What do you use in your ultrasonic cleaner?

I use a Swarfega degreaser from Screwfix, although I never put in anything that I haven't given a good clean with a brush and bike cleaner first.

I mainly bought mine for cleaning motorbike carbs and so carb cleaner works well too, all diluted.

It works very well for router bits that have become a bit caked in resin too.

cheers!

DrP

We used water in the ultrasonic bath but then it's was used just to help solutes dissolve (and cleaning jewelry).

The bath is filled with water out of the tap. Everything goes in a zipplock bags with the cleaning solution which is then immersed in the bath. I clean grotty parts in a degreaser solution used for cleaning ships! For anodised parts I use washing up detergent as it's easy to destroy the anodising with anything stronger. I heat the bath to between 50 & 60 deg for best results :o)

Sous vide bike parts. Nice 🙂

Ditto on the ziplock bags, makes keeping it clean so much easier, and washing up liquid - we must watch the same youtube channels.

Warm/hot water: 50c or so. White vinegar and a good splash of Fairy liquid.

Some good advice on here.

I’ve plumped for an ultrasonic cleaner..

Which one did you buy?

I got a vevor 10l one..
Honey applied a code so it was only 105 quid...

Cheers for the tips all!

DrP

I got a vevor 10l one

I got the same one.

I’ve followed the advice in the video above and been using cleaning fluids in a zip lock bag.
I tried a bit of washing up liquid, it wasn’t great.
Tried muc-off, it was a little better.
Tried some degreaser I’ve got for the car and it worked really well. So far I’ve done a few chains and cassettes. Once they were cleaned I rinsed them with tap water them blown dry with the compressor. After that the chains have been waxed.
It’s far easier using the cleaner than trying to clean stuff by hand!

I got a vevor 10l one

What size circuit board could it fit?

For degreasers try Bilt Hamber surfex hd. Comes in a 5L can and can be watered down to 100:1. Lasts ages, is biodegradable, is cheap, and works!

I used it in the ultrasonic and a normal spray bottle for regular bike washes.

Random question. Would one of these also double up and be able to clean resin models for painting? 2 birds one stone and all that

@DrP

A year on, how's it going? Still getting regular use?

Bump

Hey…. TBH, no!

I enjoyed playing with it in the initial stages, but it pains me to admit that a stiff brush and some elbow grease is probably as/more effective, and easier to employ on a regular basis…

YMMV

DrP

I'm only considering one to help remove drip wax from older chains before immersive hox waxing.

I've done what I thought was a really deep solvent clean and thorough rinse but still left grey marks on the towel.

Soaking in boiling water subsequently did turn the water slightly yellow.

If nothing else, I makes me realise just how tenacious Smoove can be.

I also use Swarfega degreaser - be careful though, if you let things soak for too long it will take the anodizing off.

recently borrowed one and used the degreaser in the ziplock back in a tank of warm water method.
now I dont want to take the bikes out the drive trains are so clean 🙂

Slight hijack but any recommendations for an ultrasonic cleaner? Mainly for chains and smaller parts, so probably no bigger than 2 litre.

Whatever you get, make sure a cassette will fit in it. Mine is 2.5L and is too small.

The trouble is, if you want to fit a wide range 12 speed cassette, you either need to do it in two halves with a 6 litre or invest in a 10 litre. Trouble with 10 litre is that the Watts per litre of total cleaning power  really drops off.

It's not about fitting it in the tank, it's about fitting it in the basket.

Wondering if there is any updates on people's ultrasonic experiences and ideal fluids to use with them.

I have a 15L ultrasonic cleaner that I am finding very useful for cleaning bikefuls of stuff at a time, including cranks, seatposts, etc.

To date I have been using no nonsense heavy duty degreaser about a 1:4 ratio with water and generally clean stuff at 40-50C. I find things like chains don't come out completely clean, but the grease is broken down and comes off easily with some brushing as I rinse the parts off. The tetra potassium diphosphate in the degreaser is fairly basic and may be affecting the finish on aluminium parts as well.

So I was wondering if there is a better cleaner fluid for me to use? To date I have been avoiding solvent based cleaners, like the Swafega Jizer, both so it is easier to deal with spent fluids, and also so I can put rubber/plastic parts in without worrying about degrading them. I see there is a comment above about the Jizer stripping off anodizing, which surprises me as its SDS doesn't mention any acids or bases?

The Surfex HD mentioned above has TETRASODIUM (1-HYDROXYETHYLIDENE)BIS PHOSPHONATE, which I suspect would affect aluminium due to being basic, but perhaps this is good for chains and other steel parts.

The ziplock bag method is tempting, but I am wondering how much faff it will be to manage multiple fluids. Has nobody had problems with a bag leaking?

I'm still wondering if there is a single fluid that cleans fairly well, without affecting aluminium or plastics etc. However it appears difficult to source a non-solvent degreaser that does not have acids/alkalines in them. Silca chain stripper contains ethoxylated C11-15 secondary alcohols, dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether, and N,N-dimethyldodecanamide. If there is a cheaper large scale source of this then perhaps that could work well?