So to follow up, I seem to have gotten a good seal with a rubber gasket that I found, combined with some permatex ultra-black silicon. I am back to using and well, down right relying on the ultrasonic cleaner to shop my pins. I just cannot imagine shopping pins without one after owning it for a couple of years. Very important tool to this hobby.

Dumb question. Picked up one of these 2.5L jobs at Harbor. Figured I'd try it out on some filthy Gorgar star posts and acorn nuts.

For those of you using Simple Green, are you using ALL simple green or a certain amount of it per liter?
Secondly, does the heat option have any effect (i.e. what temperature should the water be)?

I use 50-50 mix of purple power. Yes, heat helps immensely.

Oh, god, do not use 100% simple green. A waste of effort, there. I use 1/8th ration of Simple Green and water (i.e. 1 cup Green, 8 cups water). And I make the water as literally as hot as it can go.

Thanks! I ended up using a ratio pretty close to this (which also happened to be on the Simple Green jug had I read that before making my earlier post) and I turned 25 year old Gorgar star posts back to brand new!! Just a couple still had a bit of wax residue in the grooves that came right off.

Trying to figure out what else I can put in there! Would any sort of metals (such as the screws and posts that hold down the red star posts) gain anything from an USC or do I need to tumble them?

Even if you decide to tumble them you should US clean them first. I put anything that will fit in mine

So I just joined the club last week with the 21L Kendal HB821. I tried cleaning some dirty wiring harnesses today and had pretty good results, but I don't think I am quite there yet. I used Green Power, and according to the label, it recommended a 1 to 30 ratio for "heavily soiled aircraft / cars" which is what I used. It also said you could use a 1 to 13 ratio for cleaning counters and things of that sort, and that the 1 to 13 ration was the strongest mix you can make without the solution become corrosive to metal parts. I errored on the side of caution and went with the 1 to 30 ratio to start. I also had the water temperature set to 60C, and I ran the cleaner for 15 minutes. I added some pictures to show the results. I circled in red some spots where the wires still have some dirt on them, and I am curious if this is to be expected, or if you guys end up with perfectly clean wiring harnesses after your attempts at it. I would say overall the harnesses are about 90% clean, so I am pleased with that, by my OCD would probably still have me cleaning up the last bit of dirt off by hand, and I am hoping I can make some tweaks to the process to improve my results.

Also, do you guys drain the unit after each use, or is it OK to leave it full of cleaner for a few weeks between uses?

Thanks for all the help on this thread, I have been using it a lot these last few weeks!

Mike

pasted_image (resized).png

pasted_image (resized).png

Use a better cleaner! Ultimate 2000 best shit I have touched to this day!

Here is my Fire ramp. Both sides dipped in the USC for about 2 minutes each. running 50/50 purple power-RO water fairly hot @ about 150 degrees. Think I better take those switches off and do the middle.

DSCF5996 (resized).JPG

no need to remove the switches to clean in the ultra.

Just blow them out dry when done.

Be carful putting plastic ramps in for too long. I ended up needing to reform one of mine after it started to melt

I am all for it too, as long as you can get air in and blow them out thoroughly. With microswitches, that is one of those questionable areas I have always felt. Thanks for the tip though, I will approach with caution.

Wow, looks great.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ultrasonic-cleaners/page/10#post-3132303

Update on above post from 8 months ago.

My 6L Chinese unit from eBay is going strong. No problems and it cleans well.

Did you find a time/temp/cleaner that works best for you? I just purchased the same 6L unit.

Anyone have any experience with the Vevor brand (one of these popped up on local Craigslist):
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Commercial-Ultrasonic-Capacity-Solution/dp/B01HGN40SQ

If it's a better brand than Harbor Freight I may give it a go (despite fact that it's 2L vs 2.5L). But if comparable I'll probably stick with the HF unit. Thanks!

I have that exact one and it works pretty well. The heater keeps hot water hot but doesn't heat up cold water well. It has a deep enough chamber but a wider one would be better. I've considered getting the HF unit for its wider chamber but have decided to wait to go to an even larger one next, probably from this same brand.

The included wire basket has large holes so I recommend getting a basket with a finer mesh to hold smaller screws and washers.

Still satisfied with the product?
Thinking about buying the same one..

Yes. It’s does t get a lot of use, but works well when I use it.

I have been using the Harbor Freight ultrasonic 2.5 on almost every part in my EM and am pretty happy, but it would be handy to have a few different sized containers to squeeze into tight places. Has anybody tried this Sonic Soak device? You drop this transducer into your desired container of water. I suppose larger containers would require additional transducers, but for a single relay or score reel it could be handy. IF it works.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sonic-soak-the-ultimate-ultrasonic-cleaning-tool#/
Note that the ad is very careful to avoid showing any actual results.

You can buy them on eBay for about 100,
Anybody try one or anything else like this?
I really like the idea but I am skeptical.

I think I'm probably misunderstanding what you are saying, but if you have some small/tiny parts or parts you want to use a different cleaner and still clean other items in the same ultrasonic cleaner you can use a glass jar or a zip-lock bag to separate items.

Yeah, Lamprey, I do put small stuff, like screws and plastics, in a glass jar inside the HF.

I probably should have said that I like to put an entire relay, unassembled, into the ultrasonic cleaner. I am looking for a way to put an ultrasonic transducer directly into the cleaning solution. That way I could hold a small container next to and underneath a playfield relay, or wedge it in between the relay bank and the side of the cabinet, or use a larger container for the score motor. Sometimes a relay cannot reach the HF machine because the wires are too short and the HF machine won't fit next to the relay.

I just don't know if the "portable washing machine" ultrasonic transducers have enough power to clean pinballs.
The HF machine does a decent job when parts fit in it.

Just got the 2.5L one with the Memorial day 25% off coupon for $59 and I can't stop using it!

These 65 year old posts look so clean! It also softened the hardened melted rubber pieces to where I could easily peel them off the posts.

Before (resized).png

IMG_20180601_231232460 (resized).jpg

Excellent, what are you using for a cleaning solution?

Simple green. I put the posts into a ziplock bag and sprayed the posts well then filled the bag with hot water and popped it in. A few repeated cycles did the trick.

So Simple Green is pretty much the go-to for using in an ultrasonic cleaner?

I plan to clean circuit boards in my ultrasonic cleaner, so I'd like something that works well to dissolve fresh flux from recent soldering and old flux from past repairs.

I use ZEP citrus degreaser too depending on what needs to be cleaned. I'm sure you could use many different cleaners though.

I use ziplock bags to make it easier to keep my ultrasonic cleaner tank clean.

I'm working on my first "half project" machine and decided to try out one of the ultrasonics we have in the lab for the little nuts that go on top of the plastics. It took the tarnish right off of them and cleaned them up really nice.

I used the Alconox that we use in the lab for most of our stuff that doesn't get run in an acid bath.

https://www.amazon.com/Alconox-Detergent-Cleaning-Concentrate-Container/dp/B0000WU828

I wish I would have taken before and after pictures. It sucked the rust right off a screw I threw in as a test in about an hour.

Seems like an ultrasonic cleaner would be overkill for some PCBs, but perhaps it works well. I just spray them down with Simple Green or Purple Power and brush them with a crappy harbor freight paint brush and rinse.

But, to your question I think a lot of people use Simple Green or Purple Power in the ultra sonic cleaners.

I use Purple Power 1:4 mix with hot water. It's been perfect for me.

I thought one of the transducer tests for a ultrasonic; is to throw a piece of tin foil in and see it bubble & eat threw the foil.
Wouldn't the same happen on the copper traces on a PCB???

(I do the same as Lamprey... toothbrush & cleaner in the sink for PCB's. Then blown with air compressor and air dry for a day or two afterwards.)

Professional board repair houses use Ultrasonic, so you will be fine to run them on a cycle.

I clean boards in my dishwasher or Ultrasonic all the time.

If I got a bunch of boards, they go in the dishwasher.

I am also curious about this. In my mind, it would actually be more efficient to put the transducer in the middle of the liquid.

from: https://www.upcorp.com/technical-information.html

The procedure for ultrasonic cleaning is generally as follows: Put parts in basket and place basket through three or four process steps; ultrasonic wash, spray rinse (optional), immersion rinse, dry. Some parts loaded in baskets can mask or shadow from the radiated surface of the ultrasonic transducers. Most ultrasonic cleaning systems are designed for specific applications. Bottom mounted transducers or side mounted transducers are decided upon during the process design stage. Automated systems must specifically address the location of the transducers to insure uniformity of the cleaning. Some parts require individual fixturing to separate the part for cleaning or subsequent processes. Some parts require slow rotating or vertical motion during the cleaning to insure critical cleanliness.

it sounds like the transducers are directional, and since they cause bubbles to form, having them at the bottom of the tank (pointing upwards towards the parts suspended in a basket) gives the best results. I'm not sure if any of the transducers used radiate 360°

Interesting.

On a different note, I decided to grab one of the Harbor Freight 2.5L ultrasonics last night. I did about 1/4th purple power, the rest hot water. It worked pretty well. Anything that had residue on it after I pulled it out could be easily wiped clean. Overall it seemed much more effective than scrubbing alone.

looking to sell my still new in box kendal 780 Watts 5.55 gallons (21 liters) ultrasonic cleaner. these sell for $500 on ebay with free shipping, so I'd like to get $470 (w/ shipping) for it. here's a link to the actual product that I'm selling:
ebay.com link: Industrial 780 Watts 5 55 gallons 21 liters HEATED ULTRASONIC CLEANER HB821

pm me for details. I may be able to bring this with me to the chicago expo if arrangements are made prior

Think you are going to need to go quite a bit lower as Amazon has these for $465 shipped with new warranty. Sorry for the bad news.

amazon.com is $499 for the one that I'm offering
https://www.amazon.com/Kendal-Commercial-gallon-ultrasonic-cleaner/dp/B0092G86YK/ref=sr_1_1

I'd be willing to go $430 w/ pick up @ expo

Not sure if this has already been covered... One thing people should be aware of is larger units take longer to heat up and use a lot more energy. It's okay if you're doing a lot of stuff and have big batches but if you only have a few items, not very efficient. I have a 6 liter unit and wait about 20 minutes for it to reach optimum temperature. Sure a larger size can fit bigger parts, but that's the trade off. Food for thought.

Fire damaged, fixed with sonic and degreaser

20180924_144420 (resized).jpg

20180924_150652 (resized).jpg

20180924_164955 (resized).jpg

I’m glad you confirmed this. I was thinking the exact same thing, but didn’t have real life evidence to back it up. Was leaning toward a 6L cleaner up until about 2 weeks ago when I decided to go smaller. Now, the question is... how small should I go and still be useful?

I use the harbor freight one, 2.5 liters. Works well and the perfect size for my pinball needs

Yep, always fill it with hot water (save a lot of warmup time) and don't put more liquid in it than you need to submerge your parts.

You also want to run the unit during the heat up phase. It'll heat a lot faster than just sitting.

Here's a quick vid (about 5 min) I posted today on the Harbor Freight 2.5L ultrasonic cleaner. Jus the basics and some tips/tricks.

Enjoy
Jeremy (Pinball Mayhem)

Joined the club today. I'm shopping out a sttng right now so put it to work right away.

20181126_184417 (resized).jpg

20181126_184453 (resized).jpg

I’m in... glad to be in yet another club!!

8A5B8557-4A9D-49E5-80C0-066F84EF00C7 (resized).jpeg

Best tool for pinball in my collection!

pasted_image (resized).png