Grat video, Jim. Two top items in my workshop. 1. Ultrasonic Cleaner. 2. Slow cooker for waxing chains. For cleaning the likes of jewellery & similar items requiring mild cleaning I use water & regular dish soap. To save a bit of time when using the ultrasonic cleaner. I boil up the water in the kettle to around 40/50 deg Centigrade, just to eliminate the waiting time. Couple of things to be awre of. Do not use alcohol, gasoline, or any other flammable liquids in your tank. Also as I think Jim mentioned in the video, always use the basket to hold any items. Specifically for dirty / oily gunked up bike parts I generally use a liquid cleaner called Carbusonic EP 24R, I found this to be very good on most metals & is Aluminium safe. ( if you're not sure of the metal type just use a dish soap solution) One thing that does help, always clean off, the best you can, any large amouts of grease built up on surfaces, this will make the ultrasonic action much more effective & of course reduce cleaning time.
Thanks Jim, you brought back to me, the many happy hours as a kid sitting with a bowl of hot water, washing-up liquid and a toothbrush cleaning my bikes from top to bottom - I dealt with my Mum yelling at me about all the mess I made outside the front door once she realised what I was doing haha! Little by little I reach the level of completely stripping down, sanding and respraying the frame, so many happy memories. You and your channel are a breath of fresh air, much appreciated mate, all the very best!
I have pretty much the same Vevor, for the last three years. I do a similar cleaning with solvent in a container, but for half that time, then pull the containers, squirt some Dawn Platinum into the hot water, and put the components directly into the hot water in the basket for another six minutes - comes out even cleaner than just the same total time in solvent! For chains, I then pull them out, drop into a bucket of hot water for a swish to remove the detergent, and blow dry.
correct me if i am wrong but is it not a bad idea to put the whole freewhweel in the ultrasonic cleaner? I believe it is going to affect the lubricant in the bearings..
Thanks for watching and the excellent question Superogobongo. Actually all parts with bearings in them or pivots (like chains), and moving pieces with lube between, will be stripped of lubrication during the ultrasonic cleaning. It cleans that well. That isn't any different than if you clean parts in a solvent tank - same thing happens if you use a strong solvent. So after however you clean these parts, you are sure to lubricate them properly before you reinstall them on the bike. That's standard procedure and very important. If you don't lube the parts, they will wear quickly. In the case of some chains, they'll rust quickly too. Thanks for the great questions. Hope this answer is helpful.
I have two Vevor ultrasound cleaners in my shop. I prefer to use Simple Green (mixed with water in various proportions) as my main cleaning solution. I found that if you “degas” the solution before using it on your parts it does a better job. As far as aluminum goes, the only issue I ever had was using the purple degreaser instead of Simple Green. It stripped the anodizing color off the parts. So what went in black came out an unintentional bare aluminum. I do wish Vevor would be in Fahrenheit scale since they seem to sell a lot of units in the United States .
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your cleaning tips and feedback on Vevor's ultrasonic cleaners Atlanta, appreciate it! I agree on the temp scale only being metric. I used distilled water in my cleaner, which is degassed. I believe Vevor's instructions recommended that too, but I might have read it on one of the other documents I read about using UCs. I've heard from other mechanics using UCs that certain too-strong cleaners can remove anodization from aluminum parts. It would be good to know the name of that purple degreaser you used so people will know what not to use. Regarding Simple Green, I stopping using that for cleaning bike parts shortly after it appeared on the scene. The reason is that there's a chance it'll corrode aluminum. Here's a quote from a data sheet on SG: "What does Simple Green do to aluminum? Caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process." I looked up the ingredients in Simple Green and it lists hydrochloric acid, which attacks aluminum. Thanks again for sharing your tips!
It's almost like magic. Love the trick of containing the parts in a container. I wasn't sure about these big ones, I thought you would need to use heaps of degreaser. I've got a little one sized for jewellery but it's still big enough to do chains (it doesn't have the heating function though). I'll have to look at ordering one of these bigger units :)
Thanks for watching and commenting Indoor. The best thing about this larger one for me is being able to clean cranks in it. I think the disadvantage will be that, when it comes time to clean the tank and replace the water, that you have almost 6 gallons to safely get rid of somehow.
Thanks for the useful information, Jim. I have an L&R unit about half that size, but don't use it much for bicycle parts. I have tried using detergent cleaners in the tank and it works well on complex assemblies like carburetors & fuel injectors. I am wondering if putting a gummed up Shimano STI shifter in there would restore functionality if lubed with spray grease after? As for the Campagnolo shifters, the old ones can be disassembled and rebuilt, but the Shimano units are notoriously non user-friendlly.
Thanks for watching and the great comment springpan. That's a really good question about gummed up and balky shifting Shimano STI levers. I usually just blast them with spray lube on the bike and that works most of the time but it does make a mess even if you're careful. The one thing about super cleaning bike parts with the UC is that they come out way cleaner than you can scrub them clean in a solvent tank. The UC gets more inside everything. That means that you need to be sure to lubricate everything after cleaning. If you let it sit around for days or weeks, I bet anything steel will corrode and things like chain links will potentially seize up. I was sure to hot wax that KMC chain in the video right after cleaning. But, I wonder if it would strip all the lube out of the STI lever and instead of fixing the problem, make it worse. Maybe someone will see this and send me a lever to clean it in the tank - I'd be happy to do the experiment. 😀 Thanks again for watching and the great thoughts.
Thanks for watching and commenting 🤣Maybe you could use it to do a deep fry wax job on your chain?! Everybody says that everything's better deep-fried, right!
Great video! I've been considering getting one of these and you've helped convince me to do it. One somewhat unrelated question: what's the best way to deep clean electronic derailleurs? I'm assuming they can't go in a UC.
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video Chip. That's a great question and I didn't know the answer so I googled it and found that it's actually okay to clean electronic components in an UC. Here's a link talking about it: shorturl.at/ZwHTm The only thing is that they don't specifically say it's OK to clean electronic bicycle derailleurs, so I think it would be best for you to contact Shimano or SRAM tech support and make sure THEY say it's okay before risking your expensive parts. Hope this helps. If you find out from the companies that it's OK, please reply back and let me know so others with the same question will see it and know too. Thanks!
Sorry to do that to you Sylvain, but I have to say it really was fun cleaning that crank so easily and being able to do an entire drivetrain at once will be even more fun. One thing about the large capacity is that it takes longer to heat up. I read a tip to heat the water in a kettle first and pour it into the UC but I wanted to see how long it took this UC to do it. Also, when it comes time to drain it and clean it, that's a lot of foul liquid to get rid of, not sure yet the best way to handle that here.
Great video! I think the best way to clean 🚲 parts would be supercritical CO2. It would dissolve grease and then just evaporate when you're done. Have never tried this. I think you need about 300psi of pressure or so.
@@JimLangley1 I would like to make a cleaner and get it in the shops maybe by next Christmas 😂 But it's quite tricky because you need to handle high pressures and the CO2 tends to eat away at whatever seals you use. Ben on the "Applied Science" channel did make some supercritical CO2. ua-cam.com/video/-gCTKteN5Y4/v-deo.html
@@benc8386 thanks a lot for sharing the video Ben, it's fascinating and beyond anything I'd ever even considered for cleaning bike parts, that's for sure.
The mineral spirits you pour in the bags and jars are what does the most to these parts, so you won't really see what the ultrasonic machine does in this particular video. You can dump a chain in mineral spirits jar and just shake it around and leave it for ten minutes, then shake some more, and then pull it out for the same effect. If you're going to use heavy cleaners the whole point of using an ultrasonic machine is rather pointless.
Thanks for watching and your feeback, but it doesn't sound like you watched the video very closely or have cleaned many bike parts. Even with the mineral spirits, to get a bad chain as clean as the UC gets it, you need a lot of brushing and air compressor blasting (if you have one) to get every bit of grit, gunk and grime from in between everything.
Santa brought me one for Christmas! Can't wait to try it out.
What a great present Skip. Look forward to hearing how you like it!
Grat video, Jim.
Two top items in my workshop. 1. Ultrasonic Cleaner. 2. Slow cooker for waxing chains.
For cleaning the likes of jewellery & similar items requiring mild cleaning I use water & regular dish soap.
To save a bit of time when using the ultrasonic cleaner. I boil up the water in the kettle to around 40/50 deg Centigrade, just to eliminate the waiting time.
Couple of things to be awre of. Do not use alcohol, gasoline, or any other flammable liquids in your tank.
Also as I think Jim mentioned in the video, always use the basket to hold any items.
Specifically for dirty / oily gunked up bike parts I generally use a liquid cleaner called Carbusonic EP 24R, I found this to be very good on most metals & is Aluminium safe. ( if you're not sure of the metal type just use a dish soap solution)
One thing that does help, always clean off, the best you can, any large amouts of grease built up on surfaces, this will make the ultrasonic action much more effective & of course reduce cleaning time.
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your UC tips Graham - very helpful! 🙏
Thanks Jim, you brought back to me, the many happy hours as a kid sitting with a bowl of hot water, washing-up liquid and a toothbrush cleaning my bikes from top to bottom - I dealt with my Mum yelling at me about all the mess I made outside the front door once she realised what I was doing haha!
Little by little I reach the level of completely stripping down, sanding and respraying the frame, so many happy memories.
You and your channel are a breath of fresh air, much appreciated mate, all the very best!
Thanks for watching zephyr and for sharing your great story of cleaning your bike as a kid - love it! ❤🙏💯
I have pretty much the same Vevor, for the last three years. I do a similar cleaning with solvent in a container, but for half that time, then pull the containers, squirt some Dawn Platinum into the hot water, and put the components directly into the hot water in the basket for another six minutes - comes out even cleaner than just the same total time in solvent! For chains, I then pull them out, drop into a bucket of hot water for a swish to remove the detergent, and blow dry.
Thanks a lot for sharing your tips Mark, appreciate it! 🙏
Great work! Loved the video! 🫡🔥
I'm happy to hear it ET. Thanks a lot for watching and commenting, appreciate it 🙏
correct me if i am wrong but is it not a bad idea to put the whole freewhweel in the ultrasonic cleaner? I believe it is going to affect the lubricant in the bearings..
Thanks for watching and the excellent question Superogobongo. Actually all parts with bearings in them or pivots (like chains), and moving pieces with lube between, will be stripped of lubrication during the ultrasonic cleaning. It cleans that well. That isn't any different than if you clean parts in a solvent tank - same thing happens if you use a strong solvent. So after however you clean these parts, you are sure to lubricate them properly before you reinstall them on the bike. That's standard procedure and very important. If you don't lube the parts, they will wear quickly. In the case of some chains, they'll rust quickly too. Thanks for the great questions. Hope this answer is helpful.
I have two Vevor ultrasound cleaners in my shop. I prefer to use Simple Green (mixed with water in various proportions) as my main cleaning solution. I found that if you “degas” the solution before using it on your parts it does a better job.
As far as aluminum goes, the only issue I ever had was using the purple degreaser instead of Simple Green. It stripped the anodizing color off the parts. So what went in black came out an unintentional bare aluminum.
I do wish Vevor would be in Fahrenheit scale since they seem to sell a lot of units in the United States .
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your cleaning tips and feedback on Vevor's ultrasonic cleaners Atlanta, appreciate it! I agree on the temp scale only being metric. I used distilled water in my cleaner, which is degassed. I believe Vevor's instructions recommended that too, but I might have read it on one of the other documents I read about using UCs. I've heard from other mechanics using UCs that certain too-strong cleaners can remove anodization from aluminum parts. It would be good to know the name of that purple degreaser you used so people will know what not to use. Regarding Simple Green, I stopping using that for cleaning bike parts shortly after it appeared on the scene. The reason is that there's a chance it'll corrode aluminum. Here's a quote from a data sheet on SG: "What does Simple Green do to aluminum?
Caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process." I looked up the ingredients in Simple Green and it lists hydrochloric acid, which attacks aluminum. Thanks again for sharing your tips!
Merci!
@@denis_roy_7 thanks so much for watching and your generosity Denis. Appreciate it very much🙏❤️
Thanks Jim
My pleasure Michael, appreciate you watching and commenting 🙏
It's almost like magic. Love the trick of containing the parts in a container. I wasn't sure about these big ones, I thought you would need to use heaps of degreaser.
I've got a little one sized for jewellery but it's still big enough to do chains (it doesn't have the heating function though). I'll have to look at ordering one of these bigger units :)
Thanks for watching and commenting Indoor. The best thing about this larger one for me is being able to clean cranks in it. I think the disadvantage will be that, when it comes time to clean the tank and replace the water, that you have almost 6 gallons to safely get rid of somehow.
Thanks for the useful information, Jim.
I have an L&R unit about half that size, but don't use it much for bicycle parts. I have tried using detergent cleaners in the tank and it works well on complex assemblies like carburetors & fuel injectors.
I am wondering if putting a gummed up Shimano STI shifter in there would restore functionality if lubed with spray grease after? As for the Campagnolo shifters, the old ones can be disassembled and rebuilt, but the Shimano units are notoriously non user-friendlly.
Thanks for watching and the great comment springpan. That's a really good question about gummed up and balky shifting Shimano STI levers. I usually just blast them with spray lube on the bike and that works most of the time but it does make a mess even if you're careful. The one thing about super cleaning bike parts with the UC is that they come out way cleaner than you can scrub them clean in a solvent tank. The UC gets more inside everything. That means that you need to be sure to lubricate everything after cleaning. If you let it sit around for days or weeks, I bet anything steel will corrode and things like chain links will potentially seize up. I was sure to hot wax that KMC chain in the video right after cleaning. But, I wonder if it would strip all the lube out of the STI lever and instead of fixing the problem, make it worse. Maybe someone will see this and send me a lever to clean it in the tank - I'd be happy to do the experiment. 😀 Thanks again for watching and the great thoughts.
I have a deep fryer that looks very similar to that ultrasonic cleaner. Probably wouldn't want to get them mixed up.
Thanks for watching and commenting 🤣Maybe you could use it to do a deep fry wax job on your chain?! Everybody says that everything's better deep-fried, right!
@@JimLangley1 I'll know I got the mixed up when the onion rings have a little grit to them.
What liquid can you use on it that is not so expensive? I heard "pine sol" is a great one, and "simple green" as well, what do think?
Thanks for watching and the question. What I use in the video is less than $10 in most any hardware store and you saw how well it worked in the video.
Great video! I've been considering getting one of these and you've helped convince me to do it. One somewhat unrelated question: what's the best way to deep clean electronic derailleurs? I'm assuming they can't go in a UC.
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video Chip. That's a great question and I didn't know the answer so I googled it and found that it's actually okay to clean electronic components in an UC. Here's a link talking about it: shorturl.at/ZwHTm The only thing is that they don't specifically say it's OK to clean electronic bicycle derailleurs, so I think it would be best for you to contact Shimano or SRAM tech support and make sure THEY say it's okay before risking your expensive parts. Hope this helps. If you find out from the companies that it's OK, please reply back and let me know so others with the same question will see it and know too. Thanks!
Great ! 😫
Now I want a 22l unit. 👷🐖
Sorry to do that to you Sylvain, but I have to say it really was fun cleaning that crank so easily and being able to do an entire drivetrain at once will be even more fun. One thing about the large capacity is that it takes longer to heat up. I read a tip to heat the water in a kettle first and pour it into the UC but I wanted to see how long it took this UC to do it. Also, when it comes time to drain it and clean it, that's a lot of foul liquid to get rid of, not sure yet the best way to handle that here.
Great video! I think the best way to clean 🚲 parts would be supercritical CO2. It would dissolve grease and then just evaporate when you're done. Have never tried this. I think you need about 300psi of pressure or so.
Thanks a lot for watching and the awesome comment Ben. I had to look that it!
@@JimLangley1 I would like to make a cleaner and get it in the shops maybe by next Christmas 😂 But it's quite tricky because you need to handle high pressures and the CO2 tends to eat away at whatever seals you use. Ben on the "Applied Science" channel did make some supercritical CO2.
ua-cam.com/video/-gCTKteN5Y4/v-deo.html
@@benc8386 thanks a lot for sharing the video Ben, it's fascinating and beyond anything I'd ever even considered for cleaning bike parts, that's for sure.
The mineral spirits you pour in the bags and jars are what does the most to these parts, so you won't really see what the ultrasonic machine does in this particular video.
You can dump a chain in mineral spirits jar and just shake it around and leave it for ten minutes, then shake some more, and then pull it out for the same effect.
If you're going to use heavy cleaners the whole point of using an ultrasonic machine is rather pointless.
Thanks for watching and your feeback, but it doesn't sound like you watched the video very closely or have cleaned many bike parts. Even with the mineral spirits, to get a bad chain as clean as the UC gets it, you need a lot of brushing and air compressor blasting (if you have one) to get every bit of grit, gunk and grime from in between everything.