ultrasonic parts cleaner - use, recos?

[mueller]

Thoughts on the use of sonic parts cleaner? Any recos/tips?

I probably should have gotten one years ago, I do automotive tinkering too.... My pile of 10-15+ year old "to be serviced" markers is growing, now may be the time....

[Seajay]

Warm soapy water is really all you need, maybe a soft sponge for the really gross parts. Paintballs bio-degrade and wash away easily. The USC would probably work fine on most stuff, but I'd be careful with potmetal frames, stickers/jewels, or painted parts.

Auto parts are subject to really nasty stuff, like tar, that you shouldn't see for paintball. So, my guess would be no more effective than $2 in soap vs the $400+ for the cleaner.

[DocsMachine]

Generally I'll just use Dawn dish detergent, which works quite well on all manner of gunk.

If you're doing paintball gun parts- or really, anything anodized- don't use things like Simple Green or Purple Power, or similar degreasers. They contain sodium or potassium hydroxide, which can strip the anno. Or at the very least, discolor it.

Purple/Green, however, works great for steel, stainless steel and brass parts.

Doc.

[Tracker]

hot water and dish soap gets everything so far,

acetone to remove spray paint from homebrew camo jobs (not to be used on plastics though)

[gabe]

I've got an autococker body with a bunch of rust inside the valve area. Think an ultrasonic cleaner would get it out? Looks like some moisture got inside the ASA/front block/body and the rust is from the front block plug.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Probably more from the springs rusting then anything. I’m betting it’s only surface rust. Brasso on a old barrel swab in a drill is what I usually use.

[Grendel]

Hot soapy water and a bottle brush is all you really need. As Chuck E Ducky said if there is rust in the valve area it is most likely from the springs so just a residue and should clean out easily. Hell if you are tearing it down; stand it up in the dishwasher and give it a good cleaning. I plan on installing a dishwasher in my shop for stuff like this.

I have and ultra-sonic cleaner but never use it for my paintball stuff it is too hardy and coarse to need the sink. I reserve it and my solution for clock parts.

[DocsMachine]

I’m betting it’s only surface rust.

[Captain Pedant hat on]

All rust is 'surface' rust.

[Pedant hat off]

But, the 'Cocker body is aluminum, so unless you're talking about the white corrosion, any rust left inside is residue from the old steel parts- front block bolts, ASA bolts, springs, etc. And yes, the ultrasonic with a good detergent should clean it up nicely.

The aforementioned bore brush can't hurt, however- ultrasonics are good, but they're not magic.

Doc.

[Chuck E Ducky]

True that…

[Headshotted]

I use ultrasonics, or rather I did until my chinese one broke for cleaning and stripping models and miniatures with solvents. I could see one with a decent temperature range being used to batch clean bodies with nothing more than soapy water as suggested, just heat rinse dry and go.

[Siress]

more tips:

• If the tub of the cleaner is much larger than you need to put the part in, you still need to fill the tub to the fill line so the ultrasonic generator doesn't destroy itself when it's running with too little resistance. Just put the part in small container of the solution you need and then submerge that in the tub surrounded by water. keep the containers elevated off the bottom of the tub. I typically use ziplock bags clipped to the side of the tub.
• Do NOT use flammable solutions unless they are inside of a sealed container. Ultrasonic will vaporize the solution, creating a barometric bomb of your workshop.
• Same goes for any chemical that is hazardous to breath. Ventilate over the tub for this reason, even with normal household chemicals.
• Keep it away from brittle materials... technical ceramics (like jewelry, cutting tools) are fine, it's the glass and pottery grades that you should avoid. They're typically ok, but sometimes they'll shatter.

[Tarsun2]

i had a small harbor freight USC and it worked great. Took forever though as you could only do a few minutes at a time and the tub was very small.
hot water and cleaner will do wonders but the US waves break up the really stubborn stuff and the stuff you can reach. I had a set of automotive pistons from a focus with 180,000 miles on them come out looking damn near new. (desk art)...

working in biomed at a hospital i learned a lot about the USC we use. We bought new and i was able to take the old ones home. They are a little more powerful than the HF USC. i turned my ceramic briquettes into muddy water when I tried to clean them lol

Just an FYI, there is a sweet spot that cleans the best and its not on the floor of the tub. in fact, you really don't want anything sitting on the floor of the tub. it should be suspended in a basket. also, some cleaners are better than others for US cleaning.

If you really want to get into it, you can really jump down a rabbit hole on this one.
surface cavitation, de-gassing, solution and wave compression, and optimal height and temp are all factors.

IIRC there was a simple test where you put a bunch of "X"s in pencil on a thin strip of paper and inserted it to the floor of the USC. Turn it on and wait a few moments. Turn it off and remove the paper. you should see the "X"s get lighter as you go towards the center of the strip. (something like that)

i say get the HF USC and try it out. minimal investment.

[DocsMachine]

Fistful of grungy old stainless instrument fittings:



USC full of a high concentration of Purple Power and hot water...



And voila`! A fistful of shiny clean stainless fittings.



One tip: don't try to clean roller or ball bearings, like out of motors, engines, RC cars, etc. The vibrations will pit the balls and races where they meet, causing accellerated wear when used later.

Doc.