Ultrasonic cleaners... Useful?

[Cooper Cycles]

So I got a nicer medical grade ultrasonic cleaner and was wondering... is it useful? Do any of you guys use one? If so, what kind of cleaning agent do you use? I was imagining it would be nice to clean up the ends of tubing, lugs, and braze-ons before welding or brazing. Usually, I have been lightly blasting pieces then dunking them in acetone for prep (for brazing).

Anywho, just wondering how excited I should be about a new toy...

[Too Tall]

Calling Drew.

[Rody]

Travis,

The uses for an ultrasonic are really limitless in the broad spectrum, in fabrication, there is a more narrow window of application.

I've used a smaller Branson ultrasonic for years (12?) around the shop, mostly for the preparation and cleaning of titanium parts prior to welding. I have used it as well for steel prep, but found no considerable advantage over mechanical prep (shop roll, scotchbrite), wash and final cleanse with alcohol or acetone.

For titanium, it is an indispensable piece of equipment that is part of an overall approach to material prep.

I now use a much larger unit that can fit whole mitered tubesets...
ultrasonic.jpg
There are numerous detergent formulas available for ultrasonic cleaning, each with a target application and use. It is best to research and speak with the tech personnel of your unit to determine what best fits your needs.

cheers,

rody

[DeeDub76]

Here is a link to some detergents and cleaners.

ChemClean

[abbeyQ]

The thing to keep in mind when using one of these machines is that the parts are only as clean as the water in the unit. If you're not diligent about keeping your cleaner clean it's not going to yield good results. Basically you're cleaning the tube manually of pretty much everything and then sending it through the ultrasonic. I use a basic bench top unit to clean machined parts before welding and have found that simple green works well enough to get the machine oil off them. I can run about 200 Crombie ends before I'm swapping out the solution, and they look pretty clean going in.

[EnginCycles]

The thing about the detergents is the company that made the ultrasonics knows what frequencies were used and what detergent will work best. Some are also made for solvents as well. If it is medical then it probably is not solvent. The rinse cycle is equally as important as the cleaning cycle. Some of the medical ones have two tanks. One with the ultrasonics and one that is for heated water to be used as a rinse cycle. It is a super handy tool but as Rody indicated mechanical cleaning and wiping with a rag and solvent is all you need. As for the lugs it depends on what you are doing. If you are getting the oils out from being cast then the ultrasonic is good. If it is rust then the blast cabinet first and then maybe the ultrasonic. The stuff needed to eat rust using ultrasonic is super aggressive stuff and you would not want to use it.

Either way it is a good item. It is great for cleaning just about anything. Mine is dedicated to titanium so I do not need to dump 30 gallons of water/detergent between uses.

-Drew

[Tristan]

I used to use an ultrasonic cleaner for breaking down the support material on 3d printed prototypes. For smaller items we could place them in a sealed bag with the solution - this way the entire tank wasn't contaminated. Couldn't that be done with smaller / dirtier bike parts? It would also allow you to run different detergents without emptying the tank.

[Rody]

With smaller tanks, many builders will place a can of solvent, acetone, or alcohol on the wire basket submerged part way to clean small parts or tube ends. Imagination takes you a long way sometimes :)

[wort]

I used to work in the aerospace industry in the cleaning lab. We used ultrasonic cleansers to get stuff clean enough for the vacuum of space.

Our main cleaning protocol (for aluminum and stainless) was 10 minutes in Simple Green, rinse, 10 minutes in deionized H2O, then 10 minutes in medical grade 99.9% ethanol.

For titanium, I think we would use acetone. For other stuff (G-10, etc.) we used all sorts of chemicals, including MEK and Toluene.

In order to conserve solvents, we would put the parts to be cleaned in a little container with the solvent, and then float it in the water-filled ultrasonic.

I don't think the above steps are necessary for bikes, but if you want to get your derailleur really clean, then the ultrasonic is pretty awesome. And, if you want, you could start a jewelry cleaning business on the side. ;)

[Cooper Cycles]

Useful information! I like the idea of separate container and keeping the cleaner filled with water...

[Rosko]

I keep mine filled with clean distilled water and use various containers with a simple green mix for cleaning parts. Works well and does not contaminate the whole bath.

As for rust removal- look into some of the really amazing chelation agents available now, very cool stuff.

[Too Tall]

Tristian, that's sort of what I do for heavy degreasing. Rather than waste a fill of solution I'll place the item in a plastic bag with detergent or solution. The ultrasonic machine stays clean of the heavy contaminants.

I used to use an ultrasonic cleaner for breaking down the support material on 3d printed prototypes. For smaller items we could place them in a sealed bag with the solution - this way the entire tank wasn't contaminated. Couldn't that be done with smaller / dirtier bike parts? It would also allow you to run different detergents without emptying the tank.

[Jim N]

Just mentioning because I didn't see anyone else say it: I use a small one to take flux off of subassemblies some times. This is with plain water. Mostly though ours gets used for cleaning components - not frame building stuff.

[EricKeller]

I wish someone would have mentioned the "smaller container" trick when I was going through gallons of acetone a while back