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I've been using the cheap HF one many times too... Works fine for me. (generally use Simple Green & water)
Still need to do mild scrubbing afterward, to get the loosened crud off. (but way better than cleaning alone)
Only word of caution... never plug it in and run the heating without liquid. (I cooked the heater element.)
Quoted from radium:I've got the little one from Harbor Freight. It's OK. It sits on the counter and purrs like a baby kitten and does stuff. I don't see a huge advantage to using it versus warm soapy water and a brush, so I would not recommend it.
I'm tempted to buy one of the big cleaners, but I wish I knew someone with one so I could see how well they actually work first. I think if I was going to drop $250 on a cleaner, I would buy a big tumbler first.
Interesting... I'm the exact opposite. My Lyman vibrate/tumbler is worthless; compared to my cheap HF Ultrasonic.
Quoted from PM_Jeremy:Yes the heater can be on or off no mater if the unit is cleaning. Make sure you have solution in the tank before plugging the unit in. If I need heat I will turn on the heater first before putting parts in. There is a built in thermostat that shuts off the heater when it gets up to temp.
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Jeremy (Central WI)
I made this exact mistake. On my second HF 95563 2.5L... so going back for another swap is not really in the cards. (seems like the HF stores around here keep you on file pretty well).
So... I blew out the heater element. (confirmed I'm getting 110v AC at the connector, but the element is wide-open resistance)
I've spent the morning Googling, and can't find anyone selling a 110v AC ceramic element like this one (1 at a time).
Anyone else do this? And find a vendor selling single elements (and not Qty 10,000 from Alibaba)?
I may call the 800 number from the manual on Monday... but do not hold out hope.
Meanwhile.... re-assemble and try some cleaning with hot water and see how it does.
heater_element.jpgQuoted from Cheddar:Would something like this work?
ebay.com link » Like
very interesting.... for $5.00 (and some epoxy material) I may give that a shot.
I just don't know the specs of the old one... so no idea of the wattage.
(the base of the HF unit says 160watt total... I supposed I could measure the draw without the heater and subtract from 160???).
Quoted from PM_Jeremy:So to make it clear, what mistake did you make? Was it having the unit turned on without any liquid in it?
Sorry your heater went kaput. Post if you find a suitable one.
Yes... I turned it on dry, thinking I was about to fill it with cold water... and the phone rang... and I'm an idiot. 
Luckily I didn't have any parts or the plastic tray in it yet. And it was only a minute or so on dry, before I realized what I had done.
The thermistor is on the other side of the tank... and without liquid to draw off the heat... I'm guessing the element just goes runaway & burns itself out.
Quoted from PghPinballRescue: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 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.)
Quoted from Murphdom:I just bought this one. It came in the mail today. I will have to experiment with some stuff and report back. You won’t beat the price on this one for the size of it.
Yeah just ordered one also. Got about six machines in the project queue. Will be nice to knock out multiple assys at once, instead of the small Harbor freight unit I've been using.
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Trevor, WI