Not something I would use every day but when I need it...

On my Mini forum someone has one they got one eBay for $100 but can’t tell me which one, it would be nice to have larger than a smaller one - plan is for carbs, hubs etc. wanted to throw it out there. Also, what fluids are being used...? Thx

I bought a 30 liter off ebay, made in china for about $230. Works well, but is not necessarily an end all process to cleaning parts. Consider it one of the tools in your tool box to get the job done. I'm using it for cleaning misc bolts, nuts , etc. for my build. Most of the time using a combination of water, dawn and your favorite purple cleaner. I would suggest if you buy one with any volume that you get one with a drain built in. I added a ball valve and hose to mine. Which makes dumping the used liquids much easier. Most have heat, but I always start with hot liquids as well. Liquid combinations vary on what metals you are cleaning. Some cleaners become caustic to aluminum.

Absolutely don’t buy the piece of shit Harbor Freight one.

I bought one and it almost burnt my house down.

It came on in the middle of the night all by itself. The heater did not cycle off either. I came out the next morning to a smoke filled garage and melted down cleaner. These are supposed to have a timer that shuts down the unit after running a while. This “safety” timer did not work either.

I wrote HF twice trying to explain the danger of what happened. No response from them.

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Look for good manufacture's like:

* NAE Blackstone Ultrasonics
* Crest Ultrasonics
* Branson Ultrasonics

Also, don't use any type of solvent in ultrasonics unless the system says its intrinsically safe! the sonic waves cause small cavitation's on the surface of the parts in excess of 350F. I own a 20 gallon NAE Blackstone and it works awesome!

Nacho

Ours is big enough for a transmission but as Bbrock learned, it can damage the surface of aluminum and mag. Be careful with valuable parts.

Most degressers are high Ph and not good for aluminum! Make sure you find a degresser with neutral Ph like 7 or 8Ph instead of 10-12Ph

*Daraclean 212 is neutral

Bought this Solid Tech off amazon which was recommended on a pelican thread. been using mix of water/dawn/simple green. dawn is they key. been using it regularly for 4 years now and still going strong. heated solution does a great job even if not running the ultrasonic part.Click to view attachment

I just bought this exact unit from same supplier. Large enough for all trans parts except shaft and case. It was an experiment as I also do carbs and motorcycle parts. Works ok. loosens everything. I am using simple green, water. Need to add Dawn and see how that goes. No probs with my mag and aluminum as of yet.


The real deal is the vapor blast cabinet I am building

The videos on this page are spot on and great info. Helps when choosing a cleaner, what for, and how to use it.

https://www.tovatech.com/blog/688/ultrasoni...asonic-cleaning

I bought a 6 liter Vevorcleaner from Amazon for $129 and used it extensively over the last winter, with great results. Mainly cleaing my 901 parts and bike carb parts.

Do NOT use the regular "Simple Green" in the cleaner, but rather their purple HD pro version!!!

The purple HD pro is safe on metal, whereas the std green will attack metal surface if you let it sit "too" long.

I use a 1:2 ratio (cleaner:water) at 60C for 30-45 min with excellent results. Normally I run it first for 20min, give it a scrub with a plastic bristle brush and another 15-20min. Rinse with water and dry it with compressed air.

here are some pics of a cleaned 20 year old carb:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...t&p=2702370

I'm a big fan of vapor blasting ever since I sent out my motorcycle parts to get done. Our cabinet is almost too big for our shop use. It took a separate transformer to run power and a shop size snap-on compressor to run enough air. It can fit 3 transmissions on it's turntable. But it does get the job done and makes the parts pretty.