ultrasonic cleaning

[steve briance]

Happy new year!

I really need to go back to work - being at home twiddling my thumbs leads to expensive ideas!...

In 2013 Error404 asked a question about whether any fourm members had a U/S cleaner and how it performed. The reply included links to an ebay auction item which someone had bought but those links are now too old to work.

I'm very very tempted to get one as it seems to do good stuff...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1818728238...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I found this on Ebay from a company local to me and have the same question really - does anyone use this sort of entry level of cleaner and how do they find it? Only drawback is that annoyingly it is about 3-4cm short of being able to get a 5 cylinder head into it in one go.

I've been trawling through info on the net and see that 25khz is the best frequency for aggressive cleaning and 40-45khz is softer (but slower) and is better for acting in blind holes,passages, round corners etc. The link shows a 40khz set up and does include heating which is essential for the formation of the cavitation bubbles.

I fully appreciate that you get what you pay for but weighing up the costs of running a U/S cleaner with a bottle of concentrate solution against paying someone to vapour / soda / grit blast / hot tank dip / solvent parts washer etc I think there may be something in it... I think i'd be a lot more inclined to clean things if i could do them at home rather than driving off to wherever and waiting to drive back again before handing over some money! Earlier this evening i had been contemplating using my pressure washer with a siphon feed or pressure pot supplying glass beads to the flow of water - kind of DIY vapour blaster. I think it would work but without being able to recover the glass beads it costs circa £20 for 5kg tub and the cheapest pressure pot at the mo is £54. My pressure washer is more powerful than my compressor so offers more promise than DIY dry blasting with just air which is likely to be dissappointing not to mention REALLY REALLY messy.

The kind of dirt i am hoping the above machine will clean is:
grease
oil stains
aluminium surface corrosion (the white powdery stuff on the side of my cylinder head)
rust
carbon deposits

[macspring]

Why do you feel that you wouldn't be able to recover the glass bead media using your power washer ?

Just curious as Nilfisk have a media attachment for my power washer.

[steve briance]

I have seen the attachments for pressure washers and am sorely tempted by one as they are def cheaper initially.

I guess my fear about shooting hundreds of £pounds worth of glass beads all over the lawn could be solved by making an enclosure and scooping them up from there. They would not syphon feed if damp so would need drying OR... supplying with another sort of pump to move glass beads and water as a mix into the high pressure flow from my washer. This is then back into the realms of making a DIY vapour blaster!

The answer is probably have one of each type of cleaning solution!

U/S has to be safer for cylinder heads though - I had an inlet manifold done a while ago with vapour and despite blocking off the ports, i was still finding beads in there after washing. I wouldnt fancy my chances with being able to get beads out of oilways etc.

[macspring]

Thanks for reply, agree re having media left in the head.

Not maybe the perfect answer, but what about giving the stripped head to a engine rebuilder / gearbox re-conditioners and ask them to put it in their giant industrial 'parts dishwasher', or to a wheel refurbishing company and ask them to soak the head in their acid bath ?

Just curious as interested to see what's the best / least expensive, but still effective way forward.

[AndyP]

Of the types of dirt you listed, I'd say it's only going to shift oil and grease, depending on what chemical you mix with the water. The rust, oxidation and carbon deposits are going to need something more mechanical, i.e. shot or water blasting.

I have the 6ltr one from the link and it's useful for cleaning bike carbs and things like that, don't expect miracles though

[steve briance]

Ive found a place reasonably near to me that does vapour blasting, I'm going to take my degreased aluminium parts to get a quote before i go buying something which may not do what i want.
Last V/B bloke i used was very suck it and see with his prices - he would look at part, suck air through teeth and come up with the biggest figure he could get away with. Fair play i suppose for a one man band in his shed but you can't help feel at the mercy of what sort of mood he was in

watch this space!

[steve briance]

so, i opted for vapour blasting. I found a place locally that did all the parts seen in the pics for £80. for that money i would just about be able to buy the attachment for my pressure washer and some glass beads. The parts look amazing, just wish i had taken some before shots

[Error404]

Fantastic. Who did the parts for you?

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

I've been reading this with interest as i rang a guy who did just like you said suck air through his teeth to proceed to give me a painful figure. What you had done there seams very reasonable to me and wouldn't put me off paying at all. I'm near London :roll eyes: so thats why i'm being raped on price.Where did you get yours done?

Those parts you had done look superb.

[steve briance]

company in Whetstone Leicestershire. Its probably worth adding that the manifold made it £80 - it was £40 on its own because to be fair, there is quite a lot of it and lots of corners, surfaces etc. All the other parts seemed to be £10 each. (rocker cover, mounts, the thermostat and MFTS housing were £10 together). Degreasing prior to dropping off also saves money as vapour blasters don't like filling their machines up with grease as eventually it contaminates.

http://www.bike-aquablasting.co.uk/index.php

I took a card off them when i left and noticed when i got home they also do ultrasonic cleaning! I may nip back and ask them to do me a demo and see what results it might give on the 7A head when it comes off for work...

Interestingly the company is on the 'whittle' industrial estate and thinking it looked like an old 1940's airbase, I googled and found that it is where Sir Frank made the first ever Jet engine. The factory is not there any more but one of the 3 surviving original engines is going back soon to go on display. Nice bit of history :-)

[Error404]

Great
Bit far for me but I'm sure there will be some other members who find this useful.
Keep them coated in ACF50, keeps them looking mint

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Hey Alex Stafford to Leicester is no way near same as London to Leicester. Still i have a way round that, i could drop stuff of on my way up to N Wales coming up soon.

Its probably worth adding that the manifold made it £80 - it was £40 on its own because to be fair, there is quite a lot of it and lots of corners, surfaces etc. All the other parts seemed to be £10 each. (rocker cover, mounts, the thermostat and MFTS housing were £10 together).

The above edit makes this look all the more a great price.

[steve briance]

V.D.T - if you end up dropping parts off on your way through - phone ahead to confirm they will be in... It looks like their main business is dealing with industrial pumps (the unit they work in is called Pumping services) and they go out on site regularly...

Its not a problem for me but nightmare if you miss them in either direction!

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

V.D.T - if you end up dropping parts off on your way through - phone ahead to confirm they will be in... It looks like their main business is dealing with industrial pumps (the unit they work in is called Pumping services) and they go out on site regularly...

Its not a problem for me but nightmare if you miss them in either direction!

Many thanks for letting me know.If i can arrange with them to coincide then i will post up here the results.