Does anyone have any experience with benchtop ultrasonic cleaners ? I'm after a fairly cheap (sub £100) 3-5 litre cleaner to clean up various carb bits and some other relatively delicate mechanical bits. I know the cheap Chinese 'eBay special' ones can stop working - repairs aren't that expensive - but do they actually work well enough or are they a waste of money ? Any thoughts or views welcome.
Cheers muchly.
Ultrasonic cleaners
Moderator: RichardW
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
Brilliant, especially for carbs. Second hand advice though as my friend bought one to clean the carbs on his Golf. Worked a treat.
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- Sara Watson's Stalker
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
Evilally on here (Alastair) used one for a bunch of kit.
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
I've got a little desktop one and it's quite handy. Great for cleaning things like carb jets, manky keys, valve/coil screening cans in old radios and the like. Used it once to clean all the keycaps from a manky keyboard too.
Last time I cleaned a carb out the jets got thrown in the ultrasonic cleaner and the body got stuffed in the dishwasher. End result was a fully working carb afterwards, even if it did take a bit of time with the air line getting the water out of all the ports!
Last time I cleaned a carb out the jets got thrown in the ultrasonic cleaner and the body got stuffed in the dishwasher. End result was a fully working carb afterwards, even if it did take a bit of time with the air line getting the water out of all the ports!
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
Yep....they are great. Cleans all sorts of crap off whatever you can get in one....get one (if you can) with a liner that you can take out/add dependant on the chemicals you wish to use.
For general cleaning stuff like low foam carpet liquid is good, on steels/iron try patio cleaner as a good liquid.
Take car with chemicals on machined surfaces/thin alloys....try them first. Heating any liquid usually helps as well.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-Stain ... 3aad4781a2
For general cleaning stuff like low foam carpet liquid is good, on steels/iron try patio cleaner as a good liquid.
Take car with chemicals on machined surfaces/thin alloys....try them first. Heating any liquid usually helps as well.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-Stain ... 3aad4781a2
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
Thanks for the info guys. I'm a bit wary of the Chinese ones in Sticky's eBay link though - these are the ones that even the sellers say don't use them for too long at a time to make them last longer ! They normally offer to replace them though - providing you send them back to China
Anyone had good results with <specifically> the el-cheapo Chinese ones ?

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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
In the end I took the plunge and bought myself an ex-display 6 litre ultrasonic cleaner. I shall be trying it out this week.
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
Do let us know how you get on with it, I'm rather temped myself.
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- Sara Watson's Stalker
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
Yes, I got an old medical ultrasonic from my last place when a change in health and safety regulations meant they were all getting replaced. Useful now and then, makes you popular with the ladies as it does an exceptional job of cleaning jewelry.
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
macplaxton wrote:Do let us know how you get on with it, I'm rather temped myself.
Well, I think I'll declare it a success ! I've just finished cleaning a couple of old Kohler 8hp carbs and a Briggs 11hp carb in a filthy condition and the results were quite successful. I did 3 sessions of about 15 minutes each and used a mix of water and APL Chemicals (ultrasonic) engine parts cleaner at 60 degrees. Once rinsed, a quick blast with an airline brought them up pretty good - including removing a lot of the old paint. I took 'before and after' photos, but just imagine a dirty corroded carb, then imagine a clean carb - and you'll get the idea

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- A very naughty boy
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Re: Ultrasonic cleaners
That's a nice result Bobins 
