ultrasonic cleaners , anyone use them ?

[Noobman]

Ok, lets call my bike Mr. Frankenstein. He drastically loves work being done on him continuously .
I'm the second owner and it is my first bike that I've had now for 2 years.
Developed a love hate relationship.

Ok, my carbs.... Mannnn. I cleaned them once two winters ago. But not well enough so now they have apparently accumulated,more gunk.

I got them cleaned by a "pro" the other week only to find out later he did a,half assed job.

So anyways.
Since I'm tired of taking this monster apart constantly .
This is why I'm enquiring about ultrasonic cleaners for my carbs.

My questions:
1. Can anyone that has used this,method share some advice to me.
2. What size/capacity of cleaner would I need (obviously something that can comfortably fit the carb). But anyone know specifics ?
3. I'm tired, someone hold my hand.

Mhmmm, that's all I can think of right now.
Posted via Mobile Device

[misfitsailor]

I use a small ultrasonic cleaner, but never considered putting a carb in it.

The most important thing to remember about ultrasonic cleaners is to never put ball or roller bearings in them. The vibrations can cause the balls/rollers to wear against the races.

[verboten1]

I bought the large harbor freight unit specifically for carb cleaning

[Racer x]

I use an ultrasonic cleaner to clean watch parts. I use an ammonia mix and it gets things super clean.

[Rifleman]

Use them often to clean lab glassware.

as was said, never bearings, the vibrations cause the bearings to pound against the race and put little dimples in the bearing, it will feel like it's full of sand after that.

Don't put your fingers in the ultrasound. the vibrations can cause the small blood vessels to break and you will get little blood blisters, a few seconds, not a big deal, holding a part in the bath for a minute or two, not a good idea.

Use a secondary. put water in your ultrasound but then put something in the water like a plastic tray or beaker and put your parts in the beaker. this makes it easy to get your parts out and keeps your fingers out of the ultrasound.

you can use solvents but be careful. They tell you not to use anything flammable and this is a good idea. The vibrations will heat up the water, not to a boil but warm enough that something like gasoline or alcohol will vaporize over time. So if you are going to use a solvent that is flammable, put it in a closed container, something with a screw on cap, like a clean peanut butter jar... I have 1000 of those in the shop, they just come in wayyyy too handy.

Run the piece for 2 - 5 minutes then clean with your normal means and see if it's clean to your standards. An ultrasound isn't like a washing machine, it's more like a sand blaster. It will break the stuff lose from the surface, but doesn't really wash it away, so shake or us an air hose and see if it's clean. If not, you can put it back in the ultrasound for another go.

Ultrasound uses very high frequency vibrations. This actually forms very tiny bubbles on the surface of the item. As the bubbles collapse they can exert as much as 10,ooo psi on the location of the collapse. It can be tough on soft metals like brass or copper, aluminum... Stainless and iron not as much... ceramic and glass, not at all.

Plus you can clean all the jewelry anyone has. 2 minutes in a bit of dish soap and water, rinse and dry, and that diamond ring will look like brand new.

[Racer x]

Great advice. I use tiny little jars with screen at both sides. They keep small parts from getting lost and I can pick them
Up with tongs. Baskets are available at watch making supply shops. They have large baskets for clock parts also.

[Miles_Prower]

use them at work to clean parts for medical devices. in addition to the things mentioned already, you could try using ultrasonic cleaning fluid (the type depends on the material you are cleaning). These fluids reduce the surface tension of the water and increase the cleaning efficiency of the ultrasonic cleaner, so you'll get better results. Also, it doesn't take a long time to clean parts, you need to run it for about 5 minutes to degas the parts, and then 5 or so minutes to clean.

the other huge thing that helps is heating the fluid. not boiling, but close. this will also play a big part in cleaning efficiency.

[DCMoney]

I use the harbor friend one to clean my suppressors.

+1 to heating the liquid first, mine gets close to boiling or at least it felt hot as hell when I stuck my hand in it the first time...

[bkh2]

I have a 6L ultrasonic cleaner and it fits half of a 4-carburetor bank. It should therefore be adequate for the Ninjette's dual carb bank. Some units have an integrated heating element. While this is a good thing, it can be deceivingly advertised a certain power output that combines the power drawn by the heater plus vibration. For example, a 165W unit sounds good, but when in actuality, it could be only a 100W unit with a 65W heater.

As for process, mine came with a wire mesh basket which is super convenient: place components in the basket and drop the basket into the bath. It's normally best to strip the carb down to just its body, then drop the entire thing in the bath. Many chemical additives have been proposed: Water + Simple Green / vinegar / dish soap / etc., or some combination of them. You can do research to see what other people have said works well, and what not to use with certain metals.

[Worldtraveller]

Originally Posted by misfitsailor

I use a small ultrasonic cleaner, but never considered putting a carb in it.

The most important thing to remember about ultrasonic cleaners is to never put ball or roller bearings in them. The vibrations can cause the balls/rollers to wear against the races.

I would pull the jets and just put those in a cleaner if I were going to use this method. I just get an inexpensive can of carb cleaner from an auto supply store, though, toss the jets in overnight, and it's all good.