# Ultrasonic cleaners



## bbnissan (Nov 7, 2004)

I had an idea today while I was searching through some stuff on ebay. I ran across an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner for a very reasonable price, and I started to wonder how well it would work at cleaning carburetors? The jewelry cleaner I found should be large enough to completely submerge a small engine carb and the vat is stainless steel so it shouldn't be a problem to fill it with a solvent like acetone.

I'm use to using a chemical vat with an air powered agitator to clean carbs, but it doesn't always work that well. There are some times where the fuel varnish is so thick that it requires several hours in the vat to get it clean. This isn't practical in a small engine shop so I've been looking for something faster. I have seen how well a ultrasonic cleaner works on removing grease and grime from an engine block (using only water and detergent), so I don't see why it wouldn't work for removing fuel varnish from carbs.

Has anyone ever tried anything like this?


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

well its for delicate jewelry so it should work.


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## bbnissan (Nov 7, 2004)

I just purchased one of the ultrasonic cleaners off ebay so we'll see when it gets here :thumbsup: I'll let you guys know how it works out and maybe post some pictures of how good of a job it does at cleaning.


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

good sounds like it should do a heck of alot better at cleaning.


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## bbnissan (Nov 7, 2004)

I got my ultrasonic cleaner today and tried it out for the first time. All I can say is...WOW!!!!!!!

I tried a couple of different cleaning solutions, but I found that warm water and few cap fulls of Greased Lightning desgreaser works the best. After I got the cleaning solution worked out I started cleaning everything I could think of trying. I was amazed at how well it cleaned fuel varnish from a carb and carb bowl....you could literally watch the varnish and rust melt off of the surface. It worked so well that it was cleaning carbs in 45 seconds - 1 minute that normally takes 15-30 minutes in the agitated chemical vat. The only drawback (which is purely cosmetic) is that the degreaser has a tendency to discolor aluminum and turn it a darker gray color.

I also tried several other things in the ultrasonic cleaner and found two other things that it really excells at cleaning...spark plugs, and brushes. If you drop a spark plug in the cleaner, it will remove most of the carbon and all of the fuel and oil deposits. When you put a brush (steel or brass wire brush) in the cleaner it will melt away all the grease, dirt, and other garbage that collects betwen the bristles.

If any of you needs a good cleaner and you hate using solvents to clean parts, I highly recommend looking for an ultrasonic cleaner on ebay.


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## roperdude91 (Nov 10, 2004)

lol i think that would have come in handy for cleaning the plugs tht the honda fouled beond wire brushing haha ive got dozens of ngk bp5es plugs and autolite 64 plugs that need cleaning


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## bugman (Aug 12, 2004)

good that it works. doesn't really matter if it dicolors the metal really but thats sounds good. oh and i know of a cheaper alternative to greased lightning, actually greased lightning is an expensive copy of it, mean green from a dollar general, works wonders. about a buck 50 for a little bottle which is pretty big.


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