Upcoming Winter Project

[Scurry]

Dr. Bob will do on the purple stuff. I do use a lot of Simple Green.

Question then on ultrasonic cleaners what do you like to use in that, or does it matter what type of material you are working with?

Thanks
David

[dr bob]

Hi David --

Regular Simple Green has some similar concerns on aluminum bits. They make an 'aircraft' version that's safe on aluminum, worth hunting down. Certain Home Depot stores stock it. Not in Bend, but yes at Redmond just north of here. Or click for delivery from your favorite vendors. There's another version that's identical to the aircraft stuff but labeled differently and for less $$, but I don't remember the version off the top of my head. I use the aircraft stuff in a ziplock with the part, no air in the bag, then drop the bag into hot water in the ultrasonic and let it do its thing. Seems to work pretty well. The bag limits how much detergent I need to use, plus it contains the crud and keeps the ultrasonic clean. For small parts especially, it allows me to clean with the ultrasonic cleaner full (as it must be) of already-hot water.

I'll share that I often add just a few drops of Dawn to hot water in the bag, and let the ultrasonic action break up deposits. The Dawn lowers the surface tension of the water just enough to keep grease and oil from rejoining the part. I use the Simple Green only where its actual emulsifying properties are needed. There are plenty of internet egspurtz making recommendations on what to use. My wayback neighbors in Surfside were the founders of Simple Green, and I spent a dozen-plus years at P&G right out of school the first time. I gathered some intimate knowledge of Dawn, and use it for a ton of things for a ton of reasons. It cleans parts, hands, and more. Yeah, dishes too. I still end up using other things for different cleaning tasks. No universal 'solution' it turns out.

I do need to make a soundproof cover for the cleaner. I love the results but the noise level is just a tiny bit excessive. In my experience anyway. I'll get a bigger one at some point, so maybe a chance to do a full enclosure this time. I can hardly wait! :/