Parts cleaners - Ultrasonic, vibratory & solvent-experience welcome.

[HWYCRZR]

I have used many parts cleaning/ restoration methods over the years. I seem to spend a lot of time cleaning parts and trying to make them new again. I also dabble in cad / zinc replating (another time suck for a different thread).
I have always used solvent for internal engine and transmission parts. They typically just need the old grease and oil cleaned off. I don’t like water base as I am afraid of spot rust. I will also use the solvent for bolts and parts to help loosen up the grease.
Next I use a vibration shaker, generally used for cleaning brass in reloading applications. I use the green pyramids and a water based green cleaner. Let the parts vibrate for a day or so and they come out pretty clean. The key after cleaning is to throw them in an acid etch if you are not plating them right away so they don’t flash rust. Then they can be stored in a bag until you are ready to paint or plate.

Now I just pulled the trigger on an ultrasonic cleaner. I have been looking at The Harbor Freight 6L. It finally went on sale with a coupon for $129. Of course they were out, so I tried to order it online, but for some reason wouldn’t accept my order. So next time I was on Facebook a Vevor add came up for Ultrasonic cleaners. The 6L was about $100, the 10L was about $129 and the 15L was $140 or something. I decided to get the 15L as it would fit larger parts. Delivered for $150. Can’t wait to try it. Any advice on ultrasonic would be appreciated.

Here are my current cleaning devices.

 

[3175375]

I have used many parts cleaning/ restoration methods over the years. I seem to spend a lot of time cleaning parts and trying to make them new again. I also dabble in cad / zinc replating (another time suck for a different thread).
I have always used solvent for internal engine and transmission parts. They typically just need the old grease and oil cleaned off. I don’t like water base as I am afraid of spot rust. I will also use the solvent for bolts and parts to help loosen up the grease.
Next I use a vibration shaker, generally used for cleaning brass in reloading applications. I use the green pyramids and a water based green cleaner. Let the parts vibrate for a day or so and they come out pretty clean. The key after cleaning is to throw them in an acid etch if you are not plating them right away so they don’t flash rust. Then they can be stored in a bag until you are ready to paint or plate.

Now I just pulled the trigger on an ultrasonic cleaner. I have been looking at The Harbor Freight 6L. It finally went on sale with a coupon for $129. Of course they were out, so I tried to order it online, but for some reason wouldn’t accept my order. So next time I was on Facebook a Vevor add came up for Ultrasonic cleaners. The 6L was about $100, the 10L was about $129 and the 15L was $140 or something. I decided to get the 15L as it would fit larger parts. Delivered for $150. Can’t wait to try it. Any advice on ultrasonic would be appreciated.

Here are my current cleaning devices.

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I have what you have and the ultrasonic is nice. I believe I have the 10 liter.
I use simple green a lot and have even used it in the ultrasonic cleaner (as vinegar).
Diesel fuel in the solvent tank is also good for some.
Good to have a few choices in your toolkit!

 

[HWYCRZR]

Quick shot of my plating system 2.5 gallon

Left to right. Heated de greaser, in stainless stock pot and hot plate about 170 degrees, muriatic acid, Caswell Copy Cad(with aquarium heater, (about 100 degrees)And rinse for each step. I did buy a water distiller as I needed about 12 gallons of distilled water for start up.

Some motorcycle bolts.

 

[6PKRTSE]

I have mineral spirits in mine. The same stuff has been in the tank for almost 30 years. I just scrape the goop off the bottom of the tank once in awhile. Stuff still works great even on the nastiest of parts , but does leave a dirty film afterwards once mostly cleaned. I then just do a final rinse with aerosol brake cleaner right in the same tank and then parts look new.

Quote

 

[Aquaman]

I just bought a parts cleaner and solvent for the first time. Thank you for the info!

 

[HWYCRZR]

If you keep the game tank covered it will last for years. I think I had mine in there for about 15 + years. Mine evaporated down enough that I needed to clean out and add new. My new solvent has a less aggressive smell than the first stuff. People say it’s about the same as odorless mineral spirits. I found it at tractor supply. Was about $20 less for 5 gallons than every where else.
Old was the steel bucket below. New is the top plastic jug.

 

[Lefty71]

I use that psc-1000 from tsc now as well. I use to buy only Super Agitene because it was the least problem for your hands....not that you should get any of that stuff on your hands if you dont have to. Seems the price of Agitene and Super Agitene got quite hogh and i dont even know where to get it anymore.
As far as ultrasonic goes.... i got a decent size unit of off Amazon a while back. We were using TotallyAwesome and water....but sometimes you get a haze? on aluminum parts.

 

[1970cat]

i use simple green in my ultrasonic to clean brass clock parts. works great for degreasing. a quick spritz with brake kleen before they dry eliminates any haze.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I use that psc-1000 from tsc now as well. I use to buy only Super Agitene because it was the least problem for your hands....not that you should get any of that stuff on your hands if you dont have to. Seems the price of Agitene and Super Agitene got quite hogh and i dont even know where to get it anymore.
As far as ultrasonic goes.... i got a decent size unit of off Amazon a while back. We were using TotallyAwesome and water....but sometimes you get a haze? on aluminum parts.

So I have been reading up on ultrasonic and aluminum ( and have run across info on vinyl record cleaning as well). Most of the internet/HF cleaners are 40kHz. They are fairly aggressive creating larger cavitation bubbles which is great for cleaning steel and heavily soiled surfaces. However for aluminum I am reading that 70kHz is the desired frequency. It produces smaller cavitation bubbles and doesn’t attack the aluminum as aggressively. At 40kHz the cavitation creates microscopic pitting in the aluminum giving it a little duller finish. (Maybe not as bad as sand blasted). At 70kHz the smaller bubbles are weaker and more minuscule, still cleaning but not pitting as much.
I searched for a dual frequency ultrasonic cleaner that could give both, but they seem to start around $1,000 and up.
So I settled for the value 40kHz and figured if I do aluminum I would minimize the time and consider polishing it after. Of course with aluminum when it is deep cleaned you almost have instant oxidation.
I am wondering if I could find 70kHz transducers and switch them out. I still need to learn a lot about frequencies. They are a little over my head when reading about some of the tuning.

For vinyl records I learned that 40kHz works for cleaning the face of the vinyl for large gunk and debris, but for cleaning in the grooves 60-80kHz with the smaller cavitation bubbles work better to get into the grooves.
Interesting stuff at least for me. I sometimes like to understand the science behind things (in the simplest form)

 

[volksworld]

x2 on the psc 1000...had a real SafetyKleen machine in my business for 40 yrs...NOT cost effective for a retirement shop...the PSC 1000 gives results equivalent to the SK...i like the fact that it leaves a bit of an oily film as that keeps stuff i've cleaned from flash rusting immediately...then hit it with non clorinated brake kleen right before putting it together...the brake cleaner of choice is from Winzer....i have one of those hot water transmission wash cabinets and it rusts the hell out of anything that isnt non ferrous...put a freshly bored 4 cyl in there for 15 minutes and had to re-hone it

 

[HWYCRZR]

My thoughts are that if I am going to plate it or paint it or clear coat it I would run through the ultrasonic (theory at this point). Then buff or blast it depending on the desired finish. It’s not very effective to try to blast through caked on grease.

I as well dislike the flash rust. They claim that there are some water based cleaners with rust inhibitors. I also try to use distilled water whenever I can for a rinse as seems to prolong the rust occurrence.

 

[493mike]

I use Safety Kleen solvent in my tank (they service it) but, it's large enough to fit a small v-8 cylinder block inside. I just had it serviced last summer (14 years) and it cost $600.00. That's not bad per year cost! That's my transmission tear-down table to the left.
Mike

 

[ynst]

I use Safety Kleen in my ultrasonic cleaner. I got it used from the property disposition center at the Digital Equipment Corp site in Westfield, MA when I worked there in '75. The company upgraded to a bigger system and I was able to buy the old one. It's a 9" X 10" X 26" LPS stainless tank.

We, at the time, were using freon but the government banned that after I transferred to field service in '76 so I started using kerosene but switched to Safety Kleen in the early nineties.

It's great for cleaning carburetors and it works great for cleaning brass model trains in preparation for painting.

 

[HWYCRZR]

I got my Ultrasonic cleaner Friday. In my excitement to use it I didn’t take many pictures. I am still figuring out the best solution. I started out with pinesol and Mr.clean and cleaned our wedding rings first. That worked great. Then I went on to big greasy motorcycle parts like my exhaust tailpipe and brake pedal and some grease caked brackets. Usually I throw things like that in my solvent tank for a couple days to loosen up. But threw them in with no prep. It did ok after 20 minutes but the heavy cake needed a couple of passes with a screw driver in the corners and back in another 20. All in all not bad for general household cleaning solution.

Of course my local fleet farm didn’t have any simple green so I was trying alternatives. For Aluminum they claim that you should use cleaners with a neutral Ph which is around 6 and 7 ph. This keeps the corrosion down in aluminum. Simple Green is around Ph9-10. Extreme green parts cleaner is about the same, but their Safety Data Sheet says that with the recommended dilution it drops down to around 7.5ph so getting close to neutral PH. I do have some pool test strips and Ph up and ph down (baking soda) I could probably make a neutral bath for my motorcycle carburetor. Still testing. Sorry for the no before pictures but here are some after. Did great to clean the grooves of my shift lever. And grime off my tail light. I started with cleaner stuff and worked my way through the dirty stuff.

 

[3175375]

I got my Ultrasonic cleaner Friday. In my excitement to use it I didn’t take many pictures. I am still figuring out the best solution. I started out with pinesol and Mr.clean and cleaned our wedding rings first. That worked great. Then I went on to big greasy motorcycle parts like my exhaust tailpipe and brake pedal and some grease caked brackets. Usually I throw things like that in my solvent tank for a couple days to loosen up. But threw them in with no prep. It did ok after 20 minutes but the heavy cake needed a couple of passes with a screw driver in the corners and back in another 20. All in all not bad for general household cleaning solution.

Of course my local fleet farm didn’t have any simple green so I was trying alternatives. For Aluminum they claim that you should use cleaners with a neutral Ph which is around 6 and 7 ph. This keeps the corrosion down in aluminum. Simple Green is around Ph9-10. Extreme green parts cleaner is about the same, but their Safety Data Sheet says that with the recommended dilution it drops down to around 7.5ph so getting close to neutral PH. I do have some pool test strips and Ph up and ph down (baking soda) I could probably make a neutral bath for my motorcycle carburetor. Still testing. Sorry for the no before pictures but here are some after. Did great to clean the grooves of my shift lever. And grime off my tail light. I started with cleaner stuff and worked my way through the dirty stuff.

View attachment 651886View attachment 651887View attachment 651888View attachment 651889

That unit looks just like the one I have.

 

[bildog]

I just rebuilt my Carter carb and used Krud Kutter Pro cleaner and degreaser. It's 14.99 a gallon at Northern tools. I rigged up an "ultrasonic" washer using a power hand sander and some plastic tubs and pitcher to vibrate the parts clean and it worked great! I put the sander in a plastic pitcher and submerged it and my carb parts in a tub with the cleaner and plugged the sander in. After about 20 minutes I took a small brush and cleaned up the hard to reach exterior and interior and the result was excellent. Not toxic too. If you want to try it search online for homemade ultrasonic cleaner for other ideas. I was very surprised and had a good laugh cause it worked so good. By the way I went to the local habitat for humanity resale store and pruchased the sander for 10 bucks and a plastic pitcher for it to fit into from goodwill. Use the pitcher lid to thread the cord through and snap it on to keep the liquid from getting on the sander. Give it a try.