New Ultrasonic Cleaner

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Dana67Dart

The parts you don't add don't cause you no trouble
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I have had 2 4bbl carbs on the shelf for 2 - 3 years now.

I typically dunk carbs in carb cleaner but I have heard such good things about Ultrasonic I figured heck it's only money.

I found one that seemed big enough to hold a 4bbl

And it does! (No I would not put the carb in assembled)
PXL_20210522_183722410.jpg


I have not tried it out yet on a carb, but maybe after Mega Mopar at Bandamere next weekend

It was about 100.00 from Walmart, 150.00 from Amazon.
PXL_20210522_183735673.jpg


It has a heater and timer, 9.5L capacity.

Now some questions for the ultrasonic gurus...

What solution would you use?

It came with a basket any issue with putting the carb in the tank without it?

Any do's or don'ts?
 
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I have a bigun like that too. I've tried everything. Nothing works like the night and day everybody says. Nothing. Worst case was I ended up with a white chalky corrosion like residue on everything. Best case was it came "kinda clean". It just sits on the work bench now.
 
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I believe the basket is used to "suspend" parts. I could be wrong but I believe the parts shouldnt touch the metal sides and or bottom.
Buddy of mine uses them for carbs, swears by them. I believe he uses pinesol and water mix. Not much pinesol. Tablespoon or 2?
 
There has been discussions about that here. Pine Sol is supposed to work. Simple Green does too but there is a special type for aluminum. Regular SG will discolor the carb to a ugly dark grey color.
 
Hey there,
Could be a GREAT IDEA and Since I clean and repair old clock's I actually have a few ultrasonic's that I use to clean the BRASS movements and this is what I use and it works great but......and don't ask why I still use carb cleaner for my carbs. The Polychem doesn't mention zinc so I'd do some research 1st before using this product and probably consult the manufacturer.

*Typically takes a timed 30 minute dunk in heated solution followed by an underwater rinse and either a compressed air blow dry or some use a hairdryer while others even swear by a homemade box with a blower attachment.


I use these guys a lot and you can find many other cleaners here:

https://timesavers.com/files/downloads/43_catalog.pdf




Polychem.jpg
 
Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner:
https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Airc...reen+aircraft&qid=1553699746&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Follow the dilution instructions on the bottle. Just dilute it with water.

The Aircraft Cleaner is less corrosive than the 'standard' formula and is safe on most rubbers and plastics. I've cooked carburetors (with rubber, plastic, and brass parts still installed) for 2 hours in my ultrasonic cleaner with this stuff with no ill effects.
 
You will be happy with that as long as you don't over cook bare aluminum parts, like that early AFB 625 cfm there is no special coating on the aluminum carb body parts.

You have to be careful or you will turn it black. I use Pinesol and Distilled water, one ounce or less per 2 gallons of distilled water.

Then get the water mix up to over bathwater temp. Then let the solution cook on it's own for 15 minutes so it all equalizes.

Then put in the carb base after you have degunked it, degreased it, chip off any heavy corrosion. There is a certain amount of hand work to get it as clean as you can before Ultrasonic final cleaning it.

Cook it at 15 minute intervals and check on it so it is not turning gray. 1/2 hour total time is about it on that early AFB.

The newer Edelbrocks have a shiny chemical proof finish so they can take the longer cooking times without discoloring. If inside the bowls have lost the chemical proof finish inside the bowls due to corrosion, rust, and sediment. Then those bowls can turn black inside if you cook them too long and use too harsh of a chemical.

Pinesol and distilled water is what I have found best to clean carbs.

Here is a 1967 AFB that I Ultrasonic Cleaned, slightly grayed on me, but came nice and clean inside and out.

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Here is the Newer Edelbrocks with the shiny chemical proof finish on them after cleaning:

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Have to be careful not to cook the gold zinc plated linkage and brackets too long or you can cook the plating off of them down to bare metal, 15 minutes or less, pull out when clean. They clean up nice.

Here is a batch of carbs I went through and Ultrasonic Cleaned so they will work well when needed. Nothing worse than a plugged carb.

Can also take a small parts tag wire and run it through the small ports on the parts so they blow through with compressed air.

Have fun making your carbs new again.
You can buy new accelerator pump seals 5 at a time for 15 bucks on ebay, plus gaskets and carb kits as you well know.

Those extra accelerator pump small steel balls and small linkage clips are extremely handy to have on hand when you lose one.

20210424_154221.jpg
 
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I have a medical grade one I got off of Ebay as "Parts only" but it just needed a knob. I run all kinds of stuff through it. A great tip to keep things organized and clean is to use glass jars and vases. The frequencies go through the glass and it is easier to clean out the jars than the unit. You can also put those tall glass vases in it to do long items. As long as the bottom is in the water it will travel all the way up.
 
I have a bigun like that too. I've tried everything. Nothing works like the night and day everybody says. Nothing. Worst case was I ended up with a white chalky corrosion like residue on everything. Best case was it came "kinda clean". It just sits on the work bench now.
I had a friend get one with the same results. To test them you can submerge a straight sheet of aluminum foil and it should start eating holes in the foil. His changed the appearance of the foil but no holes.
 
I had a friend get one with the same results. To test them you can submerge a straight sheet of aluminum foil and it should start eating holes in the foil. His changed the appearance of the foil but no holes.


That's very cool, thanks. I can already tell you with great certainty mine will not do that. I wonder if there is a fix for it? I've often thought about if maybe it had an electrical adjustment inside it somewhere.
 
"I am going to bet" that ultrasonic has one serious downfall.......and that is "I bet" that when you get "down into" the tiny bleed/ idle passages, especially on smaller carbs, the ultrasound will do you no good at all..........and that the only thing left is the old fashioned action of aggressive cleaners.

I would love to be proved wrong........I might just buy one.
 
"I am going to bet" that ultrasonic has one serious downfall.......and that is "I bet" that when you get "down into" the tiny bleed/ idle passages, especially on smaller carbs, the ultrasound will do you no good at all..........and that the only thing left is the old fashioned action of aggressive cleaners.

I would love to be proved wrong........I might just buy one.

That's the main reason I got mine, because "they say" it gets everywhere including all those passages. Mine won't even get the the easy places. It's just a piece of wasted table space. I've threatened to chunk it in the goin to the dump pile bunches. It'll probably happen soon. lol
 
"I am going to bet" that ultrasonic has one serious downfall.......and that is "I bet" that when you get "down into" the tiny bleed/ idle passages, especially on smaller carbs, the ultrasound will do you no good at all..........and that the only thing left is the old fashioned action of aggressive cleaners.

I would love to be proved wrong........I might just buy one.

Just the opposite that is where it gets in and does the work, its called cavitation that cleans it out, tiny air bubbles exploding.

Like cavitation on your boat props, you know how that can eat away at a prop.
 
Just the opposite that is where it gets in and does the work, its called cavitation that cleans it out, tiny air bubbles exploding.

Like cavitation on your boat props, you know how that can eat away at a prop.
You know this how? I don't know either way
 
You know this how? I don't know either way

Because that's what all the advertisements say, Del. Damn, don't you know everything's true? Whassamatter wif you? lol
 
You know this how? I don't know either way

Experience with both boats and Ultrasonic cleaning machines.

Cavitation happens on the low pressure side of boat propellers when they are under power.

Cavitation:
Cavitation is a phenomenon in which the static pressure of the liquid reduces to below the liquid's vapour pressure, leading to the formation of small vapor-filled cavities in the liquid.

This is the action that gets inside all the small ports and internal channels on carburetors to clean them out.

Fun Facts.

One more thing about the Ultrasonic Cleaners, do not put your bare hands in the Ultrasonic Cleaner solution when it is running. The Ultrasonic vibration goes right to your bones, causing nasty damage to your bones and joints.

Shut the Ultrasonic cleaner off before removing your parts. Even if you use utensils like tongs, the vibration follows up the tongs into your hand, so be careful.

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Also good idea to do the Ultrasonic Cleaning outside, if using Pinesol it will surely stink up your garage as it is cooking.

Rinse parts with distilled water and blow dry when done.
 
"I am going to bet" that ultrasonic has one serious downfall.......and that is "I bet" that when you get "down into" the tiny bleed/ idle passages, especially on smaller carbs, the ultrasound will do you no good at all..........and that the only thing left is the old fashioned action of aggressive cleaners.

I would love to be proved wrong........I might just buy one.

Also the Pinesol/Distilled Water solution is great at dissolving carb varnish and gasoline gum build up, along with the Ultrasonic frequencies and 110° plus solution temp. This is where the Ultrasonic Cleaners really shine at getting the gum and varnish out of the carbs, which is 90 % of the problems with a plugged off carb. Can run small wires through the small ports in case some gas tank sediment lodged in there, then blow them out and make sure air is coming out the other ends of the holes. Then you know you got them clean.

Good Luck.

Had a Craftsman 18hp Kohler lawn tractor that sat for 8 years with a plugged off carb.. Took the carb apart and ran it through the Ultrasonic Cleaner. Reassembled the carb, put a new tank of Non-Ethanol gasoline in it after flushing out the tank and hoses 3 times. Starts and runs like brand new again.

Cleaning Unit has paid for itself 10 times over and is still going strong.

Yes works good.

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That's very cool, thanks. I can already tell you with great certainty mine will not do that. I wonder if there is a fix for it? I've often thought about if maybe it had an electrical adjustment inside it somewhere.

Put a brass fitting in your Ultrasonic Cleaner with some Pinesol and Distilled water. Run a couple 15 minute wash cycles on it with the solution up to temp.

Might have to help it along with a fine stainless steel wire brush after the first wash cycle to help clean off any gasket sealer or pipe dope. But that brass fitting should clean up like a shiny new one if your cleaner is working properly.

That would be a good test. Cleans up Brass carb floats nice too.

Screenshot_20210523-005336_Gallery.jpg
 
Put a brass fitting in your Ultrasonic Cleaner with some Pinesol and Distilled water. Run a couple 15 minute wash cycles on it with the solution up to temp.

Might have to help it along with a fine stainless steel wire brush after the first wash cycle to help clean off any gasket sealer or pipe dope. But that brass fitting should clean up like a shiny new one if your cleaner is working properly.

That would be a good test. Cleans up Brass carb floats nice too.

View attachment 1715741502

I might try one more time. I've done give up o the POS to tell you the truth.
 
That's very cool, thanks. I can already tell you with great certainty mine will not do that. I wonder if there is a fix for it? I've often thought about if maybe it had an electrical adjustment inside it somewhere.
I'm not an expert but I think they basically have a control board, amplifier, and transducers. What I would imagine could go wrong during the manufacturing of them is when they epoxy or glue the transducers to the tank they move or skew and don't get full contact making the signal weak. That's not something I know for sure just thinking out loud.
"I am going to bet" that ultrasonic has one serious downfall.......and that is "I bet" that when you get "down into" the tiny bleed/ idle passages, especially on smaller carbs, the ultrasound will do you no good at all..........and that the only thing left is the old fashioned action of aggressive cleaners.

I would love to be proved wrong........I might just buy one.

I wish photobucket was still accessible because I had a lot of high resolution close up picks of carb parts I ran through it. Basically anywhere the liquid touches gets "scrubbed" for lack of a better term. I have ran a couple lawn mower carbs through mine and it did a great job. It doesn't really whisk away dirt and grime as much as detach it from everything and leaves a bare surface. After 30 minutes in the tank a quick rinse and blow through with compressed air leaves everything spotless.

Something that might appeal to your electronics background is they are used to clean circuit boards and electronics with special solutions. I haven't tried that though.
 
I might try one more time. I've done give up o the POS to tell you the truth.

They really are not made for grimy parts washing machine, you have to degrease and scrape all the contamination off that you can. Then it is ready to go into the Ultrasonic Cleaner for the final clean.

They are kind of like a final polish and gum/varnish cutting machines once you have your parts clean to begin with.

I even clean used Champion Spark Plugs in them, first degreasing the plugs, then Ultrasonic cleaning them, then soak the porcelin and electrode in Muriatic Acid to clean the imbedded carbon out of the white porcelin and get them white again, rinse with distilled water, look like brand new when done.

As with anything you just have to figure out what you can and cannot do with the cleaning unit and the different cleaning solutions. Pinesol and Distilled water is what I use with the Ultrasonic Cleaner.

Kind of like diesel fuel is a good parts degreaser if you let parts soak in it for some time. Everything has it's purpose.

And Vinegar is a a good rust remover if you let parts sit in it for 24 hours as you well know.
 
They really are not made for grimy parts washing machine, you have to degrease and scrape all the contamination off that you can. Then it is ready to go into the Ultrasonic Cleaner for the final clean.

They are kind of like a final polish and gum/varnish cutting machines once you have your parts clean to begin with.

I even clean used Champion Spark Plugs in them, first degreasing the plugs, then Ultrasonic cleaning them, then soak the porcelin and electrode in Muriatic Acid to clean the imbedded carbon out of the white porcelin and get them white again, rinse with distilled water, look like brand new when done.

As with anything you just have to figure out what you can and cannot do with the cleaning unit and the different cleaning solutions. Pinesol and Distilled water is what I use with the Ultrasonic Cleaner.

Kind of like diesel fuel is a good parts degreaser if you let parts soak in it for some time. Everything has it's purpose.

And Vinegar is a a good rust remover if you let parts sit in it for 24 hours as you well know.

Yeah I know. I'm dumb, I ain't styoopid. lol I normally pre-clean everything with spray carb cleaner and a wire brush.
 
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