Fun with a (cheap) Ultrasonic Cleaner
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- I've had my (cheap) Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner for a few years now and have only used it a few times for sewing machine parts. Part of the reason I haven't been using it is the lack of small part capability as it arrived. I found some stainless steel baskets for the watchmakers trade that should do the trick. They arrived Sunday, so let's have some fun!
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I bought one from a yard sale this past weekend. Brand-new for 5 dollars. It's a harbor freight one. By golly I love it! And great idea using those tea strainer baskets. They are on my must have list!
Liz has been looking at those baskets and muttering under her breath... I should clean my earrings... Hmmmm
Hi Bob,
I use biodegradable Krudd Kutter in my ultrasonic about 2-3oz. to a full tub. I use the baskets also. I run it about 15 minutes and boy the parts come out new looking.
I'll give that a try!
The best cheap ultrasonic "cleaner" we ever used was one of the original cold mist humidifiers from the mid to late 90s. It was way overpowered, so powerful in fact that it could empty itself in about 30 minutes and could make a 12-18 inches of mist covering the entire bathroom floor. It would drench the carpet even with a fan being used. So we found an alternate use for it. We used to add some simple green to it, toss parts in, and cover it with plastic wrap to minimize the mess. The only problem was that the parts had to stay near the center as the transducer only affected a small area directly above it, but it would remove darn near any gunk in just a minute or two. I only ever reached into it while it was running once, turns out those more focused sound waves can do quite a bit of damage as my finger was bruised pretty badly just from dipping it in the water.
That's a great idea!
Dang Bob quit spending my money! This has been added to my list of gee wish I had one. My jewelry will appreciate it too! 😃
Becky, you should know me well enough by now to know that I am a pro at spending other people's money...
I just toss it all in and use an extension magnet to fish the little bits out! I really should get those baskets😁
You should!
@@BobFowlerWorkshop I did! Amazon makes it too dang easy man!
I use the 6 l Sonic cleaner and I use those baskets. They were great. I have the long basket and I have a few small ones for some really tiny screws they work great. I use crud cutter and I don't have to clean them. They're clean fine afterwards. All you have to do is buff them afterwards. It will not do the buffing party. Still have to do the buffing. It will just clean the garbage out. It'll clean the get into the tiny areas that it's hard to get to work's great!
I also use an ultrasonic cleaner, but I already had one, and it's a bit too big. But you can run long cycles and it will heat the water. Overkill.... but it's the size I had already. I use plain water in the tank, then put individual mason jars filled with different cleaners - Krud kutter, Dawn soap, or whatever- depending on which parts are in the jar. It saves money to not to fill the entire tank with the cleaner and once the solution in the jars are really dirty, it makes it easier to dispose of the dirty solution. ( and I can use more than one cleaner at a time.) There have been many times I wish I had the small one from Harbor Freight just for the amount of space it uses in my workshop. (Mine is a 15 liter cleaner, which is overkill and takes up space. I don't recommend something that big for sewing machine parts). I do find when I have items with a lot of gunk, I give them a two second wipe or pass with a brush to decrease the work the cleaner needs to do. It 'almost' eliminates, and sometimes totally eliminates any cleaning I need to do after it comes out of the ultrasonic cleaner. I love it because it saves time when you have a lot of small parts and saves chemicals on my hands. I usually set it for 8-10 minutes.
I'm a vintage Clocksmith, and use a one gallon Ultrasonic Cleaner, with tea baskets for small parts. I never allowing large parts to touch each other. Once I have rinsed the parts they go into a jar of Isopropyl alcohol to remove any water. Then removed from the alcohol and dried with a blow dryer so the parts won't rust. I like your idea of a magnet-on-a-stick. Thanks
you can also use old glass jars with well sealing lids. many people put mineral spirits in the jars with the parts, seal the lids on and put it in the ultrasonic with water and run it, the ultrasound will penetrate the glass jars and get to the parts.
I'm not so sure this unit has enough power for that, but it's worth a try.
I put little parts in tiny nylon mesh drawstring bags - they work great too.
Great tip!
I've used mine in the same way you are except I have not used the small baskets. I haven't tried simple green, but I do use Dawn dishwashing liquid and it loosens the oily caked-on crap pretty good. But it does take three or four rounds in the Sonic cleaner to get them to come out nicely. I also use it to clean the ceramic nozzles on my Orchard sprayer at the end of each season.
Yeah, I bought mine for motorcycle brake master cylinders... LOL
You always have interesting content! 😊. Not everyone has your ability to share and teach others!
I appreciate that!
My HF ultrasonic cleaner is a miraculous machine. I use Krud Kutter with it for 2-4 heated cycles most of the time. And it will shut itself off if you try to run to many heated cycles in too short a time.
There often remains a film of superfine sludge that requires a final brushing or wipe-down, but it sure beats starting cleaning at ground zero.
Overloading is a possibility; the excess mass dampens the utrasonic action.
It works wonders to free "stuck" things and to decake fossilized lint. It's been handy to loosen/remove old paint and varnish, too.
Where did you get the set of baskets?
Oh, and 480 seconds is 8 minutes, hon. --x
You, you're right... I don't know what my problem is with time...
The baskets are here:
www.amazon.com/dp/B09VXQYDPQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I have a bigger ultrasonic from ebay. I used some "purple power" cleaner and hot water one time.... it took the paint clean off a Singer potted motor cover. eek!
while dish soap/simple green is cheap, I can't help but wonder about a slightly more aggressive de-greaser
I bought some ZEP purple yesterday...
Your thumbnail caught my attention because it looked like a cat watching you through a window. Those suds are really playing with my brain
Good catnip? LOL
I find putting into a zip lock bag with whatever liquid cleaner to suit parts keeps bath liquid and bath clean
Yes, and required a lot less degreaser too!
How do you dry after cleaning in a water solution. Especially springs...
Hey Bob! I use an ultrasonic all the time, saves my hands from being in so much cleaner. I am on the Krud Kutter team though, is there a reason why you go with Simple Green? Most of the time my parts come out looking like new with only 3 min processing time. Wondering if the Krud Kutter isn’t safe for aluminum now….I have a video coming up with how I clean parts, it is taking a little longer to make but I will share how I handle the tiny parts in it. Love all the comments here about how people use their ultrasonics, great ideas!
Hi Jen, I use Simple Green because it's handy, that's all. I need to experiment with some different cleaners. Simple Green works OK, but you're absolutely right, there are a lot of other options out there and I need to get off my fat posterior region and try some others!
Hi Jen! (I enjoy your videos too). I found Krud Kutter can be hard on the chrome trim but maybe I was just mixing it too strong.
@@lindaa.9741 Hi! I don't know, it could be that...I haven't had it hurt any chrome yet but if you are having that happen then I would understand wanting to clean the chrome with something else. Would love to hear if you find something you like better :)
@@SewingMachineRehab I'm still looking, but I've gone back to using "Mother's" and elbow grease. (and that seemed to 'rescue' the chrome plate that I almost ruined on a lovely Singer 66). This was back when I first decided to try using my ultrasonic for sewing machine parts, and I set the cleaner for 15 or 20 minutes and used K.K. in a stronger solution than I should have (probably closer to 30-40%). I'm not sure if it was "time plus chemical" combined, or not diluting the Krud Kutter enough. I was afraid to try it after that. It was only later, as I watched more Y.T. tutorials I realized everyone used a lot more diluted mix. I was just 'winging it' on my own at first, but have since discovered trusted sources for my information. Since you've had good luck with a more dilute mix of K.K. in the ultrasonic, I may give it another try- -but for shorter runs!
Hey Bob, what can I do to stop thread lock on a mongrel/badged cranky semi long arm? Inquiring minds need to know.
Honestly, length of the arm isn't an issue. Check to see if the thread path is spotlessly clean, double check the bobbin case to make sure it's clean with no damage- however slight, that the needle to hook clearance is not excessive, that the hook is in good shape, and that timing is correct.
@@BobFowlerWorkshop Ill try. Now, can you help me find a bobbin hook for the mongrel? I went through it before. I learned to time it from a Gammill, best guess as to other parts fitting? Theoretically ,it was based on Singer. Gracias.
8:05 480 seconds = 4 minutes lol :) must be running a half off special!!!
Yeah, yeah, yeah... 😆😆😆
Those are tea infusers, dude.
Call them what you wish, here's the link to the item on Amazon...
www.amazon.com/dp/B09VXQYDPQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
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