Ultrasonic cleaners: you gotta get one!

[catamount]

I'm in the middle of a CX500 teardown & rebuild. I'm currently rebuilding the carbs because one side was getting zero fuel at idle.

I've been reading a lot about people having excellent results with carbs & ultrasonic cleaners. I'm using the book below as a guide for my rebuild, and the author swears by using an ultrasonic over carb dips so I picked up the cheap HF cleaner. I think it was about $70.



These were my Keihin carbs before.



There was a bunch of shit clogging the jets, causing poor / nonexistent idle.



Tore it all down and tossed it in the ultrasonic with 4 parts water, 1 part Simple Green.



Ran it for about 20 minutes with the heat on, and the parts came out surprisingly clean. FAR better results than I've had when dipping components in carb cleaner.





It's recommended to rinse and repeat, so I changed the solution out and ran it again.

This is the dirty water from the 2nd run.



After the 2nd run, all traces of dirt and grime were gone.



Please note that all springs were covered in greasy grime.



Rinsed all parts with hot water and blew them out with compressed air. Will be running through the emulsion tubes with the correct sized mini drill bits to confirm that they are at the OEM opening.

One down, one to go.



You gotta get one of these. You can clean just about anything that'll fit, and tons of people just throw their dirty gun parts in these and they come out sparkling with zero scrubbing. Bonus points: get some jewelry cleaner and clean rings for your wife/girlfriend.

This was the CX the day I bought it.



This is the CX now (minus the carbs).





I'm not sure where this build is going, but I hope it's somewhere cool.

[RocketPunch]

What kind of solution did you use in the ultrasonic cleaner?

[catamount]

You'll notice that I used Simple Green.

Tore it all down and tossed it in the ultrasonic with 4 parts water, 1 part Simple Green.

[OreoGaborio]

Dude, that's pretty sick.

[Chrisb319]

I would be curious to see more, I am very interested.

[Dannyf]

Also work great for guns.

[Chrisb319]

Also work great for guns.

I thought about that, I would be worried about rust. I've seen YouTube videos of people putting an assembled gun into this bath....Goes against everything I was thought.

[ZX11D]

Gonna pick one up at HF today. Thanks

[boosten lebaron]

There on sale today at hf in vernon because of the sidewalk sale going on. I think i saw it was 50 bucks. Ive been tempted to get one but have yet to pull the trigger.
Is simple green the best or only solution you tried? I know simple green is rough on aluminum parts if your not careful.

[travisb]

Looks very useful.

[nhbubba]

I have one as well. Wifey bought it for me as a gift for xmas. I have been running parts from my 78 CB400 through it. Literally, everything/anything that will fit goes in. I have mostly been using tap water with a small dab of dish soap. I have been told that all you need is enough soap to break the surface tension. I have also used simple green, although nowhere near 4:1. Lastly someone bought me some of the powdered cleaner solution HF sells. I have tried that too.

I have gotten results similar to the OP using almost all of the solutions. What dirt and grime doesn't just 'come' off is loosened up so much that I can easily clean it off with a rag.

This thing is the bees knees. I mentioned it here as well. Definitely get the one with the heater; it's only a bit more and way worth it IMO.

The only problem I've run into so far is that some of the solutions can discolor aluminum.

The OP's before/after photos are better than anything I can post... I think I need to up my concentration of simple green.

[Garandman]

2.5L unit is on sale currently at $77.99

That the one?

Useful review.

I use this to clean my spent brass for reloading and to clean and degrease gun parts. For it work properly,however, you need to use the right cleaning solution. I use Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaner for brass and Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaner for gun parts. Simple Green also works well. I have seen reviews on this machine that are negative, saying that it does not work and they are not using any cleaning solution. That's like washing your hands with just water and no soap. The ultrasound provides the mechanical scrubbing (like rubbing your hands together) and the cleaning solution acts as the solvent. Just make sure the tray is in place or you will burn out the transducer and it will not work.

[nhbubba]

That's the one I have. I guess I have been doing it wrong not using the "right" solution. I guess I can get even better results.

[breakdirt916]

oh man, can I mail you a carb and $20?

[catamount]

Is simple green the best or only solution you tried? I know simple green is rough on aluminum parts if your not careful.

Simple Green is the only solution I've tried. The author of the book I'm reading suggests it, and he rebuilds these carbs as a side business so I'm taking his word for it.

He uses the original Simple Green, which *can* discolor aluminum if you leave it in the dirty water long enough without moving it around. That's why he suggests changing the solution out after the original cleaning.

I've read that Simple Green HD (purple in color) available at Home Depot won't discolor aluminum.

[Kurlon]

Be sure to rinse the carbs really well in hot water after, blow out all the passages with an air gun, then I like to nail them with WD40 just to be certain.

[The Snowman]

They're the real deal. When I was speed skating, I used to use a smaller one w/ simple green to clean out skate bearings when I got caught in the rain while training.

They remove everything out of every nook & cranny.

[RandyO]

I've had this one for years to clean technical pens

if an ultrasonic cleaner can clean permenant india ink in a 0000 pen, they can clean ANY carb jet

[VTRumble]

2.5L unit is on sale currently at $77.99

That the one?

Useful review.

Use the 20% coupon and its 62 and change. I think the figure it off the original price. Just picked one up.

[Garandman]

Lyman sells a similar unit for $100.

Can you out the receiver of a rifle in it, leaving the barrel out in the air?

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Just grabbed one from HF Fall River.

[nhbubba]

Can you out the receiver of a rifle in it, leaving the barrel out in the air?

Probably. The cover is removable and the unit can be run without the cover in place. Although the heat is way more effective with the cover in place.
Maybe slip a rag under the edge of the barrel to prevent it from resting on the lip of the tub.

[soofle616]

dammit, I was just there yesterday and didn't notice the sale on them or I would have picked one up. Oh well, guess I'm going back.

[R1]

91% isopropyl alcohol....

[csmutty]

I've had a stiffie for a crest untrasonic for a while.