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Vent: That fancy ultrasonic parts cleaner I bought was a total waste of money | Aircraft Mechanics - Vivisector

Vent: That fancy ultrasonic parts cleaner I bought was a total waste of money

I dropped $600 on one of those big ultrasonic cleaners for engine parts, thinking it'd save me hours. After 3 tries, it still left carbon buildup on a set of cylinders that took me 20 minutes with a brush and solvent. Anyone else find these things useless for anything but small fuel injectors?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby6593mo ago

Figure out what metal your parts are made of before trying again. I wrecked a set of vintage carb bodies once because the ultrasonic waves combined with a wrong chemical ate the soft aluminum right off. Stick to a mild simple green mix and keep an eye on it every ten minutes to avoid damage.

adam_baker3mo ago

My first ultrasonic cleaner came with such vague instructions that I accidentally ran it with straight Simple Green concentrate on a set of rusty brake calipers. Ten minutes later the water looked like pea soup and the calipers felt like they lost ten pounds. I pulled them out and they were pitted so bad I could see the original casting marks underneath like a ghost. Now I test every new batch of solution on a junk piece first before I let anything important near the tank.

fionam113mo ago

still left carbon buildup on a set of cylinders that took me 20 minutes with a brush and solvent" - that part right there tells me you're probably using the wrong cleaning solution. Most people dump degreaser in and call it a day but the real trick is using a heated solution with the right chemical mix. I've got a cheap one I use for carbs and the temp has to be just right, like 130-140f, and you gotta let it run for a good 30 minutes min. The bubbles need time to work into the carbon layers. Also check if yours has a degas cycle, you gotta run that first to get all the air out of the liquid so the cavitation actually happens. Try switching to a water based solution with a little citric acid and see if that helps, those strong solvents actually mess with the ultrasonic waves.