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looking to by an ultrasonic cleaner

Would like some opinions on an ultrasonic cleaner... a bench top model. Something with a baskets size around 12 x 12 x 10 or so, no more than $1800.

Have a few in mind, this one (mostly because of price) is leading the pack:

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Anyone have experience with that particular brand?

BUT... I have never used one, so I don't know what to expect regarding how clean the parts are going to come out.

Can I put in a carburetor that has seen years of crud baked onto it into the unit, come back in an hour or two to a spotless part? That same carburetor, after a 24 hour bath in carb cleaning bucket still needs some time in the varsol parts washer with a brush to try to get all the grim out of all the nooks and crannys... and it still is not

100%.

thanks to ALL who have positive and helpful comments! ron

Reply to
rbce2003
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sorry, in topic, I meant BUY not by.

Reply to
rbce2003

Branson is a well known name. Randy

Reply to
Randy Replogle

I am very happy with my Branson cleaner. I cleaned some very dirty dies with it, among other things, it works well.

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Reply to
Ignoramus7495

The Branson units are pretty top of the line, and have prices to match. The Harbor Freight #95563 is a rather nice 2.5l tank unit with heat and when it's on sale / with coupon for about $60 it's hard to beat. It passes the "blow holes in aluminum foil" test well so it has a reasonable amount of power.

Reply to
Pete C.

Pete C.

What's the "blow holes in aluminum foil" test? I've got two old L&R ultrasonics that don't seem to clean well anymore; it would be nice to have a quick generic test to put to them.

Thanks! Dave

Reply to
LowEnergyParticle

Fill cleaner with water, hold a piece of aluminum foil in the water and turn the cleaner on for a second. Take the foil out and hold up to light looking for holes in it. If there aren't any holes, try exposing the foil a few seconds longer. If still no holes, you have a problem. The cheap HF unit put plenty of holes in the foil in just 1 second, and just about shredded it in 5 or 6 seconds.

Reply to
Pete C.

Or, just dunk you hand in. You'll know if it's working.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

Thanks for the tip on Branson... will look into that.

How about my expectations... if the unit is of adequate power and the chemical is right, is this a miracle cleaner?

Reply to
rbce2003

A normal US cleaner isn't real good for bulk cleaning of crud, a brush is better at that. A US cleaner is rather miraculous in it's ability to clean completely inaccessible areas of a part, like tiny internal passages. They basically provide a very fine scrubbing agitation from the vibration and the cavitation of tiny bubbles. I'm sure the Branson site has a better technical description.

Reply to
Pete C.

The (chemical) cleaner (surfactant) is still the cleaner. The ultrasonic energy is just a form of agitation, not miraculous, or even particularly impressive for that matter.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

Pete C.,

Many thanks! One of the LR units is good, and the other bad. I'm much obliged!

Dave

Reply to
LowEnergyParticle

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