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Ultrasonic parts cleaners

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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Anyone have one in their home shop? Many years ago I had access to one. Have long entertained the idea of adding one to my home shop. Just did a google search and prices seem to be fairly reasonable.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
I just use a 2.5 gallon bucket full of kitty litter. Insert part, shake vigorously, soak part in water to remove any kitty litter residue.
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,573
1,069
La Verne
I have the harbor freight unit.
I think it's kind of a joke.
A woman's jewelry cleaner.

Got a Hudson sprayer full of purple power by the sink and some scrub brushes.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,442
I had some at my old work, I would love to have my own.
We had one of these at my old work, was a good hand warmer in Winter, not that fantastic at cleaning parts.
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Had been wondering about a little ultrasonic though, it would be awesome for chains.
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,628
5,442
Good ones that work are awesome for gunked up drivetrains. When I worked at the shop ours was primarily used for dirty and grimy road drivetrains.
I did read that some cheaper ones were more like a wavepool than a US cleaner.
Have you ever boiled a chain in water? I heard that that is supposed to get them pretty clean but have never tried it, it makes some sense, heat and agitation.......
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Just chain, chainring and cranks right? Cause most everything else has bearings or parts that would get screwed up? We had one at the shop I worked, but I don’t remember lol we threw in there.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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I did read that some cheaper ones were more like a wavepool than a US cleaner.
Have you ever boiled a chain in water? I heard that that is supposed to get them pretty clean but have never tried it, it makes some sense, heat and agitation.......
Ah yes, water and heat, two things that speed up corrosion.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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Just chain, chainring and cranks right? Cause most everything else has bearings or parts that would get screwed up? We had one at the shop I worked, but I don’t remember lol we threw in there.
Yea, nothing with bearings. Don't recall doing whole cranksets, but definitely chainrings. I think you can do derailleurs as long as they don't have bearings in the pulleys, or at least remove them.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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I forget what degreaser solution I am using but it’s excellent. I’ll update when I get home. I had to get a 5l one to fit the 51/52 cassettes. I got the cleaner on ebay, I don’t remember the brand.
I've read some degreasers can/need to be mixed with water. Do you run yours straight or mixed?
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,189
19,155
Canaderp
Mixed. A gallon jug will last for ten years at the rate I’m using it. I did make a mistake at first with a citrus degreaser that removed the anodization on a cassette.
I did this on the chain rings on my gravel bike. Thirty minutes was enough to remove the colour, that stuff was powerful haha. But the bike kind of looks cool being all black with silver rings. But that stuff was purple and definitely not organic. Derp.

I've put chains and stuff in a bucket with a metal screen to keep the parts elevated and stuck it on top of the clotheswasher or dryer a few times - that worked well enough. Lots of crap was on the bottom of the bucket after.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
I use the cheapo approach when cleaning my transmission. For cassettes and chains (I run a 46t one) I have a plastic bin (tupperware or equivalent) with a locking lid, throw a bit of an industrial degreaser I buy as wholesale (5l containers), water and shake vigorously. Should work for chainrings also. When/if I just want to clean the chain, I just throw it inside a 500cc soda bottle with ~20-30 ml of the degreaser and shake it. Cut the soda bottle once done and rinse thoroughly.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
For drivetrain parts I think the optimal cleaning method depends a lot in the lube you use and the soil type in your area. Wax+clay results in a mess that I found requires polar solvents. Water based degreasers work better with oil lubricants.
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,573
1,069
La Verne
Wax the chain and you won't need cleaning the cassette.
Ahh wax
I fd with the crock pot wax deal, tried all kind of wax and oil concoctions, and types of waxes, paraffin, carbuba, hydrogenated castor oil..
The carnuba fell off, the castor oil didn't work for some reason. Anyways.... I found the wax buildup would pack between the 10t and 11t enough to cause an issue and would require scraping once in a while.

I dont have time for that crock o wax any more. Now I use squirt wax lube, Works good but the chain gets a little build up, prolink works good to clean it off
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I've used the HF one for a while and it works fairly well. I think the best use is for getting parts with lots of small features really clean, as long as they're not too gunked up originally. Would be nice to have one that could fit an Eagle cassette, but not sure that it's really essential.
 

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,055
11,298
In the cleavage of the Tetons
I’m in Perúúú, I’ll check when I get home...
wait, I found the eBay order, nothing but the finest Swiss manufacturing.
It even prevents water heat from diffusing, and that’s gotta be worth a LOT

 
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jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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24,181
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I’m in Perúúú, I’ll check when I get home...
wait, I found the eBay order, nothing but the finest Swiss manufacturing.
It even prevents water heat from diffusing, and that’s gotta be worth a LOT

Cool thanks. Googling around that was one of the ones I turned up too.