Ultrasonic cleaner solution recipe

[stevieg32]

O.k,so i have a shiny new James 500 filled with Scorpion parts which have had the worst of the crud removed and i want to know please what other people use as a cleaning solution in their ultrasonic cleaners,the parts are mostly cast aluminium,no brass.

[waterbok]

First of all separate the different materials, not alloys and steel in one tank.

I use citrus dishw. Cleaner and hot water.

[RCcoachworks]

I'm curious why you can't mix material types in an ultrasonic cleaner. Do you also have to separate out the plastic parts?

[Percymon]

If you mix different metal you run the risk of tarnishing some of the metal parts - simialr materials aren;t too risky, but you don't want brass in with alloy

[Gruntfuggly]

I bought some of that "sea clean" solution that's recommended in the instructions for the cleaner. Seems to work fairly well on my missus' jewellery... haven't really tried anything else yet.

[shenlonco]

believe it or not I would let it all soak in WD4 for a while then I would spray the parts with windex and rinse them off then put them in your cleaner with some washing detergent.

[stevieg32]

Yeah,WD is pretty good for cleaning stuff,the parts are not actually that bad but i wanted to try out my new toy on something!

It's running now with hot water and washing detergent in it.The maximum run cycle is only 480 seconds,how long is long enough?

I suppose it's trial and error depending on how grubby your parts are.

[Percymon]

I ran my Egress screws through on one 480second pass in warm dishwater and they came out like new - lucky i think.

I generally use several passes of 480seconds on other parts; anything thats been subject to the dreaded grey aluminium dust / grease combo can take that long , even in more aggressive solutions like engine cleaner.

[stevieg32]

First batch done and looking good,i gave it four 480 sec cycles,steel parts next.

[RCcoachworks]

Those are some impressive results! I think I might have to get one of those.

[wood5tock]

These are my weapons of choice, GUNK for the metal/greasy parts and the G101 for the plastic bits. The Autosmart G101 is from one of my other fetishes, car detailing

[SteveU30]

 

These are my weapons of choice, GUNK for the metal/greasy parts and the G101 for the plastic bits. The Autosmart G101 is from one of my other fetishes, car detailing 

Neat or diluted matey? If the latter, what ratio?

[wood5tock]

Neat or diluted matey? If the latter, what ratio?

As far as the GUNK is concerned I use it neat on test pieces first and if all OK I crack on with the main job.

With regards to the G101 I use the same strengths as I use for the car which are 20:1 for interior and 5:1 for door shuts, under the bonnet etc. So 20 parts de-ionised water to 1 part G101 and so on. You can use tap water but I just use the de-ionised stuff on the car as I use it with the concentrates I have so I always have a good supply.

I have used many APCs (All Purpose Cleaners) now and I find that G101 is the best so far, cheeper than most too

[SteveU30]

Thanks for that, I agree about G101, our valeters use it in work and swear by it.

That does have me wondering though, as G101 contains Sodium Hydroxide AKA Caustic Soda I wonder if a weak mix of Caustic Soda would work in these U/S cleaners. Anyone tried this?

[oz-trash-cowboy]

Active ingredient in dish washing / laundry liquid is NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide. Good for breaking down grease, bad for reacting with some pot metal alloys.

Industrial Degreasers' use paraffin ( kerosine ) and NaOH and often potassium hydroxide ( KOH ), excellent at killing grease, and loves eating alloy!!!!

Many commercial Ultra Sonic Cleaner solutions main ingredient is Isopropol Alcohol, ( IPA ). Good for grease and pH friendly to alloy.

My personal favorite process for chemical cleaning 20+ years of use / abuse from japanese model metal goes like this:-

15-20min soak in room temp acetone, then water wash and inspect for stubborn / burnt on grease.

Any nasty spots get a repeat of step 1.

Then the Ultrasonic Cleaner heats up a bath of IPA to 40C and in goes the bits for 2mins.

If the solution gets too cloudy, its replaced and process repeated.

If using flamible liquids in the USC, I do it outside and have a fire ex within reach.