Ultrasonic cleaner - worth getting?

[Hobgoblin 1059]

The mentions of Maplin in this thread is a bit sad now

I had one at work and used it often for rc stuff, nothing gets 20 years of stale fag odor and rancid grease like a 30m blast with dish soap. 

[Falcon#5 594]

I'm considering investing in one of these.

My question is whether the small cheap versions are as effective as the more 'industrial' types on offer?

The larger bath would be good to drop a chassis in, but does it come down to what detergents you use rather than the actual machine?

[Grumpy pants 4451]

Worth very penny 👍

[mtbkym01 4008]

6 hours ago, Falcon#5 said:

I'm considering investing in one of these.

My question is whether the small cheap versions are as effective as the more 'industrial' types on offer?

The larger bath would be good to drop a chassis in, but does it come down to what detergents you use rather than the actual machine?

 Mine is only a small one, but I find it to be very effective, I can’t comment on the larger style, but I’d imagine they would also be about the same. I generally use dishwasher powder in mine, particularly on plastic parts, or “CLR” on screws, or a bit of biodegradable degreaser on gears/greasy parts.

[nowinaminute 2815]

I have 2 cheapo ones. One is an ancient silver Crest one from lidl and the other was from Amazon for about £20. They are both very effective. The Amazon one seems to be lower frequency as it's noisier and the water moves about more but it doesn't really seem to be any better at cleaning.

I've used larger industrial ones at work and the extra space is a real luxury but otherwise they dont seem to really be that much more effective. The biggest advantage is that they can run for much longer. The smaller ones usually stop after about 10 minutes max. They usually have a heating feature too but the water will heat up by itself with time anyway so not that big of a deal. If you put in heated water st the start it will maintain it's temperature.

I "hacked" both of mine for continuous operation as soon as you switch them on but if you try that, I would advise letting them cool off now and then because they can get toasty. The larger metal ones are like a giant heatsink but the plastic ones not so much.

[Baddon 860]

Yes, they defo help, esp at things like shocks, as a clean yellow shock is the quick way to see if a car has been detailed properly.

[Falcon#5 594]

Think I'll roll with one of the larger ones.

Will have to measure up some chassis and decide which size to get.

I can always put small parts in a container and immerse in a large US cleaner, but not the other way around.