
> 
> I'll check the current draw and see if it is as advertised.  I don't care much about the heater - but I would be disappointed if the ultrasonic transducer was not as advertised.


Do R/C aircraft use castor oil fuel these days?  I recall the nice smell but brown buildup on things. Or synthetic cleaner burning fuel?


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## DavidR8 (May 3, 2021)

JPMacG said:


> I just received a 3.2 liter unit from an eBay seller. It was $65. It seems to work OK. I used it already to clean an engine for a R/C model airplane and it did a decent job. I got to wondering if it would clean a file - and it did. The file is not back to new condition but a bunch of filings came out of the grooves and it is a lot better than it was. More effective than a file cleaning brush.
> 
> I'll check the current draw and see if it is as advertised. I don't care much about the heater - but I would be disappointed if the ultrasonic transducer was not as advertised.



Do you have a link to the unit?


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## JPMacG (May 3, 2021)

Well, Lucas E was correct.  I measured the current into the unit.  On heat it draws .44 A, so about 53 watts.  On ultrasonic clean it draws .53 A, so about 64 watts.  It was advertised as 100 W heat and 120 W clean.   But still, it works OK.    Here is a link:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/154248625057


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## JPMacG (May 3, 2021)

Castor is still used today, although it is usually combined with synthetic oil to reduce the gummy mess.   I use a blend of 16% synthetic oil, 2% castor, 10% nitromethane and the balance methanol.  Castor is said to protect engines from an accidental lean run better than synthetic.  It is also relatively inexpensive.  The synthetic oil used most often is polyalkylene glycol, which is about twice the cost of castor.

I love the smell of castor in the morning.


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## Lucas E (May 4, 2021)

JPMacG said:


> Well, Lucas E was correct.  I measured the current into the unit.  On heat it draws .44 A, so about 53 watts.  On ultrasonic clean it draws .53 A, so about 64 watts.  It was advertised as 100 W heat and 120 W clean.   But still, it works OK.    Here is a link:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/154248625057


The 2 units I bought from eBay were with the bright blue face that said digital ultrasonic cleaner. The one I ordered from Amazon showed a picture of the darker blue face and TBond logo, however when it arrived it was the same blue face as the eBay units and had no TBond logo. But as I mentioned previously the curcuit board was located in a slightly different location and the basket was different. I think the only way to tell what you're getting is measuring the current. It makes me pretty angry when sellers list specs that are copied from another vender yet their products don't even begin to meet them. I've been sending items back regularly when I run across them.

How long these will last is anyones guess, but the least you can do is make sure you're getting what they advertised.


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## Larry$ (May 4, 2021)

Lucas E said:


> Amazon ($150,


I've been looking @ ultrasonic cleaners trying to decide if any of the Chinese ones are worth it. I'd like a 10L one. Would you mind sharing the Amazon info for the one you got?


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## Lucas E (May 4, 2021)

Larry$ said:


> I've been looking @ ultrasonic cleaners trying to decide if any of the Chinese ones are worth it. I'd like a 10L one. Would you mind sharing the Amazon info for the one you got?





			https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V4VZ3YK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_D9GTFKFGHGPQ77XGM6X0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
		


If you buy one, check the current draw and see if I just got lucky, or if the SHZOND are better units.


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## Forty Niner (May 4, 2021)

This is the 3.6 gallon (13.6L) Ultrasonic Cleaner I use:





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						Quantrex® 360 w/Timer, Heat & Drain
					






					www.lrultrasonics.com
				




I use it for antique clock, movements, jewelry, and other stuff.   I use commercial solutions based on the objects to be cleaned. Some have ammonia, some are water based, and some mineral based.  Some people use their own recipes for the solution.

I do not fill the entire cleaner with the cleaning solution.  I put the object in some smaller plastic or glass vessel filled with cleaner, then float or immerse it in the water filled cleaner tank.  Keeps the tank nice and clean and doesn't waste expensive ultrasonic solutions.


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## Bluedog (May 4, 2021)

I’ve got the 10L Seeutek from Amazon and the heater works great. It will heat cold solution up to 130 degrees fairly quickly.  I’ve only used it to clean carburetors with SharperTek SC20 so far, but I love it. 

Thanks for the tip about putting smaller objects in a separate container. I haven’t thought of that. Will try the wife’s jewelry next, and not use all of my jewelry cleaner to mix 10 liters of solution.


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