Best ultrasonic cleaner....

[tkent02]

Had the Harbor Freight one a few years, totally sold on ultrasonic for carburetors. I liked the way it cleaned, better and quicker than the dip, with no nasty chemicals, very good. Not going back. Didn't like the small tank, short timer, and the fact that it takes a lot of cycles just to heat the water up. I think it wasn't powerful enough, a better unit would work quicker. I left some dirty water in it for a few weeks, the stainless steel tank corroded and now it leaks.

I think I'll get a bigger more powerful one this time. Anyone know what's the best bang for the buck? Something in the $200ish range would be OK, maybe more, maybe less. Any brand name that's better than the others? Any features I want? Anything else?

Thinking of this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Kendal-Commer...sbs_328_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=022F85Z91MF1BZDZQMWG

It would be nice to be able to fit a head or cylinders in the tank, but those are closer to $1000. I wouldn't use it often enough to make that worthwhile.

Anyone have any ideas about which one is the best? What are you guys using?

 

[Guest]

I've been looking for one also.
I bid on a few on eBay and also looking for a larger unit.
I use a hotplate and preheat my water. Cuts the time in half.

 

[tkent02]

Which one are you using now? And can you please measure a cylinder head? Maybe I can find one big enough... but I'm at work and I have no heads here to measure.

 

[Guest]

I started a thread awhile back.
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?229578-Ultrasonic-cleaner&highlight=ultrasonic
It's too small. Holds two bodies at a time.
I really like the results.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Tom, I have the 3L version of that one and only just holds just 1 carb body, the 6 litre would not do any more than 2 carb bodies and certainly not a head from a GS 4 cylinder, you would need the 30 litre model for that.

http://www.amazon.com/Kendal-Commer...sbs_328_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EGJQMQWZ84K216SNYD4



They do work well and the heater on my one works great.

David

 

[Guest]

I've been considering buying something from these guys

http://durasonix.com/default/

I'm really sick of the mess dipping causes. All though now looking at the specs they don't seem that good, here's something that looks far better

http://www.amazon.ca/Kendal-Commercial-ULTRASONIC-CLEANER-HB36/dp/B002QD624C

 

[tkent02]

Found this one, it will fit a GS 1100 cylinder head, and it's fairly inexpensive.. Made an offer, we'll see if he takes it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLEANING-MA...L-/111527528351?ssPageName=ADME:B:BOC:US:1123

All made in China, but it will probably work OK for my occasional use.
Anyone have any experience with it, or with this manufacturer?

 

[ShadowFocus603]

Interested to hear how it works out if you get it. I have a 6L unit and can do 2 carbs at a time. I'd love to go bigger and be able to clean other bits besides carbs. And of course being able to do a full rack at once would save time.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6L-1-58G-Co...511?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccaadad67
This is the one I have. He must be out of stock because he jacked the price. Was 199.99 when I got it.

 

[JTGS850GL]

480 watts sonic power and 22L is a reasonable match for the size but not spectacular. Each transducer is putting out 60W which is common for the ebay cleaners. 8 transducers will reduce the risk of large standing waves and keep areas from not getting proper cavitation. The size looks like it can accommodate a cylinder head, but may be just a tad low on power for the mass of a cylinder head. Should still work though but maybe not on a single cycle. 40khz is a good general purpose frequency and heat is a good option. 600W heating capacity is OK for 22L but will take time to get things up to temp. Not a big deal if you preset the temp before you need to do the cleaning. Even at his buy it now price it looks like a decent deal. This is NOT a true commercial unit but hay, you get what you pay for and it should work for what you're looking to do. If he does accept the make offer, let us know what it is since he has more then 10 available.

 

[rapidray]

Mine is a 12 liter unit & I put 4 bodies & all the rest of the carb parts in mine all at once. Works awesome, heats quickly & does everything in 1 cycle. I've had mine for over 3 years now with ZERO issues. It won't fit a cylinder head but I didn't buy it for that.
Ray.

 

[JTGS850GL]

Mine is a 12 liter unit & I put 4 bodies & all the rest of the carb parts in mine all at once. Works awesome, heats quickly & does everything in 1 cycle. I've had mine for over 3 years now with ZERO issues. It won't fit a cylinder head but I didn't buy it for that.
Ray.

Ya boy, you sure can't beat a good sonic cleaner when it comes to cleaning the little passages. I do still dip the carbs but then follow up with the sonic cleaner. Some of the carbs I pick up are pretty gummed up but they're darn clean by the time I'm done.

 

[Fjbj40]

The one I use is a 30 liter unit, I can just fit a 16 valve head or cylinders in it. When I did the 83 1100 it even removed a lot of the paint, I had the heater cranked up to 80+ cel.

I would clean all parts in the parts washer first. They looked clean, then after the sonic cleaner they were absolutely spotless.

As as for cleaning carbs, I do not even use the dip method, clean in parts washer, disassemble and in the sonic cleaner for 1 hour. Blow out passages and reassemble, done!

 

[tkent02]

The one I use is a 30 liter unit, I can just fit a 16 valve head or cylinders in it. When I did the 83 1100 it even removed a lot of the paint, I had the heater cranked up to 80+ cel.

I would clean all parts in the parts washer first. They looked clean, then after the sonic cleaner they were absolutely spotless.

I mostly use the dip for paint removal anymore, ultrasonic is THE way to go for carburetors. Still wondering how clean cylinders and heads come out, from your post I guess pretty good!

Absolutely spotless is a beautiful thing, does it get rid of stuck gasket pieces, carbon and the petrified crud way down in the cooling fins?

 

[Fjbj40]

I mostly use the dip for paint removal anymore, ultrasonic is THE way to go for carburetors. Still wondering how clean cylinders and heads come out, from your post I guess pretty good!

Absolutely spotless is a beautiful thing, does it get rid of stuck gasket pieces, carbon and the petrified crud way down in the cooling fins?

Yes on the cooling fins, gets them pretty clean. It softens any gasket material, that does not fall off, making it easier to remove.

I typically glass bead to remove old paint, then blast with aluminum grit for a rough finish for paint adhesion. Before paint it goes back in the sonic cleaner, then high pressure blow out along with bottle brushing any galleries, then back in sonic cleaner again, another high pressure blow out.

I spend a lot of time cleaning!

 

[tkent02]

I spend a lot of time cleaning!

A lot less than if you didn't have the ultrasound.

 

[tkent02]

The one I use is a 30 liter unit, I can just fit a 16 valve head or cylinders in it.

Which unit are you using?

 

[tkent02]

If he does accept the make offer, let us know what it is since he has more then 10 available.

So far he has turned down $250 and $295.

 

[Fjbj40]

Which unit are you using?

http://durasonix.com/default/knob-controlled/30-litre-unit.html

works very well, I use a cleaning agent called Brulin 512 http://brulin.com/productdetails.aspx?pid=135&cid=49

 

[tkent02]

It got here, or rather it's been here a week and I just got here. This one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CLEANING-MA...L-/111527528351?ssPageName=ADME:B:BOC:US:1123

Cheaply made, the instructions and labels are worse than those with a 1965 Japanese bike. Says not to fill it above the line, guess what? There's no line. I'm guessing an inch from the top is OK, just so it doesn't overflow? Maybe I should measure 22 liters into it and mark the side of the tank? The power cord is some goofy foreign thing that I've never seen before, and I've seen a lot of them. At least it comes with an adapter, which works. The heat is slowly getting hotter, up 6 degrees C in 15 minutes. Not really that impressive.

Put a 650 head in the basket, it fits. A 750 or 1000 head will fit with no basket, will have to rig up something to hold it off the bottom. It's been in there fifteen minutes, the water is definitely getting murky.......

 

[tkent02]

I need a way to carry 6 gallons of hot water out to the garage. OK in the kitchen this time because my wife wasn't home. If I dropped something heavy on her new countertop it wouldn't go well for me. Got away with living dangerously this time.

Fits the head, a lot of dirt came off in a hurry.

Didn't really get it all that clean, even after a lot of cycles. There is still a stain from the old baked on crud around the spark plugs, there is still some carbon in the combustion chambers. I think the mass of the head is just too much for it. It did better on a valve cover and some smaller parts like a master cylinder and some pistons.

Maybe a different detergent would work better, used the Simple Green professional stuff. Maybe need to soak it longer, maybe need it to be hotter, or more concentrated, not sure.