Thanks for the post! I actually read on another board somewhere that it *may* affect anodized aluminum regardless of the solution that you use. I decided to error on the side of caution and just clean them by hand. I cleaned all of the other pieces (except the o-rings) in the ultrasonic cleaner and everything turned out great.Lowgear wrote:I imagine that it would depend on what cleaning agent you use. Soap and water for instance isn't going to hurt anything.
To answer the original topic (as was requested a few posts back)
I bought this cleaner (http://www.amazon.com/Gallon-DIGITAL-ULTRASONIC-CLEANER-HEATER/dp/B0006DOALG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1276959394&sr=8-1-catcorr) to clean rc car parts, electric razor heads, coins, etc... I have a friend who uses one to clean vehicle fuel injectors and other various full size car parts. I've always wanted one and finally "bit the bullet" and decided to give this one a try. A couple points about the model I bought: 1. it is a heated version 2. it is a higher wattage version than most "standard" jewelry cleaning models. Oh yeah, and 3. it was one of the highest rated ones on amazon.
Here is how I use it, and some things that I have learned. First, you'll probably want to get small beakers or glass measuring cups to clean most parts in. What you do is fill the tank, then put your parts with your cleaning solution in the beakers and make sure that the level of water matches the level in the tank. The reason for submerging the beakers is two-fold: First, your cleaning solution can be more concentrated and you use less, and secondly, you can run many cycles without having to empty or clean the main tank. Most items that I've cleaned fit in the glass cups that I use (found them at walmart they are small glasses marked with measurements....could not find "beakers" anywhere local).
As far as the cleaning solution goes: You can buy ready made solution or you can make your own. I make my own. I have done a ton of experimenting and what works best for heavily greasy dirty parts is 50% "mr. Clean" and 50% water. It things are REALLY bad, I'll sometimes use the mr clean PURE for the first cycle. The plastic shock parts that I cleaned today were TERRIBLE. One set was used by a guy who ran clay tracks back in the 90's and the shocks sat with dark gray SLUDGE in them SINCE the 90's. These parts were really nice and clean after 2 cycles. The pistons, e-clips and spring clips came out awesome too. Ultrasonic cleaners work best on metal items, bit I have personally found that they *do* work on plastic items depending on what you are trying to remove.
A word of caution: ultrasonic cleaners do not remove tarnish or years and years of baked on crud. If you've ever seen a jeweler clean jewelry with one of these, you'll see that most of them lightly brush the objects after the cleaning cycle and then steam the item as a finishing process. I usually run a cycle, then run water in the glass cup, rinse it a few times then run a second and then third cycle if I feel it's necessary.
The mr. clean idea came from a website I found that mentioned using a mixture of water, mr. clean and a few drops of dish detergent. As I said, I did a LOT of experimenting, and I found the mr. clean to be the best detergent as far as the cleaning went. Sometimes I put a couple drops of dawn dish detergent in for good measure, but usually it's just half mr. clean, half water. I fill the cups to 80ml by the way, so even using the mr. clean this way, a $4 bottle goes a long way even cutting it only 50%. You could probably mix it weaker, but I'd rather mix it stronger and run less cycles.
If anyone has any specific questions or needs to know anything else, just let me know and I'll help if I know the answer
