Ultrasonic bath, what do you use to clean parts?

[JPWSRC]

What should I use for an ultrasonic cleanser? Water and dawn dish soap? Solvents? What's safe for the plastic parts and metal parts?

 

[Clubin]

I wash everything in water and a couple table spoons of dawn.

If I’m washing bearings I will use a small glass jar with solvent in it and then I fill the cleaner with water and put the container of solvent in.

It cleans everything. Love them.

 

[JPWSRC]

Do these typically make more noise/vibrate? I can see it working but to be honest, I still had to breakout the brush to scrub off some of the mud stains, almost coulda done the same by hand.

 

[Roadkill69]

I use a solution from stens

 

[JPWSRC]

I use a solution from stens

A lawnmower company?

 

[Clubin]

Do these typically make more noise/vibrate? I can see it working but to be honest, I still had to breakout the brush to scrub off some of the mud stains, almost coulda done the same by hand.

Yes a loud buzz. I never scrub. Just leave it in longer.

 

[JPWSRC]

Yes a loud buzz. I never scrub. Just leave it in longer.

I think mines broken then. Here it is in action. Sorry about the video quality but you should hear it. Parts are cleaning a bit but still dirty when done through two 480 sec cycles.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dETaYbBQXCorGSFE7

 

[SrC]

What should I use for an ultrasonic cleanser? Water and dawn dish soap? Solvents? What's safe for the plastic parts and metal parts?

I use Purple Power or any similar degreaser ( 2 tablespoons), Hot tap water, and a few drips of dish soap for 40 minutes. Max timer with my heated ultrasonic cleaner. The bath is approx 1/2 Qt. filled.
Temp is set to 140F. I rinse BB's under the sink, then do a 15 min cool water rinse in the cleaner. Blow dry well. A heat gun helps. Guaranty's no moisture remains. Then repack with grease. Filled 1/4 -1/3 grease. Both sides with Seals removed. Too much will lock up the BB.
Sometimes I will also toss the Seals in there if they are very dirty. Normally I just wipe them well. I always remove Both seals of each BB. Or the Dirt won't come out when cleaning.
I usually only Utrasonic clean my BB's one time between needing to replace them.
Sometimes I will take a brand new set of BB's and clean out the New grease in the US cleaner the same way, so I can use my own grease or oil. Marine grease, Synthetic or whatever.
Never Spin BB's fast when they are Dry. Even though you might be tempted to.
Only when greased or if they are wet with cleaner.
You can rotate them Slowly by hand to check for any binding and that they are cleaned well enough. Sometimes a BB may fail after it is cleaned. It may be locked up. That is just a worn BB that needs to be replaced. Adding oil may help. But rarely.
Using an ultrasonic cleaner will reveal the bad or worn BB's.

Edited.

 

[slick2500]

I think mines broken then. Here it is in action. Sorry about the video quality but you should hear it. Parts are cleaning a bit but still dirty when done through two 480 sec cycles.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dETaYbBQXCorGSFE7

My Harbor Freight special sounds just like yours and I have the same results as you, stuff cleans up but not everything comes off. I've watched videos on Youtube of guys cleaning stuff way dirtier and it coming out way cleaner on 1 cycle through. Now I am thinking maybe it is defective as I have left stuff in mine for like 5-6 cycles and it still comes out dirty

 

[JPWSRC]

I use Purple Power or any similar degreaser ( 2 tablespoons), Hot tap water, and a few drips of dish soap for 40 minutes. Max timer with my heated ultrasonic cleaner. The bath is approx 1/2 Qt. filled.
Temp is set to 140F. I rinse BB's under the sink, then do a 15 min cool water rinse in the cleaner. Blow dry well. A heat gun helps. Guaranty's no moisture remains. Then repack with grease. Filled 1/4 -1/3 grease. Both sides with Seals removed. Too much will lock up the BB.
Sometimes I will also toss the Seals in there if they are very dirty. Normally I just wipe them well. I always remove Both seals of each BB. Or the Dirt won't come out when cleaning.
I usually only Utrasonic clean my BB's one time between needing to replace them.
Sometimes I will take a brand new set of BB's and clean out the New grease in the US cleaner the same way, so I can use my own grease or oil. Marine grease, Synthetic or whatever.
Never Spin BB's fast when they are Dry. Even though you might be tempted to.
Only when greased or if they are wet with cleaner.
You can rotate them Slowly by hand to check for any binding and that they are cleaned well enough. Sometimes a BB may fail after it is cleaned. It may be locked up. That is just a worn BB that needs to be replaced. Adding oil may help. But rarely.
Using an ultrasonic cleaner will reveal the bad or worn BB's.

Edited.

Cool. This Harbor Freight model only does a max of 480 seconds I believe. It's my understanding these are capable of removing rust but I'm not really seeing that in my bath using dawn dish soap. I'm gonna try simple green or purple power on my next batch. Should the heat option be used if you're using hot water?

My Harbor Freight special sounds just like yours and I have the same results as you, stuff cleans up but not everything comes off. I've watched videos on Youtube of guys cleaning stuff way dirtier and it coming out way cleaner on 1 cycle through. Now I am thinking maybe it is defective

That's what I was wondering?

My Harbor Freight special sounds just like yours and I have the same results as you, stuff cleans up but not everything comes off. I've watched videos on Youtube of guys cleaning stuff way dirtier and it coming out way cleaner on 1 cycle through. Now I am thinking maybe it is defective

That's what I was wondering? Seen and read a few videos where rust was removed. I threw in a part with some screw on it and I swear they came out worse than they went in? The pastic seemed okay but the screws were horrible.

 

[slick2500]

Cool. This Harbor Freight model only does a max of 480 seconds I believe. It's my understanding these are capable of removing rust but I'm not really seeing that in my bath using dawn dish soap. I'm gonna try simple green or purple power on my next batch. Should the heat option be used if you're using hot water?

That's what I was wondering?

That's what I was wondering?

I've always used the heat setting on mine even with hot water, but for some reason it says not to put hot water in it .

 

[JPWSRC]

I've always used the heat setting on mine even with hot water, but for some reason it says not to put hot water in it .

I thought that was odd as well.

 

[SrC]

Do these typically make more noise/vibrate? I can see it working but to be honest, I still had to breakout the brush to scrub off some of the mud stains, almost coulda done the same by hand.

If the BB's are real grimy, pre clean them with a solvent spray and a brushing. Giving them a head start.
Use Hot water in the US cleaner. A degreaser works best.
You can't really see the dirt come off after a while. You might see some dirt exiting the BB initially once you power it on.
Trust me it is working. Some BB's have taken an hour or more to rotate freely. The old grease comes out easily just that any grit or dirt can get bound up in the BB.
I sometimes check on them every 5 min or so initially, each BB to see if they are rotating freely. Helps them when you rotate them with the cleaning solution of the bath.

 

[JPWSRC]

If the BB's are real grimy, pre clean them with a solvent spray and a brushing. Giving them a head start.
Use Hot water in the US cleaner. A degreaser works best.
You can't really see the dirt come off after a while. You might see some dirt exiting the BB initially once you power it on.
Trust me it is working. Some BB's have taken an hour or more to rotate freely. The old grease comes out easily just that any grit or dirt can get bound up in the BB.
I sometimes check on them every 5 min or so initially, each BB to see if they are rotating freely. Helps them when you rotate them with the cleaning solution of the bath.

Another topic, but how in dafuq do I get the metal shields off the bearings?

 

[SrC]

My Harbor Freight special sounds just like yours and I have the same results as you, stuff cleans up but not everything comes off. I've watched videos on Youtube of guys cleaning stuff way dirtier and it coming out way cleaner on 1 cycle through. Now I am thinking maybe it is defective as I have left stuff in mine for like 5-6 cycles and it still comes out dirty

I wouldn't expect any US cleaner to strip off rust with just soap and water alone.
You might have a defective one. Mine cleans very well. Do you leave it for long sometimes. How long are you cleaning for?
Mine has 60 watts of power. What is yours rated at? It may be a light duty one, used just for Jewelry?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LGT2K9Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Another topic, but how in dafuq do I get the metal shields off the bearings?

A Clean pointy Exacto knife and some patience. Carefully so the seals don't bend . Can be flattened however if they do. Pry from the inner edge of the rubber seal. Don't damage the BB Cage by going in too deep with the blade. Look for videos to understand better. There are many.
It becomes easy when you've done it several times
But both seals absolutely need to be removed, or you are just spinning your wheels trying to clean out the BB's. They will never get cleaned with them in place .No matter the cleaning technique you prefer. They are cleaned and lubed with 1/3 filled of grease only with the seals removed. Then the seal pops back in place. Make sure to push them evenly all around the BB. Or they can pop off. Spin them by hand to make sure the seals stay put and you are good to go. Wipe off any extra grease or lube before installing the BB's. Otherwise dirt will be attracted to them easily.

 

[JPWSRC]

I'm running two to three 480 sec cycles. I bought it based on recommendations from here and other sites. It might be defective. I can see the water getting cloudy within a few seconds but it seems the vibration is pretty light. It's a harbor freight item. It's says 160 watts of power in their description so it should work great!
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=central machinery&cid=pdp_brandLink

 

[slick2500]

I wouldn't expect any US cleaner to strip off rust with just soap and water alone.
You might have a defective one. Mine cleans very well. Do you leave it for long sometimes. How long are you cleaning for?
Mine has 60 watts of power. What is yours rated at? It may be a light duty one, used just for Jewelry?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LGT2K9Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A Clean pointy Exacto knife and some patience. Carefully so the seals don't bend . Can be flattened however if they do. Pry from the inner edge of the rubber seal. Don't damage the BB Cage by going in too deep with the blade. Look for videos to understand better. There are many.
It becomes easy when you've done it several times
But both seals absolutely need to be removed, or you are just spinning your wheels trying to clean out the BB's. They will never get cleaned with them in place .No matter the cleaning technique you prefer. They are cleaned and lubed with 1/3 filled of grease only with the seals removed. Then the seal pops back in place. Make sure to push them evenly all around the BB. Or they can pop off. Spin them by hand to make sure the seals stay put and you are good to go. Wipe off any extra grease or lube before installing the BB's. Otherwise dirt will be attracted to them easily.

I've tried dawn, simple green, denatured alcohol and citrus cleaner. Like I said I left stuff in there for 5-6 480 second cycles so 40-48 minutes.

https://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-63256.html

 

[SrC]

Power has you covered.
There isn't much vibration to really see or feel with the naked eye. Just a subtle hum is all. If the parts emit cloudiness, then it is working. Try a better strength degreaser perhaps? Water soluble soap and degreaser is best for BB's. Less Caustic to the Chromium content of most BB's. Sometimes if they are grimy they need some rotating while cleaning. Pre cleaning them helps much like I stated above. ( with seals removed )
I use hot tap water and set my heater to 140F. Cleans fine for me.
US Cleaners have differing frequencies sometimes. Different levels of cleaning. Some more gentle than others. Jewelry US Cleaner's frequencies are tuned more for Gold and Stone settings, etc.

 

[slick2500]

Power has you covered.
There isn't much vibration to really see or feel with the naked eye. Just a subtle hum is all. If the parts emit cloudiness, then it is working. Try a better strength degreaser perhaps? Water soluble soap and degreaser is best for BB's. Less Caustic to the Chromium content of most BB's. Sometimes if they are grimy they need some rotating while cleaning. Pre cleaning them helps much like I stated above. ( with seals removed )
I use hot tap water and set my heater to 140F. Cleans fine for me.
US Cleaners have differing frequencies sometimes. Different levels of cleaning. Some more gentle than others. Jewelry US Cleaner's frequencies are tuned more for Gold and Stone settings, etc.

I'm not talking bearings I'm talking anything with grease or oil in general does not come any cleaner than if I stuck the stuff in my tea infuser then stuck it in a jar of whatever concoction and shook it. Naphtha is the only thing I can find that will clean off the grease and oil without scrubbing but it has to soak for 10-15 minutes first.

 

[JPWSRC]

Gon a try DI H20 and one of those cleaners you've mentioned. Also read ammonia is pretty effective.