Ultrasonic Cleaners

[Electric_Andy]

They are very handy for cleaning things where a brush and soapy water cannot reach. But that is the only benefit I found. For really oily stuff it could be argued that the solution/degreaser used has more effect than the ultrasonic motion itself. e.g. if you soaked something in petrol or white spirit, it might do a better job than ultrasonic cleaning in soapy water. I don't know, I never compared the two. Many folks buy them to clean carburettors but I've also seen as many people do it manually with a cloth, a bit of wire and a can of brake cleaner. The other issue of course is whether it's advisable to totally immerse something in a degreaser, i.e. will it get into sealed bearings or get past dust seals with the help of ultrasonic motion? Whatever the case, I wanted one so I bought one. And it does save a lot of manual labour if you use it a lot

 

[Bristolian]

For sure if you immerse bearings in the bath the ultrasonic motion will get in and clear out any grease ... given enough time.

In the Army (back in the 1970's) we used a popular brand of cola (famous for its Christmas adverts) to degrease things whilst on exercise/operations. A combination of the chemical composition of the liquid and the bubbles did a fantastic job

 

[Ajax Bay]

In the Army (back in the 1970's) we used a popular brand of cola (famous for its Christmas adverts) to degrease things . . . A combination of the chemical composition of the liquid and the bubbles did a fantastic job

I think you'd have found, "back in the 70s" that the fouling on a gas plug contained no grease (I'll leave the existence of "bubbles" in poured Coke and their cleaning properties to one more knowledgeable; low pH certainly).
Use Coke in an ultrasonic cleaner will, I expect have undesired consequences (and I'm not going to experiment).

 

[fossyant]

Now't wrong with an oily rag. If thing's get 'bad' I drop the chain and cassette in Screwfix's finest degreaser (diluted) and agitate it with a paint brush. I can see how useful they would be if you let components get that bad, manual cleaning is difficult.

 

[AlanW]

Or.....a simple solution, just hot wax your chain and you'll have no need to clean your chain or the drive train ever again. Okay, not strictly true, but the cassette can be washed in boiling hot water, and after a 1000 miles just rewax your chain again, easy as that really. Yes the initial degreasing of the chain is or should I say was, (see Silca's new Strip Chip method) a bit of a faff, but after that all plain sailing to be honest.
Not withstanding the dramatic increase in the life of the chain, but I've saved a fortune in GT85/degreaser since going down this route, plus no need for oily rags in the workshop now, game changer for sure.

 

[Bristolian]

I think you'd have found, "back in the 70s" that the fouling on a gas plug contained no grease (I'll leave the existence of "bubbles" in poured Coke and their cleaning properties to one more knowledgeable; low pH certainly).
Use Coke in an ultrasonic cleaner will, I expect have undesired consequences (and I'm not going to experiment).

I was in the REME so handling (and cleaning) a weapon wasn't a daily occurrence, but degreasing grotty vehicle parts definitely was

For sure, I think adding Coke to an ultrasonic cleaner could produce unwanted results and I wouldn't experiment with it either

 

[Supersuperleeds]

What's all this nonsense about cleaning bikes?

 

[MontyVeda]

Having never had one in 60 years of year round cycling. It makes you wonder if its just another gizmo you want to add to the cycling box in the shed.

Once it starts getting wet and muddy. I get home, get a couple of buckets of rainwater and wash and rinse the bike down. I get a rag soaked in white spirit and run the chain through it, dry it and oil it.

I will do this every other day and a deeper clean at weekend. It takes 10 minutes at most and I cannot recall the last mechanical problem I had.

I don't do any rinsing/cleaning shenanigans and i can't recall the last time i had a mechanical problem either... oh, wait, split rim in 2015.

 

[C R]

What's all this nonsense about cleaning bikes?

I think bikes should be cleaned every other year, whether they need it or not.

 

[middle of the road]

Years back I used the one at work to clean bike chains. This was at a time when ozone depleting solvents were still allowed. Chains used to come up like new after a few minutes.
I bought a small one from Amazon and have found it very good but I don't think the detergent I use is anywhere near as good as the banned solvent.
Before buying it I'd use white spirit, putting the chain a plastic bottle with the white spirit and giving it a thorough shake.
I popped one of these 'clean' chains into the ultrasonic cleaner. The amount of grime lurking in the links turned the water black.
It is one of the best £30 I've spent.

 

[Bristolian]

Years back I used the one at work to clean bike chains. This was at a time when ozone depleting solvents were still allowed. Chains used to come up like new after a few minutes.
I bought a small one from Amazon and have found it very good but I don't think the detergent I use is anywhere near as good as the banned solvent.
Before buying it I'd use white spirit, putting the chain a plastic bottle with the white spirit and giving it a thorough shake.
I popped one of these 'clean' chains into the ultrasonic cleaner. The amount of grime lurking in the links turned the water black.
It is one of the best £30 I've spent.

Yeah, the solvents that were banned really cleaned things up ... but were seriously damaging to the ozone layer specially as they were normally used hot, which caused them to evaporate when the cleaner lid was opened.

 

[C R]

Yeah, the solvents that were banned really cleaned things up ... but were seriously damaging to the ozone layer specially as they were normally used hot, which caused them to evaporate when the cleaner lid was opened.

They didn't do much for the health of the operators either.

 

[slowmotion]

They didn't do much for the health of the operators either.

.......but they were actually very good at degreasing.......unlike the vegan rubbish that is currently fashionable....

 

[Dogtrousers]

When I was a teenager fettling bikes I relied on my dad's stock of solvents for cleaning bearings and chains and the like. Metal gallon containers with TRIKE written on them in marker pen.

It worked a treat but I'm not sure it was very healthy.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene

 

[slowmotion]

When I was a teenager fettling bikes I relied on my dad's stock of solvents for cleaning bearings and chains and the like. Metal gallon containers with TRIKE written on them in marker pen.

It worked a treat but I'm not sure it was very healthy.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene

The rumour was that trike (trichloroethylene) could dissolve subcutaneous fat from below your skin. An amazingly good degreaser and soldering flux remover.