Boxerworks.com

Major Softie wrote:

Chuey wrote: What medium is in the ultrasonic cleaner? What quality level is the ult. cleaner? I bought one from Harbor Freight and it doesn't do much.

Chuey

I've been curious about those. I was really tempted, but also had my usual questions about whether or not the Harbor freight product was one of their good deals, or one of their worthless items.

Chuey, I bought a Crest brand "575 TA" 1.75 gallon capacity ultrasonic cleaner off of eBay recently, for about 1/2 the price of the current models. It was on sale because it has the older style electronics and also came without a heater. I wanted it to be big enough to do carb bodies and the 1.75 gallon is just barely big enough. This is one of those situations where bigger is better. I used Simple Green in hot tap water and I was very impressed with the cleaning. While it doesn't remove oxide (pits won't disappear) the parts I cleaned with dried fuel residue and general dirt and grunge came out looking brand new. A plus, even though it doesn't have a heater, the ultrasonic action did heat the water up. It takes about 15-30 minutes and best of all: No Fumes! Note: if you do decide to get one, be sure to get a parts basket designed for it. You can't just drop parts in it. Both the parts and what's holding them can't be allowed to touch the sides of the tub.

Just a thought regarding Simple Green...in the aviation community we have found out first hand that simple green is highly corrosive and causes aluminum to become embrittled over time. Just throwing that out there in case you're using it on any aluminum parts. It's awesome stuff, but bad for metal parts.

For externals this looks pretty damn good .http://www.garagenight.tv/diy-soda-blas ... rig-cheap/

tenni128 wrote:Just a thought regarding Simple Green...in the aviation community we have found out first hand that simple green is highly corrosive and causes aluminum to become embrittled over time. Just throwing that out there in case you're using it on any aluminum parts. It's awesome stuff, but bad for metal parts.

Thanks! That's good to know. What do they recommend for aluminum?

From their website, simple green has a ph of 9.5, so anything lower than that and higher than 7 I guess. We use regular detergents on our planes, but there is probably stuff out there that splits the difference. Just read the MSDS for whatever you find. But I have seen metal get pretty beat up from those harsh cleaners.

tenni128 wrote:Just a thought regarding Simple Green...in the aviation community we have found out first hand that simple green is highly corrosive and causes aluminum to become embrittled over time. Just throwing that out there in case you're using it on any aluminum parts. It's awesome stuff, but bad for metal parts.

Not bad for "metal parts," bad for pure aluminum. It can work okay on some alloys, but you're experimenting. Most carb bodies are not straight aluminum, Many are zinc, or other metals. I'm not sure what the Bings are.

Regardless, I just wanted to make it clear that Simple Green isn't bad for "metal," just some metals.

tenni128 wrote:Just a thought regarding Simple Green...in the aviation community we have found out first hand that simple green is highly corrosive and causes aluminum to become embrittled over time. Just throwing that out there in case you're using it on any aluminum parts. It's awesome stuff, but bad for metal parts.

Should we presume it's ok on steel, plastic, glass?

Well, we don't have 'pure' aluminum aircraft, either. Most of the skinning is pretty stout, like a 6064 alloy, T4 or 5 temper. So it's at least strong enough to damage that, showing up as pitting along rivet lines and buildup of white powder. But like I said, it's a good cleaner that we use for just about everything. Just check your application before use. It's not like it melts anything, either. It's just corrosive, and will make certain alloys brittle. Sorry for hijacking the thread, just passing along some experience.

tenni128 wrote: Sorry for hijacking the thread, just passing along some experience.

That's useful discussion, not hijacking. In fact, thread degradation is revered here as an art form. Try harder next time.

Chuey